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PrintCADD - 3D Reference Guide Copyright 1991, Birdseye Enterprises Ltd. Birdseye Enterprises Box 73, 10060 - 156 Street Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5P 2P8 Phone (403) 484-3540 or Contact Greg Bone on CompuServe User I.D. 76150,3364 _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER----------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS ----------------------------------------------------------------- SHAREWARE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 4 Ombudsman statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 4 What is Shareware ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 4 Disclaimer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 4 Shareware Policy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 5 Order Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 6 Charge Card Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 7 Cheque / Money Orders Form. . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 8 Evaluation Software Order Form. . . . . . . . . . Page # 9 Distribution Licensing Agreement. . . . . . . . . Page # 10 3-D Geometry and Coordinate Systems. . . . . . . . . . Page # 11 Notational Conventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 11 Axes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 12 User Coordinate Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 12 Units of Measurement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 14 Surfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 15 Starting Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 17 Required Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 17 Required Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 17 Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 19 General Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 19 Menu types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 20 Readouts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 21 Command Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 22 Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 22 Tutor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 23 Macros. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 23 Menus and Commands Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 24 Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 24 Draw Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 24 File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 31 Line menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 36 Curve menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 38 Text menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 41 Dimensioning menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 43 Group menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 47 Surface menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 50 Color menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 54 Layer menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 57 Modify menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 58 Vars menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 61 Zoom menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 65 Redraw menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 67 View Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 70 Window menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 72 UCS menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 76 Touchup menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 78 Print Editor menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 79 Output menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 82 Plot menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 85 3 Print Driver menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 87 System menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 91 Help menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 95 File Makeup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 98 Drawing files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 98 Header Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 98 Font files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 102 Parts files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 103 Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 104 Note: In certain instances this guide will refer to pictures and diagrams. These diagrams are included in the sample and tutor files and can be loaded into view within PrintCADD 3-D itself. 4 ================================================================= SHAREWARE ================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ombudsman statement ----------------------------------------------------------------- PrintCADD 3-D 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 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442- 9427 or send a Compuserve message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. ---------------------------------------------------------------- What is Shareware ? ---------------------------------------------------------------- Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer ---------------------------------------------------------------- Users of PrintCADD 3-D must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "PrintCADD 3-D is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of PrintCADD 3-D." 5 --------------------------------------------------------------- Shareware Policy --------------------------------------------------------------- PrintCADD 3-D is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. If you find this program useful and find that you are using PrintCADD 3-D and continue to use PrintCADD 3-D after a reasonable trial period, you must make a registration payment of $75.00 to Bird's Eye Enterprises Ltd. The $75.00 registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at any one time. You must treat this software just like a book. An example is that this software may be used by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer location to another, so long as there is no possibility of it being used at one location while it's being used at another. Just as a book cannot be read by two different persons at the same time. Commercial users of PrintCADD 3-D must register and pay for their copies of PrintCADD 3-D within 30 days of first use or their license is withdrawn. Site-License arrangements may be made by contacting Birdseye Software Ltd.. Anyone distributing PrintCADD 3-D for any kind of remuneration must first fillout and send a copy of the distributers form to Birdseye Software Ltd. at the address at the top of the manual for authorization. This authorization will be automatically granted to distributors recognized by the (ASP) as adhering to its guidelines for shareware distributors, and such distributors may begin offering PrintCADD 3-D immediately (However Birdseye Software Ltd. must still be advised so that the distributor can be kept up-to-date with the latest version of PrintCADD 3-D.). You are encouraged to pass a copy of PrintCADD 3-D along to your friends for evaluation. Please encourage them to register their copy if they find that they can use it. All registered users will receive a copy of the latest version of the PrintCADD 3-D system, a manual, 1/2 hour of support and the removal of the registration reminder screen from the program. 6 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Order Forms ----------------------------------------------------------------- To order PrintCADD 3-D, you can one of the forms built into the PrintCADD 3-D help system. The form may be printed by pressing the "F3" function key at each of the help pages that contain the form. You may also use one of the forms on the following pages if you wish. 7 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Charge Card Form ----------------------------------------------------------------- I would like to order a registered version of PrintCADD 3-D from the Public software Library. Payment of $75.00 ($80.00 overseas) by: Mastercard ( ) Visa ( ) American Express ( ) Discover ( ) Card #: ________________________________________________ Expiry Date: Month: ___________ Year: ___________ Signature: ________________________________________________ Disk Size: 360K ( ) 720K ( ) 1.2M ( ) 1.44M ( ) Send PrintCADD 3-D to (Your Address): Name: ________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________ City, State: ________________________________________________ Zip Code: ____________________________ Phone #: ____________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Send this order form to: Public software Library (PsL) P.O. Box 35705 Houston, Texas 77235-5705 or Phone: USA: 1-800-2424-PsL Elsewhere: 1-713-524-6394 Fax: 1-713-524-6398 Compuserve: ID#: 71355,470 Important!: The Public software Library telephone numbers and address are for ordering only. All questions regarding shipping, support, site licensing etc., must be referred to Birdseye Enterprises Ltd. (Address and Telephone below) 8 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Cheque / Money Orders Form ----------------------------------------------------------------- I would like to order a registered version of PrintCADD 3-D from Birdseye Enterprises Ltd. Payment of $75.00 American Funds or $85.00 Canadian Funds(GST Inc) + $5.00 S&H Overseas orders only Cheque ( ) Money Order ( ) Disk Size: 360K ( ) 720K ( ) 1.2M ( ) 1.44M ( ) Send PrintCADD 3-D to (Your Address): Name: ________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________ City, State: ________________________________________________ Zip Code: ____________________________ Phone #: ____________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Send this order form to: Birdseye Enterprises Box 73, 10060 - 156 Street Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5P 2P8 or Phone: 1-403-484-3540 Fax: 1-403-484-1103 Compuserve: ID#: 76150,3364 Important!: These numbers are for cheque and money orders as well as any questions regarding shipping, support, site licensing etc. All credit card orders must be referred to the P.s.L. numbers and address listed above. 9 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Evaluation Software Order Form ----------------------------------------------------------------- I would like to order an evaluation copy (non-registered) version of PrintCADD 3-D from Birdseye Enterprises Ltd. This version does not include the manual or support. It does contain registration reminder screens. A further registration is still required if you use this product for more than 30 days. This 9 disk set (360K) contains all optimised versions of PrintCADD 3-D. Payment of $12.50 American Funds or $15.00 Canadian Funds(GST Inc) + $5.00 S&H Overseas orders only Cheque ( ) Money Order ( ) Disk Size: 360K ( ) 720K ( ) 1.2M ( ) 1.44M ( ) Send PrintCADD 3-D to (Your Address): Name: ________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________ City, State: ________________________________________________ Zip Code: ____________________________ Phone #: ____________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Send this order form to: Birdseye Enterprises Box 73, 10060 - 156 Street Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5P 2P8 or Phone: 1-403-484-3540 Fax: 1-403-484-1103 Compuserve: ID#: 76150,3364 Important!: These numbers are for cheque and money orders as well as any questions regarding shipping, support, site licensing etc. All credit card orders must be referred to the P.s.L. numbers and address listed above. 10 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Distribution Licensing Agreement ----------------------------------------------------------------- Anyone wishing to charge people a fee for giving them a copy of PrintCADD 3-D must have the written authorization of the author, without which, the distributor is guilty of copyright violation. To receive such authorization, send this completed application, along with a copy of your software library's order form to: Birdseye Enterprises Box 73, 10060 - 156 Street Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5P 2P8 Note!: For distributors already recognized by the Association of Shareware Professionals, this application is not necessary. Name of Organization: ___________________________________________ Your Name: ______________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ Terms of Distribution of PrintCADD 3-D: 1. The fee charged may not exceed $12.50, including postage, mailer and any other charges. 2. Your library's catalog or listing must state that this program is not free, but is copyrighted software that is provided to allow the user to evaluate it before paying. 3. The offering and sale of PrintCADD 3-D will be stopped at any time the author so requests. 4. Copies must be made from the copy of PrintCADD 3-D sent to you with this agreement. This is required for control. 5. Problems or complaints about the program will be reported to the author for investigation. In return for a license to charge a fee for the distribution of PrintCADD 3-D, I agree to comply with the above terms of distribution. Signed, ______________________________________ ______________ your signature date 11 ================================================================= 3-D Geometry and Coordinate Systems ================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------- Notational Conventions ----------------------------------------------------------------- In order to read this manual it is necessary that you understand the references to the different commands. The menus contained within PrintCADD 3-D form a "path" system where one menu leads to the next menu and so on until the end of the path is reached at which time the "command" is performed. There are three conventions used in this manual to convey the "path" that the user must follow in order to perform the "command". 1 - Square brackets "[" and "]" denote the selection of a "main" menu item. eg. [Edit] means select "Edit" from the "main" menu. 2 - Curly braces, "{" and "}" at either end of a word denote a preview or drop down menu selection. eg {CAD/CAM} means select the "CAD/CAM" menu. 3 - Brackets, "<" and ">" at either end of a word denote a "bracket" menu selection. eg <X Scale> means select "X Scale" from the "bracket" menu. eg. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {Cursor} <3-D> means select the "Edit" menu from the "main" menu, then select "CAD/CAM" from the "Edit" menu that appears, then select "Vars" from the "CAD/CAM" menu that appears, then select "Cursor" from the "Vars" menu that appears and finally select "3-D" from the "Cursor" bracket menu that appears. Abbreviations used in this manual: UCS - User coordinate system MLB - Mouse Left Button MRB - Mouse Right Button 12 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Axes ----------------------------------------------------------------- Three dimensional drafting offers the advantage of creating more than one view out of a given drawing. You are actually constructing a model rather than a drawing a view. As such, the process is somewhat more time consuming than standard 2-D drafting but not overly slow. You will be rewarded for your effort with an actual model that can be displayed and printed from almost any angle or distance. This also reduces the errors as the process is similar to actual construction and clearances and design flaws are much more apparent. There is no doubt that in the long run 3-D drafting and modelling will save you time, money and effort. Normal 2-D drafting requires the use of two axes named X and Y. The X axis is considered the horizontal axis and Y the vertical axis. Three dimensional drafting requires a third axis called Z. Z is considered the depth axis. Normally when looking at a drawing we consider the X axis to increase in value as it goes to the right and the Y axis to increase in value as it goes up. In this way we can define any point on a sheet of paper. This is also true of the "top plan", default view in PrintCADD 3-D. In PrintCADD 3-D the Z axis increases in value as the cursor moves towards the viewer. This allows the user to define any point in three dimensional space. Consider though what happens when you decide to view the object from a front view. The X axis still increases in value from left to right but the Z axis increases in value as you go up the screen and the Y axis increases in value as the cursor goes away from the viewer. This can be very confusing especially considering there are literally an infinite number of views of any given object. Fortunately there is a better way for the user to enter the points that he wishes into the computer. This is known as a user coordinate system. ----------------------------------------------------------------- User Coordinate Systems ----------------------------------------------------------------- User coordinate systems allow the user to tell the computer which way he wishes the X, Y and Z axes to run and where the 0 or origin point should be. The user can set up a new coordinate system at any time and thus work according to the current view rather than having to transpose coordinates into the system ie two inches up the left means two inches deep and so on. Another ability of the UCS is that since it can be set in any 13 direction you could for instance set it so that the X axis ran along the bottom edge of a roof while the Y axis would run from the bottom corner of the roof to the top corner of the roof. The origin could be a corner of the roof. You could then easily draw a skylight on the surface of the roof and be guaranteed that all measurements are in relation with the surface of the roof. There are several concepts pictured in figure 2 to make note of. The first is that most of the drawing commands make use of the current UCS for positioning. Notice how the circle hugs the surface of the roof. This is because corner A was selected as the UCS origin, corner B was selected as a point along the X axis and corner C was selected as a point in the positive Y plane. Thus when you press your right or left arrows (or move your mouse left or right) the cursor will travel parallel to the line between A and B. If you press your up and down arrows the cursor will travel parallel to the line between A and C. If you press your numeric keypad + and - keys you will move at right angles to the surface formed by A B C. Notice how the three lines of the 3-D cursor point in the directions of movement. Another point is that the readouts at the bottom of the screen, will express these distances along these axes as offsets from corner A. Notice that Z = 0 so the cursor is travelling neither above or below the surface of the roof. You may also notice that the letters in the corners of the surfaces lie on the surfaces they represent ie A, B and C lay on the surface of the roof while D, E and F lie on the front of the house and G, H and I lie on the side of the house. The word Skylight however remains parallel to the edges of the screen because the UCStoView command was used before creating it. Likewise dimensions, rectangles,circular curves and ellipses are modified by the current UCS. The degree to which each command is modified is discussed in the menus section of the manual. The {Edit} {CAD/CAM} {Surf} {Thickness} command is also modified by the UCS as the direction of the Z axis determines the direction in which {Thickness} is applied to a surface. The last item to notice in the drawing is that you may work in any view of a drawing including perspective views. This allows great flexibility in establishing several different UCS's in one view. The drawing of the house was created in less than 5 minutes because once the view was established it was easy to set up the UCS D-E-F to draw the door and front window, the UCS G-H-I to draw the side windows and the UCS A-B-C to draw the skylight. Also the cursor will grow smaller or larger in size as it goes further from or closer to the view point making it easier to judge where you are in the drawing. You may even set up other views of the same object in different windows and because the cursor is shown in all views, you will know if you are connecting to the right point. Each view may even have a different UCS so that in one window you can work on the side of the house while in another you could work on the roof. 14 UCS's may seem a little complicated at first but once you realize there usefulness your job will become much easier. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Units of Measurement ----------------------------------------------------------------- Another topic to be covered in this chapter is units of measurement. Units control the dimensioning and measurement of an object as well as the coordinate readouts at the bottom of the screen. They also control the way user input is interpreted by the system. This is usually called "parsing". The internal composition of the file is known as homogenous. Homogenous means that when coordinates are entered into the system the UCS is taken into account and the numbers are converted to an internal floating point format. The format would be as if looking at the drawing from top plan view. When a view is required the angle of the view is taken into account and the top plan view of the drawing file is read and converted to this different view. When a readout or dimension is needed by the user, then the angle of the UCS is taken into account and the top plan view of the drawing file is converted as before. The point is, that the internal format can be looked at in a number of different ways. The {Units} and {UCSAbsRel} commands also control the way this drawing file is looked at. The {Units} command has three basic modes - inch, centimeter and generic. In inch mode the drawing file is interpreted as inches with 1.000000 being equal to 1 inch. If the {Units} command was set to a centimeter mode then the 1.000000 internal format would be converted by multiplying by 2.54 to render centimeters. It would also divide user given coordinates by 2.54 to convert the centimeters given into the inch format of the database. This allows dual dimensioning. The generic mode allows a way to use any measurement you wish. As the numbers are not formatted on input or output but simply taken as the number given, you can use the {Edit} {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {Pre/Suffix} command to express the units you are working in. In this manner 1.000000 could be light years or angstroms. The {Edit} {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {UCSAbsRel} command controls what the readouts will be showing. If you select < UCS Absolute > the readouts will show the cursor's distance along each of the UCS axes from the origin. If you select < UCS Relative > you will see the distances along each UCS axis relative to the last point entered into the system. Selecting < Database > will allow you to see the homogenous coordinates of the cursor ie the coordinates that PrintCADD 3-D would store internally. The final point deals with the way PrintCADD 3-D looks at rotations. PrintCADD 3-D uses the right hand rule. Normally when rotations are applied to objects on the screen you will be asked for two endpoints of an axis to rotate the object about. The second endpoint is taken by the system to represent the 15 positive direction of the axis. By placing your right hand so that the fingers wrap around the axis and your thumb points in the positive direction alongthe axis then your fingers will show you the directionof rotation. When dealing with polar coordinates, the system uses the UCS Z axis for the right hand rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Surfaces ----------------------------------------------------------------- In PrintCADD 3-D all components of the drawing are grouped into surfaces. This includes all geometry such as lines and curves as well as text and dimensions. In some instances the geometry may be broken down into more than one surface. An example of this is dimensions where the arrows are on one surface, the leaders or dimension lines are on another and the text is on yet another. This allows you to manipulate the text without affecting the arrows and vice versa. Most surfacing of geometry occurs automatically within PrintCADD 3-D but there are also ways to override the process in order to create your own surface groupings. There are three basic types of surfaces in PrintCADD 3-D. The three types are "closed", "open" and "current". The "open" type is not considered in hidden line elimination and geometry may be of any type and does not neccesarily have to lie on a single plane. The "closed" surface must enclose an area and all points on the surface must be co-planar ie laying on a single plane. The "current" surface type is assigned to the group of lines that lies between the last "open" or "closed" surface and what the user is currently constructing. Surfaces also control the assignment of layer, line color, line style, fill color and fill pattern attributes thus all geometry that lies on a single surface will be of the same layer, color, style and pattern. PrintCADD 3-D automatically assigns the "closed" surface type to rectangles, parallelograms and circles or ellipses with 360 degrees or more of arc. All [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Surf} commands also assign the "closed" surface type to surfaces constructed as a result of the command. The "open" surface type is automatically assigned to all text strings and dimensions. If one of these automatically assigned entities is drawn, then the "current" surface is collected into a single "open" surface and is assigned the current layer, style, pattern and colors. The automatically assigned surface, (Rectangle, parallelogram, circle, text, dimension), being drawn is also assigned these attributes. By use of the {Mdfy} {SurfLast} command you may assign either a "closed" or "open" surface type to the current" surface. All surfaces also have a center or fill point. On closed 16 surfaces this point must lie in the interior of the surface and be co-planar with all other points of the surface. By careful use of the {UCS} and {Mdfy} {MovCentPt} commands you can guarantee the alignment of this point. (Automatic closed surfaces center this point properly without user intervention) It is important to realize the exact nature of the surface groupings performed by PrintCADD 3-D in order to obtain properly constructed drawings. In figure 4 a rectangle (A) is drawn and PrintCADD 3-D assigns the "closed" surface type. Then two lines and an arc (B) are drawn and collected into the "current" surface. When the 360 degree circle (C) is drawn, PrintCADD 3-D assigns the "open" surface type to "current" surface (B) and then the "closed" surface type to (C). Thus in effect the circle command (C) has created two surfaces, the unassigned "current" surface consisting of two lines and the arc and the 360 degree circle surface. The two surfaces are then assigned thickness with the {Edit} {CAD/CAM} {Surf} {Thickness} command and a hidden line view (Figure 5) is rendered with the{Edit} {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {QuickHide} command. Notice that surface (B) has not been considered for this view because it is now an "open" surface but the surfaces that constitute its "thickness" have been assigned the"closed" surface type. The {Thickness} command whose effects are shown in figure 5 points to another important concept of three dimensional geometry - extruded surfaces. Extruded surfaces or extrusions are simply the extension of a surface along a path (Normally the UCS Z axis) into three dimensional space. PrintCADD 3-D handles this by breaking down the surface into its individual line segments and then forming a parallelogram by taking the two endpoints of the line segment and moving them in the direction and the distance of the extrusion to form two more corner points. The two original endpoints and the two extruded endpoints are then joined to form the extruded sides of the surface. This continues with each line segment of the surface until all sides of the surface are formed. Finally a copy of the original surface is made and placed at the extrusion distance and direction thus forming a 3-D object. 17 ================================================================= Starting Up ================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------- Required Hardware ----------------------------------------------------------------- This system has been designed to work on an IBM (TM) or IBM compatible computer system. The system requires a VGA or EGA video adaptor and 540 K of "free" RAM. Although this software can operate on a computer with two drives, one of which must be high density, it is recomended that a hard drive with ample free space be used. Birdseye software also manufactures versions of this software that can use (LIM 4.0 and higher) expanded memory. This will cut down substantially on the amount of "free" RAM required thus allowing more TSR programs or utilities. The program "will" load up in environments that do not have enough memory so refer to the [File] {DOScoms} <MemLeft> command to decide if you do indeed have enough memory available. Also see this command in the help system. Erratic behaviour may result if the value given is below 45000. Any user that has 640K of RAM should be able to reduce their environment needs to operate this program. For instance, DOS 4.01 with expanded memory manager, ramdisk driver, himem driver, diskcache driver and mouse should be able to operate quite easily, however, if the DOS 4.01 file management utility, "Shell" or other similar utility is installed, the memory may fall below requirements. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Required Files ----------------------------------------------------------------- This system relies on several files to operate successfully. The files and what they do, are listed below. README.DOC - A brief description file. All addendums to the software will also be here. PRCAD.DOC - This manual file. PRCAD.EXE - This file is the program. Type "Prcad" "Enter" to start. The software will not operate without this file. PRCAD.HLP - This file is required when the help system is accessed. PRCAD.TUT - This file is required for the tutor system to operate. PRCAD.DEF - The software will automatically create this file when PrintCADD is started for the first 18 time. If this file is present before installation, then delete it! This file may contain configuration data that is not valid for your system. TUTOR*.GVF - These files are drawing files that are required by the tutor system for the purpose of their lessons. TUTOR*.LYR - These files contain layer information for the tutor drawing files. They are required for the the tutor drawing files to work properly. If these files are not available, simply make copies of a layer file from another drawing that contains five or more layers and rename them "TUTOR1.LYR", "TUTOR2.LYR" etc. While the layer names will not be correct, the system will be able to load and use the files. This process can be used on any drawing file. Just make sure the number of layers in the copied layer file meets or exceeds the number of layers in the drawing file that requires a layer information file. The following files can be produced by the software. *.GVF - These are drawing files. *.LYR - These are layer information files. Each drawing requires at least one. The name before the extension in the drawing name and the layer name must match. *.FNT - These are fonts. A minimum of one font is required for text and dimensioning. *.PRD - These are printer driver files. *.PLD - These are plot driver files. *.SRF - These are part files. Each one holds an individual part. *.PFL - These files are produced by the system via the [Output] {Print} {PrintFile} command. Because of the large amount of disk space required for these files, there will be no samples of these files. The user must create one to allow use of the [Edit] {PrintEd} command. See [Output] {Print} {PrintFile}. *.HPG - These files are produced by the system when the [Output] {Plot} <Port> option is set to "File". 19 PAG*.2DF - These files are produced by the system when additional buffer space is required to hold all the elements of a drawing file. These files may be deleted. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Installation ----------------------------------------------------------------- PrintCADD 3-D is contained in 3 self extracting files. The help, tutor and ascii manual files are contained in a file called "Help.exe". The sample files are contained in a file called "Sample.exe". The main executable files and fonts are contained in one of the following files: "Prcnone.exe" - Non optimized version "Prc286.exe" - 286/386/486 optimized version "Prcex.exe" - L.I.M. optimized version "Prc28687.exe" - 286/386/486 and math coprocessor optimized version "Prc87.exe" - Math coprocessor optimized version "Prcex87.exe" - Math coprocessor and L.I.M. "Prcex286.exe" - 286/386/486 and L.I.M. optimized version "Prcall.exe" - Math coprocessor, 286/386/486 and L.I.M. optimizations Copy one of these files into the directory you wish to use and then make that directory the current directory. Type the name of the file and press "Enter". The file will then decompress. Delete the original self extracting file and continue the process with "Help.exe" and "Sample.exe". Type "PRCAD" and press the "Enter" key. The software will ask the user to select the appropriate video driver and reboot itself to this new video mode. The user may then go to the [System] menu and set the default characteristics of the system. (See [System] Menu) ----------------------------------------------------------------- General Control ----------------------------------------------------------------- PrintCADD 3-D has three basic modes of operation, menu mode, draw mode and keyboard mode. If you see one of the menus described below you are in menu mode. If you have a mouse installed you will also see an arrow shaped cursor. Draw mode can be recognized by the appearance of a crosshair or box shaped cursor in the drawing window as well as a prompt appearing at the top of the screen followed by"@" eg. "Center point @". Keyboard mode can be recognized by the appearance of a prompt followed by either a greater than sign (>) or an equal sign (=). When the prompt is followed by ">" then the system is expecting text input (eg. "Drawing name >"). When the prompt is followed by "=" then the system is expecting numeric input eg. "Zoom level 20 =". In either case anything typed at the keyboard will appear to the right of the prompt and pressing the "Enter" key will send the users response to the system. Menu mode is controlled by a series of drop down, list, preview and bracket menus that offer the user access to commands or selections that in turn may make other menus available, prompt for user input or perform the command directly. User input may be in the form of typed in text and coordinates (keyboard mode), cursor selected coordinates (draw mode) or list selection and bar menu selected answers (menu mode). If you are using the keyboard you may select commands and menus by using the right, left, up and down arrow keys to select the menu item you are interested in and then pressing the "Enter" or "Return" key to perform the command. Another way of selecting the command is to press the capitalized letter of the command. The highlight bar will jump to the command and select. The "Enter" key does not need to be pressed. The "Escape" key is used to abort the command unless an explicit <Exit> or {Exit} command is available within the current menu. If you are using the mouse you may select the menu item by placing the mouse arrow on the command and pressing the left mouse button to highlight the command. Once the command is highlighted you must again press the left mouse button to invoke thecommand. Pressing the right mouse button or "MRB" aborts the command in the same way as the "Escape" key. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Menu types ----------------------------------------------------------------- The highlight bar on the main menu is controlled by the left and right arrow keys. A drop down submenu appears below the highlighted menu item. Drop down menus are controlled by the up and down arrow keys to highlight the correct menu selection and then the enter key is pressed to advance further into the menu tree. Bracket menus are controlled by the left and right arrow keys. Once the correct menu item is selected, enter is pressed to invoke the item. List menus are controlled by using the up and down arrows to control the highlight marker. If the highlight is placed on the top or bottom list item then the list will scroll up or down several items and allow you to proceed with your selection. Pressing the "Enter" key will then select the item from the list. Preview menus are controlled by the up, down, left and right arrow keys. As each selection is highlighted in the upper 21 section a different set of selections appears in the lower box. This allows you to preview the commands that are associated with the upper selections thus allowing easy perusal of the menu system. Once you have selected the correct upper menu item you press enter to drop the highlight to the bottom menu. You may then select the correct command with the up and down arrows and invoke the command by pressing enter. Notice how selecting the {Rdrw} command in figure 12 produces a different set of selections in the bottom menu than the {Dims} does in figure 13. Once in the bottom menu pressing escape will take you back to the top menu. Notice that there is an explicit {Exit} command in the top menu. This prevents accidentally escaping from the preview menu. You may also notice in figure 13 that there is a dashed line around the {Dims} command. This allows you to know which upper command menu you are currently selecting from. It takes a certain amount of practice to navigate these menus successfully but once mastered you will find that it is both easy and efficient to have the menus set up in this manner. You will find that a mouse makes this process considerably easier. In "draw" mode you may control the cursor through use of the numeric keypad or mouse. If you are using the numeric keypad, make certain that the "Num Lock" key is off and refer to figure 8 for direction of movement for each key. Pressing the key produces a {Grid Size} movement of the draw cursor along the UCS axis corresponding to that key. If the "Shift" key is held down while the numeric keypad key is pressed the movement will be 10 x {GridSize} allowing you to move much quicker across the screen. Once you have positioned the cursor press the "Enter" or "Mouse left button" to enter the coordinates of the cursor into the system. Remember you may also press "Escape" or "Mouse right button" to invoke a snap or enter the coordinate via "keyboard" mode. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Readouts ----------------------------------------------------------------- PrintCADD 3-D keeps the user aware of a variety of information through the use of readouts that change depending on the current context of the system. There are three principle areas of the screen that display this information. The bottom line of the screen is used to show the current cursor coordinates while in the {Edit} menu system. Remember that the coordinates displayed here are in terms of the setting of the {Edit} {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {AbsRelDBas} command. 22 The top line of the screen displays information that is pertinent to the {Main} menu, {Edit} menu and {Output} {Print} menu depending on which is active. Certain "bracket" menus may also display information on this line depending upon which information seems relative to the menu. Each of these readouts are discussed in the menus and commands section under the menu item that invokes them. The third area used for readouts is the top line of each window which displays information that is pertinent to that particular window and its view. The information in this area may be scrolled if the window is too small to display all the information. (See {Edit} {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {WndwRdOut} in menus and commands section) Keeping all this information on the screen may seem confusing at first but once you get used to these readouts and their purposes you will find that a lot of mistakes can be avoided and that the software is in fact, easier to use. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Command Execution ----------------------------------------------------------------- All command references in this manual start at the main menu and work through the menu tree until the command itself is performed. Although the complete tree is used in this reference, in fact, most commands can be accessed more directly by selecting another command within the current menu or by dropping down one or more levels and proceeding up another branch of the menu tree. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Help ----------------------------------------------------------------- In addition to the other keys and their functions, the "F1" function key may be pressed at any time to access context sensitive help or the indexed help. When the "F1" key is pressed, the software will display the menu, "Help < Context > < Index > < Exit >". If the user selects <Context>, the system will display help on that particular section of the menu. In most instances, the help will come up at the beginning of the help section devoted to that menu system rather than the command itself. The user may have to page down a few pages to find the exact command. The reason for this is that there may be important information at the beginning of the section that will be overlooked by going directly to the command. If the user selects the <Index> option, the system will display the help index. Refer to the [Help] {Index} command for further information. 23 If the user selects <Exit>, the system will return the user to the point where the help system was invoked. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Tutor ----------------------------------------------------------------- The tutor system may be invoked at any time by pressing the "F2" function key. The software will transport the user to where the lesson, that was in progress, was left off. See [Help] {Tutor} for a complete explanation of this command. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Macros ----------------------------------------------------------------- The macro system allows the user to record a series of keystrokes and then play them back. This allows the user to automate processes within the system. You will find that animations, demos and new commands can be performed using this feature. The "F3" key may be pressed at any time to start the recording process. The user will be required to give a name to the macro. After the name is entered, the system will start recording keystrokes. In most but not all instances the user should start the macro with Alt F, Alt E, Alt O, Alt S or Alt H to guarantee that the macro starts at at the same place in the menu system. The user should also use the highlighted letter to invoke the proper menu item or the macro may run a completely different course through the menu system depending on what state the menu system was in before the macro was started. At any time during the recording of the macro, the user may press the "F3" key to terminate the recording or introduce a timing factor into the macro. If the user selects < Timer > from the menu that appears, the software will prompt for a time in seconds that the system will pause before issueing the next keystroke during playback. The pause will be introduced into each subsequent keystroke or untill the user again presses the "F3" key, selects < Timer > and sets the time to "0". In order to play back the macro, the user presses the "F4" key and selects the macro they wish to play from the list of macros that appears. The user may also start the macro from the command line when starting PrintCADD 3-D by typing "Prcad macroname.mac". eg. "Prcad demo.mac" starts PrintCADD 3-D and then invokes the "demo" macro. 24 ================================================================= Menus and Commands Reference ================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------- Main Menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- The main menu appears on the top line of the screen and allows the user access to the five submenus, [File], [Edit], [Output], [System] and [Help]. These five sub menus divide the software into categories that roughly correspond to their names. There is also one other menu system that may be invoked when the system is in "Draw" mode. "Draw" mode can be recognized by the appearance of a cursor in the current drawing window. There will also be a prompt for some type of point selection ie "Select first corner point @","Select offset point @". This menu may be accessed by pressing the escape key or the mouse right button. You may recognize that several of the menu items seem the same as those in the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} menu. The difference is these selections are "Transparent". For instance you may be prompted "Select start point" at which time you could press escape, select "Zoom Factor" to zoom in on a section of drawing and continue with selecting the point. Although this menu does not appear on the main menu further references to this menu will be termed [Draw]. This menu has many important features and will be discussed next. Other main menu items will be discussed later in this chapter. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Draw Menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- The first set of commands in the [Draw] menu deal with snaps and locks. Snaps will actually enter the point selected into your drawing file while locks confine the cursor movement to a certain path but do not enter a point until the enter key is pressed. Snaps and locks offer a great deal of power and should be mastered. Three dimensional snaps are slightly different from their 2-D counterparts and therefore act somewhat differently. What is important to keep in mind is that a point that is selected may be a point that lies at a different depth than what you appeared to select. By having several different windows with different view angles, this problem can be kept to a minimum - ie if the selection cursor appears at the correct point in all views, you have selected the correct point. Other commands in this menu allow transparent zooming and panning while another set of commands allow typed in coordinates. Coordinates may be typed in several different ways depending on the setting of the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {Units} command. If 25 this setting is one of the inch modes (Denoted by "or '), then input can be in several different methods. You may type in coordinates 4' 6 7/8", 4 6 7/8, 54 7/8" or 54.875". All would produce the same results. You may also precede the coordinate with a "-" minus sign to force parsing of the coordinate as a negative coordinate. In centimeter mode (Denoted by "cm" or "m") coordinates may be entered either as 2 m 22.1 cm, 2 22.1, 2m 22 1/10 or 222.1 cm producing the same result in any case. In generic mode (No denotation) coordinates may be entered 57.6513 or using scientific notation - ie 5.76513E1 where the value after "E" represents the power that the mantissa is raised to. In this case use the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {Pre/Suffix} <Suffix> command to supply the units of measurement when dimensioning. In general the user should not enter numbers larger than 9,999,999 or smaller than .0000001 as PrintCADD 3-D will have a chance of overflow values being generated. [Draw] {NearSnap} ----------------- This command allows you to place a point on any other point contained in your current drawing file. Points that reside on layers that are turned off are not considered. You would normally use this command by positioning your cursor in the current window (denoted by a highlighted readout bar) visually near the point you wish to snap to. You would then press escape or right mouse button to invoke the [Draw] menu. Select {NearSnap} and the system will start to find points that fall visually within [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {Aperture} range of the cursor. When PrintCADD 3-D finds a point with the given criteria it will highlight the surface that the point resides on and place an oversized cursor on the point. This process will take place in all open windows. A bracket menu will then appear, "This point ? < Snap > < Moveto > < Next > < Exit >". If this is the correct point then select, "< Snap >" and PrintCADD 3-D will snap your cursor to this position, enter the point into the system and return you to the current operation. If you select "< Moveto >" the system will move the cursor to that point but will not enter the point into the system. If you select, "< Next >", the system will find the next point that fills the criteria and offer the same bracket menu again. If you select < Exit > then you will be returned to where you were before invoking the [Draw] menu. [Draw] {GridSnap} ----------------- This command is similar to the [Draw] {NearSnap} command but it will only find points in the current {VisiGrid}. If a visible 26 grid has not been set up via the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {VisiGrid} command then the [Draw] {GridSnap} command is ignored and you are returned to where you were before invoking the command. Another difference is that {VisiGrids} are not associated with a surface so their is no highlighting of surfaces before the Bracket menu prompt. [Draw] {PerpSnap} ----------------- This command is normally invoked by placing the first point of a command and then placing the cursoron the line segment you wish to snap perpendicularly to. Select the {PerpSnap} command from the [Draw] menu. PrintCADD 3-D will then highlight the surface that the line segment resides on and place oversized cursors at the endpoints of the line segment. A bracket menu will then appear at the top of the screen "This line ? < Snap > < Moveto > < Next > < Exit >". If you select, "< Snap >", the system will snap the cursor to a point that will form a perpendicular between the first point entered and the line segment or the extension of the line segment. Because these perpendiculars are three dimensional in nature a certain view of the snap may seem non perpendicular but in fact there will be a 90 degree angle formed in 3-D space. This can be confirmed by measuring the angle with the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {Pointer} <Angle> command. [Draw] {CenterSnap} ------------------- This command allows you to snap to the center point of a selected surface. This command is normally used on the automatic closed surfaces produced by circular and elliptical arcs 360 degrees and over as well as {CAD/CAM} {Line} {Rectangle} and {CAD/CAM} {Line} {Prllogram} commands. The reason for this is that the centres of such surfaces were precisely aligned by PrintCADD 3-D when they were created. After placing the drawing cursor on a line segment of the surface you wish to snap to the center of, invoke the [Draw] {CenterSnap} command and the system will highlight a surface and place an oversized cursor at the center of the surface. You will then see thebracket menu, "Center of this surface ? < Snap > < Moveto > < Next > < Exit >". If you select "< Snap >", the software will snap the cursor to the center of the surface and enter this point into the drawing. [Draw] {MidPtSnap} ------------------ This command allows you to snap to the precise midpoint of a selected line segment. Place your drawing cursor within aperture distance of the line segment you wish to snap to the midpoint of and invoke the [Draw] {MidPtSnap} command. PrintCADD 3-D will highlight the surface the line segment resides on and place oversized cursors at the endpoints of the segment. You will then see the bracket menu, "This line ? < Yes > < No > < Exit >". 27 Proceed as with all previous snap commands. [Draw] {Locks} <AlongLock> -------------------------- This command restricts the cursor to moving along a path that lies along a selected line segment. It does not enter a point into the system. The selection process is identical to the [Draw] {PerpSnap} and [Draw] {MidPtSnap} commands. The command remains in effect until a point is entered, the drawing command is aborted or the [Draw] {LocksOff} command is selected. [Draw] {Locks} <Parallel Lock> ------------------------------ This command is similar to the [Draw] {AlongLock} command except that the drawing cursor is limited to a path that runs parallel to the selected line segment. You normally invoke this command after entering the first point of a command into the system. This point establishes the offset of the cursor path from the selected line segment. After selecting the line segment you wish cursor travel parallel to, the system will confine the path such that the line between the first point entered and the current cursor position remains parallel to the selected line segment. [Draw] {Locks} <Perp Lock> -------------------------- This command is similar to the [Draw] <ParallelLock> command except that movement is confined to a path that is perpendicular (right angle) to the line segment selected and that intersects the last point entered into the system. [Draw] {Locks} <Locks Off> -------------------------- This command aborts any lock that is in effect. [Draw] {Coords} and {MoveTo} commands ------------------------------------- The {Coords} and {Moveto} commands are very similar in nature except that the {Coords} command enters the point into the system and the {Moveto} command moves the cursor to the position indicated but does not enter the point into the system. These commands allow the user to enter points or move the cursor directly rather than using the mouse or keyboard. This is normally a more accurate way of describing points as well because incrementing the cursor by a small amounts may cause additive errors. Additive errors are caused by the fact that most real numbers can not be precisely described by computers. The computer can get very close, (normally within1/10,000,000 of the real value) but because this slight bit of error is added with each movement of the cursor, it may turn into a number that is rather significant. There are two normal methods of describing points in PrintCADD 3-D. The first is by use of X, Y and Z values that describe 28 distances of travel along each of theses axes or axis coordinates. The second type is known as polar coordinates. These are described to the system by a relative point that describes the starting point, the angle the travel will take in the current UCS and the distance to travel. Each of the bracket commands in these two menus offers a way of supplying one of these points to the system. The bracket menu commands accept input from the user via the prompts "X =", "Y =" and "Z =" or "Angle =", "Distance =". [Draw] {Coords}/{Moveto} <AbsUCS> --------------------------------- This command allows you to enter coordinates in terms of the current user coordinate system. For more information read [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} section. [Draw] {Coords}/{Moveto} <RelUCS> --------------------------------- This command allows you to enter points in terms of relative offsets along the current UCS X, Y and Z axes. The offsets are in relation to the last point entered into the system. [Draw] {Coords}/{Moveto} <DBase> -------------------------------- This command allows you to enter a coordinate in terms of the drawing database. These coordinates are in terms of [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {View} {Top Plan}. It is normally easier to enter coordinates in other terms as described below unless the user has a database of points they wish to enter into the system. [Draw] {Coords}/{Moveto} <PolDeg> --------------------------------- This command allows the user to enter a polar coordinate into the system using degrees. The angle is in terms of the current UCS Z axis and the right hand rule. [Draw] {Coords}/{Moveto} <PolRad> --------------------------------- This command allows the user to enter a polar coordinate into the system using radians. The angle is in terms of the current UCS Z axis and the right hand rule. [Draw] {Moveto} <LastPt> ------------------------ This command allows the user to move the cursor to the position that the system feels was the last point entered into the system. Because intermediate selections such as [Draw] {UCS} <3point> or [Draw] {Zoom/Pan} may reset this point the user can assure himself that this is the correct "last" or "relative" point. These points are important because the system uses them for measurement reference, polar coordinates, "parallel" locks and "perpendicular" locks. 29 [Draw] {Moveto} <SetRel> ------------------------ Normally the system sets the last point entered as the relative point. This command allows the user to overide this setting with their own relative point. The user places his cursor on the point that he wishes the system to use as the "relative" point and then selects this command. The system will then move the relative point to the cursor position and return the user to "draw" mode. [Draw] {UCSAline} ----------------- This command is designed to realign the cursor to the current User Coordinate System. (See [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} section for more information.) The <Realine> option of this command causes the cursor to be adjusted so that it lies precisely on the {Units} grid established by the last command to set the units. This is needed because snaps and user entered coordinates may pull the cursor off of the {Units} grid. For example, your {Units} grid might be set to ' 1/2" spacing and your [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {RelAbsDbas} is set to < Absolute UCS >. Snapping to the midpoint of a line might produce a current cursor position of 3/4". Your cursor would then increment to 1 1/4", 1 3/4", 2 1/4", 2 3/4" etc. not 1 1/2", 2 0/2 ", 2 1/2", 3 0/2" etc. as shown by coordinate readouts at the bottom of the screen. The reason is that the readouts merely display to the closest 1/2". It is normally best to establish coordinates by setting your readouts to {RelAbsDbas} < Relative UCS > to avoid confusion. The <Change> option toggles between forcing the cursor to realine with the {Units} grid at the start of each point selection (default) or simply allowing the spacing to continue from the last point selected whether it lies on exact increment of the spacing grid or not. Because the system realines the cursor with the UCS grid after each selection, additive errors are kept to a minimum with this option set on. [Draw] {CursrSpace} ------------------- This command establishes a new cursor grid spacing relative to the current UCS origin. It is especially useful if you find that your cursor can not get within {Aperture} distance of a point you wish to snap to because your current grid spacing is too coarse. You will be prompted for the amount of space to move along the X, Y and Z axes of the current user coordinate system each time an arrow key is pressed or the mouse moved. [Draw] {Zoom/Pan} <Factor> -------------------------- This command allows you to zoom in or out of a drawing by a factor. Once the command is selected you will see the prompt, "Zoom Factor =". Answering to the prompt with a number greater than 1 causes a magnification of the drawing by the number indicated. A number less than 1 causes a zoom out or 30 demagnification of the screen. After typing in the factor of zoom you will be prompted to select a point to zoom about. Press enter once your cursor is over the point you wish to zoom and the screen will be zoomed and displayed with the point selected in the center of the screen. See the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Zoom} command for more information. [Draw] {Zoom/Pan} <Level> ------------------------- This command sets zoom as a factor of the area set for the current drawing when it was created orlast set with the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {Limits} command. For example, if your limits were set to 10' then a {ZoomLevel} of 2 would present an area of 5' x 5' on the screen. A {ZoomLevel} of .5 would present a screen area of 20' x 20'. At the prompt "Zoom Level =", enter the new zoom level and you will be prompted for a new center of zoom. Once the point is selected, the zoom will be performed. [Draw] {Zoom/Pan} <Previous> ---------------------------- This command allows you to zoom to the last zoom or pan that was set by one of the zoom commands in the current editing session. If you have not used a zoom command in the current editing session then the zoom performs the same as the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Zoom} {Limits} command. This command is especially useful if you wish to return to your original level of zoom after zooming in to add detail or snapping to a point. [Draw] {Zoom/Pan} <PullPan> --------------------------- This command allows you to pull a section of drawing to a different position on the screen. You will be prompted for two different points. The first prompt will be, "Point to Pull @". Select the point you wish to pull upon. You will then be prompted, "New position @". Select the point where you wish the point that was first selected to appear on the screen. Once this point is selected PrintCADD 3-D will perform the desired panning action and return you to where you left off. [Draw] {Zoom/Pan} <ReCenter> ---------------------------- Selecting this command causes a panning motion of the screen such that the current drawing cursor position becomes the center of the screen. [Draw] {Redraw} --------------- This command will redraw the screen removing any blips or ghosted entities. (See [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {Redraw}) [Draw] {UCS} <3Point> --------------------- This command allows the user to set up another UCS by prompting for three points. The first point is used as the origin point of the coordinate system. The second point marks a point on the 31 UCS X axis while the third point marks a point in the positive Y direction. The third point does not have to be on the Y axis. [Draw] {UCS} <UCStoView> ------------------------ This command is useful when you find that your cursor does not seem to allow you to move in a direction that you wish. This is normally caused because the UCS X or Y axis lies in a direction that is close to the Z direction of the current view ie moving along the X - axis of the current UCS is the same as moving deeper into the drawing. This command aligns the UCS with the current view such that moving along the X axis causes movement of the cursor parallel to the bottom of the window while moving along the Y axis causes movement parallel to the side of the window. Z axis movement causes no apparent movement of the cursor but in fact it is moving in the Z direction. [Draw] {UCS} <UCStoView> ------------------------ This command prompts the user to select a line segment. The selected line segment will become the UCS X axis. The UCS will then be adjusted to fall on the surface that the selected line segment belongs to. [Draw] {WndwRdOut} ------------------ This command moves the readouts in the window one position to the left. This is useful if the window you are working in is too small to display the entire window status line. You can move the particular readout that you are interested into view in this manner. For instance, you may wish to keep track of the current view rotation angles while using the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {View} {Aim} command. Normally these readouts would not be visible in a small window. By pressing the {WndwRdOut} command a couple of times you will shift this readout into view on the current window. ----------------------------------------------------------------- File Menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- The [File] menu consists of the commands, {Load}, {Create}, {DosComs},{Purge} and {Quit}. [File] {Load} Command --------------------- The {Load} command allows you to load previously created drawing and font files into the system. Selecting the {Load} command causes another sub menu to appear with the two choices, {Drawing} and {Font}. Selecting either of these two commands in turn presents the user with a list menu that contains all the files that are available in the particular category that you have selected ie. {Drawing} or {Font}. You then select the file you are interested in and PrintCADD- 3D loads the file. If you have selected {Font} you will also be required to press the key that 32 corresponds to the letter you wish to edit. In effect each letter is its own individual drawing contained within the master font file. Each of these letter drawings must be contained within a certain predefined amount of file space so editing previously created fonts may cause problems. See the [File] {Create} commands and the File Structure section in the appendix for more information on font files. [File] {Create} {Drawing} ------------------------- The {Create} command allows you to create a new drawing or font file. After selecting {Create} a menu will appear with the choices, {Drawing} and {Font}. If you select {Drawing} you will be prompted for several pieces of information that will control different aspects of the drawing. All of this information except the filename may be changed within the system so if you decide that you have not answered one of the prompts correctly just continue on and modify it later. Even the filename may be changed at the DOS level. The first prompt will be 'Filename >'. Type in the name you wish to remember the file by. The name may be up to 8 letters long and must follow standard disk operating system protocol. This means that the filename may consist of the letters a-z and A-Z, the numbers 0-9 and the characters ( ) @ # $ % ^ & ! - _ ' and ~. Any other characters may cause problems. PrintCADD-3D will append the extension .GVF to the filename. After entering a filename the system will prompt 'Display Units' and a menu will appear below the prompt. The system is asking you for the units of measurement that will be displayed at the bottom of the screen during object construction. These units will also be the units that will be written to the drawing when applying dimensioning to the drawing. Because the system keeps all points and vectors in terms of floating point inches, a conversion process is applied to coordinates when they are entered as well as when they are displayed. For instance if you were to enter the coordinate 1/4", the system would convert this to the number .2500000 and store it. Later when dimensioning the point it would take the coordinate .2500000 and convert it back to 1/4", 2/8", 1/2", .835 cm etc. depending upon the display units setting. Notice that 1/2" is actually not accurate but is as accurate as the system can be to the nearest 1/2". You may select the display units by using the up and down arrows and pressing the enter key. With a mouse simply point the arrow at the correct units and press the left mouse button to invoke the setting. You may change the units setting later via the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {Units} command. The next prompt, when creating a drawing, will be "Area? Length of longest side >". You must type in the size of the area that you wish to work in. For instance typing in "10'" would give you an area of 10 feet by 10 feet to build your drawing in. In 33 actuality it is best to give your drawing about twice as much size as it needs because this will cut down on the number of regenerations that will need to be performed when zooming and panning. This area is also used as the reference point for the zoom command. A zoom level of 2 would give you an area of 5 feet by 5 feet if the area had been set at 10 feet originally. This area can be reset later via the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {Limits} command. The system will then blank the current screen and prompt you for two corners of a rectangle. This rectangle represents the area of the screen that you wish to assign to your first view window. As you may create up to four windows, it may be best to leave some room on the screen in which to place other view windows. Again, this command can be changed later via the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Wndw} {ReSize} command. The last three prompts ask for X, Y and Z axis spacing. These prompts are replied to with a distance that sets the increment that the drawing cursor will travel with each press of the arrows. The X-axis is controlled by the left and right arrows, the Y axis by the up and down arrows and the Z axis by the numeric keypad plus and minus keys. Too small an increment may cause the drawing cursor to travel very slowly while too large an increment may lock the cursor if the spacing carries it past the edge of the window. You may reset this distance by either the {Snap} {Grid Size} or the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {Grid Size} commands. [File] {Create} {Font} ---------------------- This command allows you to create your own font files. Creating and editing font files can be difficult so a thorough understanding of font and drawing file structure is necessary to accomplish this task successfully (See File Structure in Appendix). You should also be aware of how ASCII codes are assigned to the different keys on the keyboard. (See ASCII table in appendix). Although not absolutely necessary, fonts should always be created in a 1 inch by 1 inch space. This will allow the font to conform to other fonts shipped with the system. This also allows easy scaling of the fonts ie a Y-Scale factor of 12 would make the letter 1 foot high. Fonts should be drawn in the default view : [Edit] {View} {Top Plan}. The basic geometry should not be extended along the Z axis. While this makes the font 2 dimensional in nature, it still may be placed at any orientation in 3-D space and extruded into 3-D afterwards. Each letter of the font should consist of a single open surface. This means that you can not use the [Edit] {Line} {Rectangle}, [Edit] {Line} {Prllogrm} or any [Edit] {Curv} command that makes 34 a circular or elliptical arc of 360 degrees or more. The reason for this is that the system automatically forms closed surfaces with these commands. This should not really limit the geometry but rectangles and parallelograms should be made with the [Edit] {Line} {Line} command instead. Make closed curves by limiting the arc to 359.9 degrees and join the first and last end points of the curve with a line. This command takes you through the same set of prompts and replies as the [File] {Create} {Drawing} command as well as two additional prompts. The first additional prompt is 'Storage per character ='. This number refers to the amount of file space in words to allocate for each character in the font file. A word is 2 bytes therefore typing in 100 would allocate 200 bytes of space for that character. This is normally enough for about 15 line segments. Allocating more space would allow more line segments. The values quoted are only approximate and you should allocate more space than you feel you will require. Obviously the more room that is allocated, the more complex the font that can be accommodated by this space. The second additional prompt is 'Number of Characters ='. Characters are assigned space starting with ASCII 32. If you refer to an ASCII table, you will notice that ascii 32 represents the space bar ie when you press the space bar your computer system receives a message from your keyboard that ASCII 32 was pressed. PrintCADD 3-D intercepts that key and sends the ASCII 32 letter file to your drawing. If you press '!'- exclamation mark, ASCII 33 is intercepted and the ascii 33 letter file is sent to your drawing. You will also notice that ASCII 32 to ASCII 126 represent all of the characters in a standard character set so if you answered 95 to the 'Number of Characters =' prompt, you would assign space for a complete font ie ASCII 32 to ASCII 126. In truth the PrintCADD 3-D can handle ASCII 127 to 255 as well but these characters are available only by pressing the 'Alt' key and typing in the ASCII code number on the numeric keypad. The 'space bar' key plays an important role in the font file. When you have finished replying to the previous prompts, PrintCADD 3-D creates a font file and selects the 'space bar' key for the current edit letter. The 'space bar' controls the spacing of the letters via the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Line} {Rectangle} command. The rectangle size is normally set to the 1" x 1" area size but may be varied to give different spacings. You must realize that this rectangle is not shown when the 'space bar' key is pressed but merely referenced for the spacing of the font. This allows you to control spacing by re-editing the 'space bar' key rectangle via the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Mdfy} {Delete} command to delete the rectangle and reestablishing the rectangle via the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Line} {Rectangle} command. See the [File] {Load} {Font} for information on editing the other characters. 35 There are three other points to keep in mind when creating and editing fonts. 1: The system expects that each letter is contained within its own file space so if one letter of the font overflows into the next characters file space the font will be ruined. 2: While you may delete the last point, series or surface, if you try to delete beyond the beginning of the letter you may corrupt the font file. 3: Do not use the [File] {Purge} command as it will also corrupt the file. One other use of the [File] {Create} {Font} command is to build 'parts'. A part is really nothing more than a two character font file. When building a part simply reply to the prompts as if building this two character font and place the actual drawing of the part in the space assigned to the '!' exclamation mark character. When prompted for the amount of space for each letter, reply '110'. Because the letter (part) can not overflow into another letter's assigned space, this will actually allow you to build the part as complex as you wish without any fear. In general you must be quite careful in the editing and drawing of fonts. Although there are a lot of rules to building a font file, in practice it is very easy and quick once you get the hang of it. They are also very flexible when used as parts files. See [File] {Load} {Font} and [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Text} for more information. [File] {DosComs} < Directory > ------------------------------ This command is similar to the MSDOS "dir" command except that the list of files appears within a list menu. After selecting <Directory>, another bracket menu will appear, "< Cont > < Mask > < Directory >". The <Cont> command produces a list of files according to the <Mask> and <Directory> commands. The <Mask> command allows you to set a mask using the DOS wildcard characters "?" and "*". Consult your DOS manual for an explanation on the use of these characters. The <Directory> command will prompt the user for the directory they wish to extract the list of files from. [File] {DosComs} <Copy> ----------------------- This command is similar to the MSDOS "copy" command except that you will be prompted for the file to copy and the name to copy to. This allows you to make backups and shuffle files around without leaving PrintCADD 3-D. [File] {DosComs} <Delete> ------------------------- This command will prompt for the name of the file to delete. 36 This allows you to delete files without leaving PrintCADD 3-D. [File] {DosComs} <MkDir> ------------------------ This command allows you to create a new directory without leaving PrintCADD 3-D. It is similar to the DOS command of the same name. [File] {DosComs} <MemLeft> -------------------------- This command is not normally for user use as the memories reported are actually used for debugging of the executable file and report the memory available at this particular time rather than the memory available after dynamic allocation of different internal arrays. The "Memory =" should be a minimum of 45000. [File] {Purge} -------------- This command removes all deletions from the current drawing file. If you have been deleting entities in your drawing with the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Grup} {Delete} command then this command will return the filespace taken by the entities that have been deleted. This is possible because the {Grup} {Delete} command merely marks the selected surface as a deleted entity rather than actually removing it from the drawing file. Although this command does not make the drawing file smaller, it does recover room that may be used for the drawing without increasing the file size. This will also increase the performance of the file as the system will not have to deal with them once they have been purged from the drawing. [File] {Quit} ------------- Once you have selected {Quit} you will see the bracket menu, "Quit < Yes > < No >". Selecting <Yes> will allow you to exit PrintCADD 3-D. If [System] {Optimize} has been turned on, you will see the additional bracket menu "Save Edits < Yes > < No >". This allows you to decide whether you wish to save the changes you have made to your drawing. See [System] {Optimize}. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Line menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- The {Line} menu allows the user to construct several useful shapes. These shapes are straight edged, as opposed to the shapes found in the {Curv} menu which have curved edges. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Line} {Line} ------------------------------ The most basic element of a drawing in PrintCADD 3-D is the line. The {Line} command allows you to create straight line segments in 37 an easy and efficient manner. When this menu item is selected the system goes into "Draw" mode and the prompt "Start point @" appears at the top of the screen. The user may then select the position of the start point. Remember that the [Draw] menu is available at any time during the point selection selection process by pressing "Escape" or "MRB". After selecting this point, the system will display the prompt, "End point @". When the cursor is moved a "rubber band" line will form between the point selected and the current cursor position. After the end point is selected, the line will solidify in place and the system will again prompt, "End point @". A rubber band line will again form between the last point selected and the current cursor position. This allows the line to be made "continuously". In order to get back to the "Start point @" prompt, the user must invoke the [Draw] menu and select {Exit}. Invoking [Draw] and selecting {Exit} while at the "Start point @" prompt will take the user back to the {CAD/CAM} menu. The points will be grouped into the "current" surface till another command determines the type of surface they form. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Line} {Triangle} ---------------------------------- The system will prompt the user for three points that form the vertices of the triangle. As the points are selected the system will form "rubber band" lines between the points to show the shape of the triangle. If the user selects {Exit} from the [Draw] menu, the command will abort and the user will be returned to the {CAD/CAM} menu. The system will form a "closed" surface and determine a center point that is mathematically within the confines of the triangle and lying on it's surface. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Line} {Rectangle} ----------------------------------- The system will prompt the user for two diagonally opposite corners of the rectangle. The rectangle will "rubber band" between the first point selected and the cursor. After selecting the second point, the rectangle will solidify and the user will be returned to the {CAD/CAM} menu. The command can be aborted by selecting {Exit} from the [Draw] menu. The system will determine the center point of the rectangle and form a "closed" surface. If the second point lies at a different depth in the current UCS than the first point, the system will make sure that the edges of the rectangle that are parallel to the Y axis will remain parallel while the edges parallel to the X axis will remain parallel to the y = 0 plane. 38 [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Line} {Prllogram} ----------------------------------- The system will prompt the user to enter three points that describe three of the corners of the parallelogram. The fourth corner is inferred from the other three corners. The system will "rubber band" the parallelogram when the third point is being selected. After the third point is entered the parallelogram will solidify and the user will be returned to the {CAD/CAM} menu. Selecting {Exit} from the [Draw] menu will abort the command. The system will calculate the center of the parallelogram and form a "closed" surface. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Curve menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- The {Curv} menu allows the user a number of ways to draw circles, arcs, ellipses and spline curves. Selecting any of the sub-menu items in this menu leads to a bracket menu that further modifies the type of curve that will be generated. The {PtRadCirc}, {2PtCirc}, {3PtCirc} and {2PtEllipse} commands all lead to the menu, "< Continue > < Sides >=? < Start >=? < End >=?", where the question marks are numbers. The <Sides> option allows the user to set the number of straight line segments that make up the curve by answering the prompt with a number between 3 and 256. The <Start> and <End> option allow the user to set the starting and ending angles of the circle or ellipse. The system expects the user to enter these angles in degrees. The angles are measured from the UCS X axis in a manner that conforms to the right hand rule. If the difference between the start and end angles is 360 degrees or more, the system forms a "closed" surface. If the arc is less than 360 degrees, the arc is held as a "series" in the "current" surface. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Curv} {PtRadCirc} ----------------------------------- This command prompts the user for a center point and a point on the edge of the circle or arc. When the edge point is being prompted for, a "rubber band" circle or arc will form that shows the shape the circle will take. If the cursor is moved off of the current UCS, the distance between the center point and cursor is measured to form the radius of the circle. The circle will always remain parallel to the current UCS and the center will always remain at the first point that is selected. 39 After selecting the edge point the circle will solidify and become part of the drawing. Selecting {Exit} from the [Draw] menu aborts the command. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Curv} {2ptCirc} --------------------------------- This command forms a circle by prompting for two points that are on diametrically opposite sides of the circle. When the second point is being selected, the circle or arc will "rubber band". If the cursor is moved off of the UCS, a point that is exactly half way between the two points becomes the center of the surface. ie if the second point is 2 inches deeper than the first point in terms of the current UCS, the circle's center will be at 1 inch deep. The distance between the two points is measured to determine the diameter of the circle. The circle will always remain parallel to the current UCS. The [Draw]{Exit} command aborts the command. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Curv} {3PtCirc} --------------------------------- This command allows the user to form a circle by defining three points along the edge of it. When the third point is being selected, the circle will "rubber band". The circle or arc will always form so that the circle is parallel to the current UCS and at the depth of the third point entered. If the two previous points were at different depths, the circle forms so that if the user was looking directly down on the UCS, (See [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {ViewtoUCS}) the circle will "appear" to intercept all three points. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Curv} {3PtArc} -------------------------------- The {3PtArc} command leads to a bracket menu that allows the user to set the number of <Sides> that the arc will contain. After selecting <Continue> from this bracket menu, the system will prompt the user for three points. The arc will form from the first point through the second point and end at the third point. When the third point is being selected, the arc will "rubberband". After the third point is selected, the arc will solidify and the user will be returned to the {CAD/CAM} menu. Selecting {Exit} from the [Draw] menu will abort the command. This command is similar to the {3PtCirc} command in that the arc will appear to intercept all three points if the user is looking directly down on the current UCS. The arc will always remain parallel to the current UCS and will be at the depth of the third point entered. 40 [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Curv} {2PtEllipse} ------------------------------------ This command allows the user to construct an ellipse. The system will prompt for two points. The first point defines the center point of the ellipse. When the second point is being selected, the ellipse will "rubber band". Each radius of the ellipse, (major and minor), is defined by the distance the cursor is from the center point, measured along the current UCS X and Y axes. To achieve a tilted ellipse, define the UCS so that it is tilted in respect to the edges of the window. The ellipse always forms parallel to these two axes and always remains at the depth of the first point (center point). Placing the cursor at a different depth does not effect the ellipse as distances are always measured along the UCS X and Y axes. The ellipse will solidify once the second point is selected. Selecting {Exit} from the [Draw] menu aborts the command. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Curv} {PtSpline} ---------------------------------- This command leads to a bracket menu that allows the user to set the number of points the system will prompt for and the spline will intercept. The bracket menu also allows the user to set the number of line segments between each point via the <Chords> command. The total number of line segments that the system can generate is 256 so the user will be informed if (<Points> -1) * <Chords> + 1 exceeds 256. When <Continue> is selected from the bracket menu, the system will prompt the user to select each point in turn until the last point is entered. When the last point is entered, the spline curve will form through all points selected. Selecting {Exit} from the [Draw] menu will abort the command. The {PtSpline} command is fully 3-D in nature so selecting points that are not on the current UCS will still result in the curve passing through the selected points. The {PtSpline} command forms a "series" in the current "surface". [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Curv} {AnchrSplin} ------------------------------------ This command leads to a bracket menu that allows the user to set the number of <Chords> or line segments between each selected point. The number of points selected is always three. The other option in this menu is <AltSpline>. When <AltSpline> is set to "No" and <Continue> is selected, the user will be prompted for three points. The first and second points will become the start and end points of the spline while the third point will define the path of the spline curve between these two points. When <AltSpline> is set to "Yes", the spline will start at the first point, continue through the second point and end at the third point. When the third point is being selected, the spline will "rubber band". This command is fully three dimensional in nature and the curve will pass through the three points selected whether they 41 all reside on the current UCS or not. Once the third point is selected, the spline will solidify and the user will be returned to the {CAD/CAM} menu. The command may be aborted by selecting {Exit} from the [Draw] menu. The {AnchrSplin} command forms a "series" in the current surface. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Text menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu system allows the user to annotate their drawings. Unlike most other 3-D CADD systems, the text in this system is treated like any other object within the system and can be placed at any orientation in 3-D space. This allows the user to build signs or provide the illusion of the text vanishing off into space. The user should however keep all texts on different layers so that different views don't show the text upside down and backwards for instance. Text will always assume the current line style and line color. Each string of text is given the open surface type. The {Box}, {StackedBox}, {LeftJustfy}, {RightJstfy}, {Centered} and {Between} commands will always start by prompting the user for a string of text to place in the drawing. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Text} {Box} ----------------------------- This command is perhaps the most flexible of all the {Text} commands. After entering the string of text, the user will be prompted "Left bottom corner @". The user will then select the point that the left, bottom corner of the text will appear at. After selecting this point the system will prompt, "Length line @" . The user will then see a "rubberband" line that connects the first point selected to the cursor. This line controls the orientation and length of the text. After selecting this point, a parallelogram will "rubber band" between the points selected and the current cursor position. The system will also display the prompt, "Height / Slant corner @". The user may then select a point that controls the height and slant (italics) of the letters. Once the third point is selected the system will place the text string so that it fills the parallelogram and lays flat on its surface. The parallelogram is fully 3-D in nature, so the points selected do not need to fall on the current UCS. The command may be aborted by selecting {Exit} from the [Draw] menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Text} {StackedBox} ------------------------------------ This command is similar to the {Box} command except that the letters will fall one below the other like those on a vertical sign. The system will prompt the user for three corners of a parallelogram that the text will form to fill. The first point selected will be the left top corner of the text. The second point will control the orientation and height of the string while the third point controls the width and slant of the 42 letters. After the third point is selected the text will form and the user will be returned to the {CAD/CAM} menu. Selecting {Exit} from the [Draw] menu aborts the command. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Text} {LeftJustfy} ------------------------------------ After the user enters the string of text, the system will prompt the user to select a "Start @" point. Once this point is selected, the text will form to the right of the point. The text will be aligned so that it runs parallel to the UCS X axis and the height runs parallel to the UCS Y axis. The depth of the cursor controls the depth at which the text is placed. The height and width of the letters are controlled by the settings in the {TextScale} menu which is discussed later in this chapter. Selecting {Exit} from the [Draw] menu aborts the command. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Text} {RightJstfy} ------------------------------------ This command is similar to the {LeftJustfy} command except that the text forms to the left of the point selected. This command may be aborted by selecting {Exit} from the [Draw] menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Text} {Centered} ---------------------------------- This command is similar to the {LeftJustfy} command except that the text will be centered about the point that is selected. This command may be aborted by selecting {Exit} from the [Draw] menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Text} {Between} --------------------------------- After entering the text string, the system will prompt the user for a "Start @" and an "End @" point. After entering the second point, the system will place the text string so that its length and orientation is controlled by the distance and direction of the two points selected, ie. the text will form between the two points. The height of the letters is controlled by the <Y Scale> factor in the {TextScale} menu. The letters will be formed so that the height is perpendicular (right angle) to the line between the start and end points. The height line is also parallel to the current UCS, ie. adjusting the UCS controls the direction in which the letters face. This command may be aborted by selecting {Exit} from the [Draw] menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Text} {FontSelect} ------------------------------------ After selecting this command, the system will display the prompt "Select font style ~" and display a list of the currently available fonts. The user must select one of the fonts from this list. Once selected, the font is used for all subsequent {Text} and {Dims} commands that create text. A readout in the top right hand corner of the screen displays the current font while in the {CAD/CAM} menu. After selection the User will be returned to the {CAD/CAM} menu. Pressing "Escape" or "MRB" aborts the command. 43 [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Text} {TextScale} ----------------------------------- This command leads to a bracket menu that displays the current X scale and Y scale settings and offers the user three choices. Selecting <X Scale> will cause the system to display the prompt "X scale =". At this prompt the user will type in the size that he wishes the width of the letters to assume. Remember that fonts are normally built on a scale of 1" x 1" so typing in 12 would cause letters 1' in width. Similarly typing in a <Y Scale> of 12 would cause the system to produce letters 1' high. The other menu option available is <Auto>. When this command is selected, the system looks at the {AutoSize} setting in the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} menu and automatically determines the <X Scale> and <Y Scale> of the letters, ie. if the <AutoSize> setting is 8" then the scale will be set so that the letters are 8 inches high and 8 inches wide in the drawing. When these values are set to your satisfaction, press the "Escape" key or "MRB" to return to the {CAD/CAM} menu. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dimensioning menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu system allows the user to dimension his drawing in an easy and efficient manner. Although the dimensions are not "associative", they are so easy to construct and manipulate that redimensioning is still extremely easy. Dimensions should be assigned there own layers so that reverse views of the dimension may be turned off. This is because dimensions are also 3 dimensional in nature. Because of the number of options that are available through this menu virtually any type of dimensioning may be constructed. The dimensions will assume the current line style and line color. The dimensions are broken down into three surfaces. The "witness" or "extension" lines are considered one "open" surface. The arrows and dimension lines are considered as one "open" surface and the dimension text is considered as one "open" surface. This allows the user to control the color and style of these surfaces individually. The measurements will be formatted to the current setting of the {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {Units} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {Aligned} --------------------------------- This command allows the user to dimension the distance between two points. The user will be prompted to select three points. The first two points selected are the points whose distance is being measured. When the third point is being selected a parallelogram will "rubber band" between the points selected and the current cursor position. The parallelogram roughly describes the shape that the final dimension will take. When the third point is selected, the "extension" lines will form along two edges of the parallelogram and the dimension lines and arrows will form along the side opposite the first two points selected. The text will form in accordance with the setting in the {Dims} 44 {Placement} menu. If the placement is set to <Aligned>, the text will form aligned with the dimension lines and arrows. In this case the parallelogram describes the "facing" of the text as well as the slant applied to the text. If the user selects the same point for the third point as the second point, the system will form a dimension without extension lines. The arrows will form so that they point at the first and second points selected. The text will "face" according to the setting of the UCS. The user may select {Exit} from the [Draw] Menu to abort the command. [Edit] {Cad/CAM} {Dims} {Horizontal} ------------------------------------ This command allows the user to form horizontal dimensions. The user will first be prompted, "Dimension line location @". The location of this point determines the location of the dimension lines and text. The dimension lines and text will be formed such that they are parallel to the UCS X axis and intercepting this point (or would intercept if the dimension lines were longer). The next two prompts are the points to be dimensioned. The system will measure the horizontal distance along the UCS X axis between these two points and form the dimension. Notice that the orientation of the UCS defines the distance, alignment and "facing" of the text. This allows the user to do dimensioning that is not normally possible. (See DIMGAP.GVF Illustration) Because dimension lines are always parallel to the UCS X axis, {Dims} {Placement} will react the same no matter what the setting. The user may select {Exit} from the [Draw] to abort the command. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {Vertical} ---------------------------------- This command allows the user to form vertical dimensions. The user will first be prompted, "Dimension line location @". The location of this point determines the location of the dimension lines and text. The dimension lines and text will be formed such that they are parallel to the UCS Y axis and intercepting this point (or would intercept if the dimension lines were longer). The next two prompts are the points to be dimensioned. The system will measure the vertical distance along the UCS Y axis between these two points and form the dimension. Notice that the orientation of the UCS defines the distance, alignment and "facing" of the text. This allows the user to do dimensioning that is not normally possible. (See DIMGAP.GVF Illustration) The user may select {Exit} from the [Draw] menu to abort the command. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {Pointer} --------------------------------- This command allows the user to make dimensions that need to be routed around objects in the way. It also allows the user to form angular dimensions. The user will be prompted, "First point @". This point defines where the arrow head will appear. The Next prompt is "Next point @". This point determines the orientation of the arrow head as well as drawing a dimension line 45 between the two points. The system will continue to prompt for "Next point @", allowing the user to route the dimension line around objects in the drawing until the user selects {Exit} from the [Draw] menu. The system will then draw the arrow head on the first line segment and display a bracket menu, "Dimension < Text > < Length > < Angle > < None >". If the user selects <Text>, the system will prompt the user for a string of text that will be placed "left justified" at the last point the cursor was resting on. If the user selects <Length>, then the system will prompt the user to select two points. The system will measure the distance between these two points and place the length, "left justified" at the last point the cursor was resting on before {Exit} was selected from the [Draw] menu. If the user selects <Angle>, the system will prompt the user for three additional points. The three prompts will be, "First angle point @", "Angle center point @" and "Last angle point @". The system will then measure the angle formed by these three points and display the bracket menu "Angle < Degrees > < Radians >". The user must select select the appropriate dimension type. The system will then prompt the user "Decimal points (0 to 6) =". The user must type in the number of decimal points of accuracy that this measurement will be displayed in. Note that if the measurement is 89.999 and the user selects 2, the system will format this number as 90, ie. number is rounded and trailing zeros are dropped. The system will then place the angular dimension, "left justified" at the last point the cursor was resting on before {Exit} was selected from the [Draw] menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {ArrowType} ----------------------------------- When this command is selected a drop down menu will be displayed with 15 (0-14) styles of arrowheads. Highlight the appropriate style and press "Enter" or "MLB" to select as the current style. The readout in the top left corner of the screen will display the current style. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {ArrowScale} ------------------------------------ When this command is selected the system will display the bracket menu "Arrow < X Scale > = ? < Y Scale > = ? < Auto >". The question marks will be the current scale of the arrows. Selecting <X Scale> will allow the user to change the scaling of the arrow parallel to the dimension line while selecting <Y Scale> allows the user to change the scaling perpendicular to the dimension line. Although the scaling of the arrows is not quite identical to that of the fonts, it is close enough that setting one equivalent to the other will produce a dimension that looks proper. The <Auto> command uses the value of the {CAD/CAM} {Vars} 46 {AutoSize} setting to configure the scaling of the arrows. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {Overlap} --------------------------------- This command is used to offset (underlap) the extension lines from the object being dimensioned and to extend the lines beyond the tips of the arrow heads in the dimension. When this command is selected, the system will display the bracket menu, "Extension Overlap < Arrow > = ? < Object > = ? < Auto >". The question marks will be the current settings of the overlap. If either <Arrow> or <Object> is selected, the user will be prompted for a value. This value is parsed in the same manner as any length measurement, ie the value must be in terms of the current setting of the {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {Units} menu. However, the units shown by the question mark always reflect the measurement in terms of floating point internal units, normally inches. eg. units parsed in cm. units are converted to inches for display of overlap. A negative number indicates underlap and a positive number indicates overlap. After these numbers are set, press "Escape" or "MRB" to return to the {CAD/CAM} menu. The <Auto> option sets the overlaps to the size specified in the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {AutoSize} command. In this case, the <Object> setting is actually negative {AutoSize} causing an underlap on the object side of the extension lines. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {Suppress} ---------------------------------- When this command is selected, the system will display the bracket menu "Suppress < Ext1 > = ? < Ext2 > = ? < Arw1 > = ? < Arw2 > = ?". The question marks will toggle between "No" and "Yes" when each item is selected. This allows the user to suppress the system from creating either the extension lines or arrowheads on a particular side of the dimension. "Ext1" and "Arw1" refer to the side of the dimension that corresponds to the first point selected while "Ext2" and "Arw2" correspond to the second point selected. After these menu items are set, press "Escape" or "MRB" to return to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {Pre/Suffix} ------------------------------------ This command allows the user to add a prefix or suffix to the dimension. One possibility for this ability is to dimension a drawing in units other than those shown in the {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {Units} menu. By selecting a generic unit, ie. no ', ", cm, m suffix, and then selecting an appropriate setting for the <Suffix>, (eg. angstroms, light years), the user may dimension the drawing with his new unit of measurement. This may also be used when tolerances must be shown in the drawing. Press "Escape" or "MRB" to return to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {Placement} ----------------------------------- When this command is selected, the system displays the menu, "Text Placement < Aligned > < UCS >". Selecting <Aligned> causes 47 dimension text to be aligned with the dimension line while selecting <UCS> causes the dimension text to align with the UCS X axis. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {Orientate} ----------------------------------- When this command is selected, the system displays the menu, "Text Orientation < Standard > < Stacked >". The <Stacked> option makes the dimension text form one letter on top of the next like a vertical sign. The <Standard> option causes the dimension text to appear normally. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {DualDim} --------------------------------- When this command is selected, the system displays the menu "Dimensioning < Single > < Dual > < Prompt >". The <Single> option uses the setting in the {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {Units} menu when forming the dimension. This is the normal way that dimensions are done. When <Dual> is selected, the system displays a menu identical to the {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {Units} from which the user picks the units to be displayed for the second dimension. This is normally one of the metric units settings if the user is working with ft inch. The system will then form dimensions with the second dimension in brackets next to the first. The <Prompt> option causes the system to prompt the user for the text that will appear in the dimension. The prompt will happen after the dimension points are selected. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Group menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu allows the user to work on a group of surfaces at one time. All of the commands in this menu force the user to define the group of surfaces before carrying out the command. The group selection process is identical for each command in this menu. When any one of the {Grup} commands is selected, the system will display the menu, " < New Group > < Previous Group >". If <New Group> is selected, the system will discard all surfaces in the previous group (if any) and proceed. If <Previous Group> is selected, the system will keep any previously selected surfaces (if any) and proceed. The system will then display the selection menu,"< Add > < Subtract > < BoxAdd > < Finish >". If <Add> is selected, the user will be prompted, "Select Surface 48 @" and the system will go into "Draw"mode. The user must then place his cursor on the edge of a surface he wishes to "Add" to the group and press "Enter" or "MLB". The system will then search the drawing for surfaces that fall within aperture range of the cursor. If a surface is found, the system "ghosts" the surface and displays the standard "Snap" menu, "This surface ? < Snap > < Moveto > < Next > < Exit >". If the user selects <Snap> or <Moveto>, the system will add this surface to the selection set. If the user selects <Next>, the system will attempt to find the next surface within aperture range. If one is not found, the user is returned to the selection menu. If <Exit> is selected, the user is returned to the selection menu. If <Subtract> is selected, the user will again be prompted to "Select Surface @". Again, the same process will be followed to subtract or remove the selected surface from the selection set. If <BoxAdd> is selected, the user will be prompted for two opposing corners of a "rubber band" box. All surfaces that fall entirely within the box will be added to the selection set. If <Finish> is selected, the user will continue on with the steps necessary to complete the {Grup} command. If "Escape" or "MRB" is pressed, the system will abort the {Grup} command. The maximum number of surfaces that can be collected into one group is controlled by the {Vars} {Groupsize} command and the amount of available memory in the system. The user may purchase a version of PrintCADD 3-D that allows very large selection sets if they have expanded memory. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Grup} {Move} ------------------------------ After establishing the selection set, the system will prompt for two points, "Origin @" and "Offset @". These points establish the direction and distance that the group will be moved, ie. if the second point is 2' to the left and 3' above the first point, then the group will be moved 2' to the left and 3' up. If {Exit} is selected from the [Draw] menu, the command will be aborted. After the two points are selected the system will move the group and perform the regeneration. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Grup} {Scale} ------------------------------- After establishing the selection set, the system will prompt the user for a scale factor. If the user types in a number less than 1, the group will be scaled smaller. If the number is larger than 1, the group will be scaled larger. If the user presses "Escape", the command will abort. 49 After the scale factor has been entered, the user will be prompted, "Origin Point @". This point serves as the point from which the scaling will be referenced. It is normally in the center of the surfaces to be scaled because all scaled surfaces will be pulled towards or pushed away from this point, depending on whether the scaling makes the group larger or smaller. The further the surface is from the origin, the more that the surface will travel from its placement before the {Scale} command. After the origin point is selected, the system will scale the group and perform the regeneration. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Grup} {Rotate} -------------------------------- After establishing the selection set, the system will display the bracket menu, "< Continue > < Rotation Angle > = ?". The question mark will be a number, in degrees, that the system will rotate the object around the user selected axis of rotation. A rotation of 180 degrees would, for instance, perform a "mirroring" of the surface. All rotations are performed according to the "right hand rule". If the user selects <Rotation Angle> the system will prompt for an angle, in degrees, to rotate the group. Once the user has established the "rotation angle" and selected <Continue>, the system will prompt the user to select two points that form the axis of rotation. The second point is positive in relation to the first point, therefore the thumb of the right hand would point from the first point towards the second point when figuring out the direction of the rotation. After these two points are selected, the system will rotate the group and perform the regeneration. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Grup} {Copy} ------------------------------ After establishing the selection set, the system will prompt for two points, "Origin @" and "Offset @". These points establish the direction and distance that the copy of the group will be moved, ie. if the second point is 2' to the left and 3' above the first point, then the copy of the group will be moved 2' to the left and 3' up from where the original group was. If {Exit} is selected from the [Draw] menu, the command will be aborted. After the two points are selected, the system will copy the group and perform the regeneration. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Grup} {ChangeColr} ------------------------------------ This command changes the color, linestyle, pattern, pattern foreground color and pattern background color of the selected group to the current system settings. 50 These colors and attributes are shown in the two icons in the top left hand corner of the screen while in the {CAD/CAM} menu. To change these settings see [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Colr}. After the selection group is established, the system will regenerate the drawing with the new colors. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Grup} {ChangeLayr} ------------------------------------ This command changes the layers of the selection set to that of the current layer setting. The current layer setting is shown on the top line of the screen beside the "Layr=" readout while in the {CAD/CAM} menu. See [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Layr} for information on setting the current layer. After the selection group is established, the system will regenerate the drawing with the surfaces in the selection set established on the new layer. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Grup} {OpenSurf} ---------------------------------- This command changes all surfaces in the selection set to the "open" surface type. After the selection group is established, the system will regenerate the drawing with the new surface types. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Grup} {CloseSurf} ----------------------------------- This command changes all surfaces in the selection set to the "closed" surface type. After the selection group is established, the system will regenerate the drawing with the new surface types. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Grup} {Delete} -------------------------------- This command deletes all selected surfaces from the drawing. After the selection group is established, the system will regenerate the drawing with the selected surfaces deleted from the drawing. After several uses of this command, use the [File] {Purge} command to return the file space associated with these deleted surfaces into drawing space. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Surface menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu is used for producing three dimensional objects by using surfaces that already exist within the drawing. Rectangles can be turned into into cubes or pyramids, circles can be transformed into tubes, globes and cones and splines can be 51 joined to form meshes. These are just a few of the possibilities. With a little practice and a thorough understanding of the commands virtually any 3-D object can be made. It is normally best to have at least one other window with an alternate view to confirm that these commands have performed as expected. The reason for this is that some commands may look like they have done nothing while others may look like they have done the job but both may be simply an optical illusion produced by the current view angle. See individual commands for more information on these effects. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Surf} {Thickness} ----------------------------------- This command is used to extrude a surface along the Z axis of the current UCS by a user defined amount. When the command is selected, the system will display the prompt, "Select surface @". The user must move the cursor close to the edge of the surface being extruded and press "Enter" or "MLB". The system will then display the standard surface "snap" menu to verify surface identification. After the user has verified the surface, the system will display the prompt, "Thickness =". The user then types in the thickness he wishes the surface to have and the system extrudes the surface the required thickness along the UCS Z axis. Keep in mind that, if your view is aligned with the UCS and the window is in parallel projection mode, the thickness will not be seen until the view is rotated. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Surf} {Extrude} --------------------------------- This command is similar to the {Thickness} command except that the extrusion is performed along a user specified axis rather than the UCS Z axis. The user must be careful to add a certain amount of depth to the extrusion or the surfaces will be coplanar and not 3-D in nature even though they appear at first glance to be 3-D. The user will be asked to select and verify the surface that needs to be extruded. After verification, the system will prompt for two points, "Origin @" and "Offset @". These two points show the system the direction and distance of the extrusion. For instance if the offset point is 2' to the left, 1' above and 3' deeper than the origin point, then the surface will be extruded 2' to the left, 1' up and 3' deep. After the second point is entered, the system will form the extrusion and return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Surf} {CutToPlane} ------------------------------------ This command allows the user to "cut" an extrusion with a defined cutting plane. This would, for instance, allow the user to mate a rectangle defining the top of a chimney to the roof of a house. 52 The user will be asked to select the surface that requires extrusion. This is done by the normal surface selection process. Once the surface is selected, the system will ask the user to specify the depth of the extrusion. If the surface does not meet the cutting plane before the specified depth, the system will work in a similar manner to the {Thickness} command. It is therefore necessary to specify a distance that is beyond the depth of the cutting plane. The system will then prompt the user to select three points that specify the cutting plane. In the case of the chimney rectangle to roof extrusion the user would specify three corners of the roof. The system will then form the required extrusion and return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. It should be noted that the extrusion is not "capped" by another surface. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Surf} {Join} ------------------------------ This command is used to join one surface to another surface. Normally the surfaces are of the same shape but of different sizes. For instance joining a circle to another circle of 0 radius could result in a cone. Joining a square to another square with 0 length sides could result in a pyramid. While this command is very powerful, it has a number of pitfalls. As the first line segment in one surface is joined to the first line segment of the second surface, an "hourglass" shape might happen if one circle was constructed from a front plan UCS and the other circle was constucted from a back plan UCS. Even if a single line, constructed left to right, was joined to another line, constructed right to left, this "hourglass" shape would appear. If the user is trying to join two complex surfaces it may be best to join the surface to a scaled copy of itself. If one surface has more line segments than another surface, the segments are joined until one of the surfaces runs out of segments. Virtually all of the problems associated with this command can be solved with a little experimentation. When this command is selected the system will ask the user to select and verify the two surfaces to be joined. After the second surface is selected, the system will "join" the two surfaces and the user will be returned to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Surf} {Revolve} --------------------------------- This command allows the user to revolve a surface about a user defined axis of revolution, producing revolved surfaces. One of the things to keep in mind when using revolved surfaces, is the number surfaces that will be produced by the command. For instance, revolving a 256 <Sides> circle into a 256 <Sides> globe will produce 256 x 256 surfaces. The 65,536 surfaces will 53 take over 5 megabytes of hard disk space and an extremely long time to render. As well, the limit to the number of closed surfaces in one view on which hidden line elimination can be performed, is 8000, so producing an object of this complexity serves very little purpose. When this command is selected, the system will display the bracket menu, "< Continue > < Sides > = ? < End Angle > = ?". The <Sides> option allows the user to establish the number of "sides" that the object will have. The more sides, the smoother the surface. The <End Angle> option establishes the angle, in degrees, through which the surface is revolved. When <Continue> is selected the system will prompt the user to select and verify the surface to be revolved. After the surface has been established, the system will prompt the user for two points on the axis of revolution, "First rotation axis point @" and "Second rotation point @". As normal, the second point is positive in relation to the first point and shows the direction of the thumb for the right hand rule. After the second point is selected the system will revolve the surface and return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Surf} {RadArray} ---------------------------------- This command allows the user to make radial arrays of the surface selected. A radial array is simply an object where copies of the selected surface are laid down in a circle or arc. When this command is selected, the bracket menu, "< Continue > < Sides > = ? < End Angle > = ?", will appear. The <Sides> option establishes the number of copies that the radial array will have while the <End Angle> option establishes the amount of angle, in degrees, that copies of the surface will be distributed through. After the user selects <Continue> the surface will prompt the user to select and verify the surface to be copied. After verification of the surface, the user will be prompted to select two points that describe the rotation axis. The second point is positive in relation to the first point and describes the direction in which the thumb points, in the right hand rule. Once the rotation axis has been established, the system will form the radial array and return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Surf} {Surf Part} ----------------------------------- This menu allows the user to insert previously constructed parts into the drawing. See [File] {Create} {Font} for information on the construction of these parts. When this command is selected the user will be prompted to select the part for insertion from a "list" menu. Once the part has been selected, the system displays the bracket menu, "< Box > < Stacked > < Between > < Left > < Right >". 54 These commands correspond to similar selections in the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Text} menu. The <Box> option will prompt the user to select three corners of a "rubber band" parallelogram that describe the shape and "facing" of the inserted part. Once the third corner of the parallelogram is selected, the system will insert the part and return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. The <Stacked> option is similar to the <Box> option except that if the points are entered in the same order, the "surf part" will be rotated by 90 degrees. This basically allows the algorythm to fit a different set of selection points. The <Between> option allows the user to place the part between two points. After the user selects <Between>, the system will display the "scaling" menu, "< X scale > = ? < Y scale > = ? < Auto >". This menu allows the user to establish the size of the object along the Y axis. The <X scale> option is ignored as the part will be "stretched" along the X axis to fill the gap between two user selected points. The <Auto> option scales the object so that it will become the size set in the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {AutoSize} command. To continue, the user must press "Escape" or "MRB". The user will then be prompted, "Start @" and "End @". These are the two points that the part will be placed "between". Once the second point is selected the system will insert the part in the drawing and return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. The <Centered> option will again allow the user to select the <X scale> and <Y scale> of the part by use of a "scaling" menu. Once the scaling is established, the user must press "Escape" or "MRB" to continue. The user will then be prompted to select the point at which the part will "center" around. Once this point is selected, the system will draw the part so that it aligns with the UCS X and Y axes at the scale selected. The user will then be returned to the {CAD/CAM} menu. The <Left> and <Right> options are identical to the <Centered> option except that the part will be left justified or right justified to the point selected. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Color menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- The settings in this menu establish the color and style of lines within a surface as well as the pattern and color of the fill for the surface. The surface will not assume these characteristics until the surface is established as an "open" or "closed" surface type, ie. the "current" surface will simply assume the characteristics of the surface established previously until the "current" surface becomes either "closed" or "open" type. Even then the screen needs a "redraw" to see the true colors. This may seem a little confusing at first but really shouldn't be a 55 concern as these colors can be changed very easily via the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Grup} {ChangeColr} command. See the "Surfaces" section in "3-D geometry and Coordinate Systems" chapter. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Colr} {Line Color} ------------------------------------ When this command is selected the system will display a drop down menu with 15 choices for line color. Select the color that you wish the "current" surface and all subsequent surfaces to assume for the lines that mark the edge of the surface. After selection, the arrow icon, second from the left at the top of the screen, will show the color selected. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Colr} {Line Style} ------------------------------------ When this command is selected a drop down menu will appear that allows the user to select 1 of 15 line styles that the "current" surface and all subsequent surfaces will assume. This is the style of the lines that outline the edge of the surface. After selection, the arrow icon at the top of the screen, will show the style selected. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Colr} {PattFgdCol} ------------------------------------ This command allows the user to select 1 of 15 colors that will be used as the "foreground" color of the pattern used for filling the interior of "closed" surfaces. The pattern icon in the top left hand corner of the screen will reflect the color selected. The user must use the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {Quickhide} command to actually show the surfaces with the selected colors. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Colr} {PattBgdCol} ------------------------------------ This command allows the user to select 1 of 15 colors that will be used as the "background" color of the pattern used for filling the interior of "closed" surfaces. The pattern icon in the top left hand corner of the screen will reflect the color selected. The user must use the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {Quickhide} command to actually show the surfaces with the selected colors. This command will do nothing if the current pattern is solid as the solid pattern has no background attribute. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Colr} {SysPattern} ------------------------------------ This command allows the user to select 1 of 15 patterns numbered 0 to 14 built in to PrintCADD 3-D. The second pattern, "1", in the list is especially useful as it blends the foreground and background colors to produce many other colors. The pattern icon in the top left hand corner of the screen will reflect the pattern selected. The user must use the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {Quickhide} command to display the drawing with the surfaces patterned accordingly. 56 [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Colr} {UsrPattern} ------------------------------------ This command allows the user to select 1 of 15 patterns numbered 15 to 29 that the user has designed via the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Colr} {UsrPattMake} command. The pattern icon in the top left hand corner of the screen will reflect the pattern selected. The user must use the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {Quickhide} command to display the drawing with the surfaces patterned accordingly. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Colr} {UsrPattMake} ------------------------------------- This command allows the user to design their own patterns for use in drawings. The patterns designed, are held in the "Prcad.def" file so if the user wishes to transfer drawings using these patterns to another system then the "Prcad.def" file should be transferred as well. If the user does not transfer this file, the surfaces which use these patterns will simply use the pattern that is defined in the target system. If the user redefines a user pattern, all surfaces using the user pattern will assume the new pattern definition. When this command is selected, the system will display the user pattern menu. The user must then select the pattern "slot" they wish to edit. Once the pattern "slot" has been selected, the system will prompt the user for 8 numbers between 0 and 255. These numbers are converted to there binary (base 2) equivalents to form an 8 by 8 pattern where the binary 1's assume the pattern foreground color and the binary 0's assume the pattern background color. Number typed in Binary equivalent ------------------------------------------------------ 1 00000001 1 00000001 1 00000001 255 11111111 16 00010000 16 00010000 16 00010000 255 11111111 ------------------------------------------------------ The preceding table would produce a "brick" pattern. After definition of the pattern the system will use the defined pattern as the current system pattern. The pattern icon in the top left hand corner of the screen will reflect this pattern. Due to a bug in the Microsoft (Copyright) Professional Development System 7 and QuickBasic (Copyright) compilers, the system, (PrintCADD 3-D), may decide that the pattern has a chance of locking the system when used and require the user to redefine the pattern. Even so, some patterns may be overlooked and the user should be aware of some rules when designing the pattern. 57 1 - The first number in the pattern must be non zero. 2 - Do not use 2 consecutive numbers that are 0. 3 - Test the pattern before using in a drawing ----------------------------------------------------------------- Layer menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu is used to divide the drawing into manageable blocks of information. As a drawing becomes more complex, different operations performed on the drawing will take more time to complete. This is especially true of operations that require screen regenerations. There also may be times when it would be advantageous to "turn off" parts of the drawing before printing. For instance, text might be displayed backwards because the current view is looking from behind the text. Yet another use of layers is to allow surfaces that have been assigned the "open" surface type to be displayed in hidden line and "quickhide" views. This allows the user to display text or dimensions via the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {DrawLayer} command even though it has been"hidden" from the drawing. All surfaces are assigned to a layer. When the layer is "locked off", the layer will not be shown or recalculated when a regeneration is performed. This can save a lot of time if the layer is not needed. For instance the user could "lock off" the "living room", "bedroom" and "kitchen" layers while working on the "bathroom" layer. After finishing the "bathroom" layer the other layers could be "locked on" to show the complete view. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Layr} {Select} -------------------------------- This command allows the user to select the layer to be used from a list menu that displays all of the available layers in the drawing. The "current" surface and all subsequent surfaces will be assigned to this layer. If the layer is currently "locked off" then it will be "locked on" automatically. The current layer is displayed beside the "La=" readout on the top line of the screen. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Layr} {Create} -------------------------------- This command allows the user to create a new layer for use in the current drawing. The system will display the prompt, "Layer Name >". The user may use up to 13 letters to "name" the layer. Once the name is entered the layer will become the current layer. The user may create up to 255 layers per drawing. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Layr} {Lock} ------------------------------ This command allows the user to turn a layer on or off. This command has no effect on the current layer because the current layer may never be turned off. 58 When this command is selected, the system will display a list menu of all the layers in the current drawing. Beside each layer name is either a "-" or a "X". The "-" means the layer is turned off while the "X" means the layer is turned on. The user must select the layer to toggle the layer on or off. Once the layers are set to the user's wishes, press "Escape" or "MRB" to return to the {CAD/CAM} menu. A window regeneration must be performed before the command takes effect. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Layr} {Change} -------------------------------- This command allows the user to change the name associated with a layer. This is especially useful for changing the name, "No Name", that is automatically assigned by the system to the first layer of the drawing. When this command is selected, the system will display a list of all layers in the drawing. The user must select the name to be changed. Once the layer name is selected the user will be prompted for a new name to assign to the layer. The user types in the new name and the system will change the name and make this layer the current layer before returning the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Modify menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This "modify" menu allows the user to change the position of points and allows the user to assign the "closed" or "open" surface type to the "current" surface. It also allows the user to delete items starting with the last point entered all the way back to the beginning of the drawing. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Mdfy} {Move Point} ------------------------------------ This command allows the user to move any visible point in the drawing to a new location. When using this command it is normally a good idea to make sure that the current UCS lies parallel to any "closed" surface(s) that contain points to be moved. This assures that the point will be moved to a point that is co-planar with the other points on the surface. The system will display the prompt, "Point to move @", and display a box shaped cursor. The user must move the box so that it surrounds the point to be moved and press "Enter" or "MLB". The system will highlight the surface that the point belongs to, place an oversized cursor on the point and then display the snap menu, "This point ? < Snap > < Moveto > < Next > < Exit >". If the user selects <Snap> or <Moveto> the system will move the cursor so it rests on the point and display the prompt, "New location @". The user must then move the cursor to the new location and press "Enter" or "MLB" or use other items available in the [Draw] menu to relocate the point. Once the new location point is established, the system will display another bracket menu, "< Another Point > < ReDraw > < RegenAll >". Selecting 59 <Another Point> will allow the user to move another point. The <Redraw> option will redraw the current window with the points at there new positions and return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. The <RegenAll> option will update all windows and return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. If the user presses "Escape" or "MRB", the system will redraw the window if a point has been moved or return the user directly to the {CAD/CAM} menu if a point has not been moved. It is important to note that in certain instances the user must move two points to achieve the desired effect. For instance the user may have to move both the start point and the end point of a 360 degree circle or rectangle to keep the surface "closed". In these instances, it is possible to use the <Near Snap> option from the [Draw] menu to provide precise alignment of these two points. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Mdfy} {MoveCentPt} ------------------------------------ This command allows the user to move the "center" or "fill" point of a surface. The command works in an identical manner to the {Move Point} command except that box cursor must be moved so that it straddles an edge of the surface whose center point is being moved and the snap menu places the over sized cursor at the current center point position of the surface. The user should not move the center points of rectangles, 360 degree circles, parallelograms or surf parts as these points have been aligned precisely by the system and provide a useful reference point for the {CenterSnap} command. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Mdfy} {Stretch} --------------------------------- This command allows the user to stretch a selected portion of the drawing to a new location. It is useful when modifying portions of the drawing to become shorter or longer. It is also a fast method for relocating a portion of the drawing. The user will be asked to draw a box around the portion of the drawing that needs to be "stretched". All points (vertices) within this box will be affected. This includes the center (fill) points that fall within the box so be sure that that your "stretch" does not modify these points so they fall outside of the surface or you will be forced to use the {Mdfy} {MoveCentPt} command to realine the center points with the interior of the surface. Once the box is drawn, the program will prompt the user to select two points that specify the distance and the direction of the "stretch". Once these two points are selected, the system will display the bracket menu, "< Redraw > < RegenAll >. If the user wishes to update the current window only, the <Redraw> command will provide the faster alternative. 60 After the user has selected the appropriate command, the system will redraw or regenerate to the new view and return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Mdfy} {SurfLast} ---------------------------------- This command allows the user to assign the "closed" or "open" surface type to the "current" surface. When this command is selected, the system displays the bracket menu, "< Closed Surface > < Open Surface >". In either case, if the current surface contains any entities, the user will be prompted, "Center point @". The user must then place the cursor at the position for the center point and press "Enter" or "MLB". If the user presses "Escape" or "MRB", the surface will still be formed but the center point will be automatically assigned by the system. If there are no entities in the "current" surface, then the user will not be prompted for a center point but will be returned to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Mdfy} {DeleteLast} ------------------------------------ When this command is selected, the system will display the bracket menu, "< Regen > < RegenAll > Delete last - < Line > < Series > < Surface >". If the user selects <Line>, the system will delete the last line segment entered into the drawing file. If the line is part of a "closed" or "open" surface, then the surface is turned into the "current" surface. The system will place a "blip" at the end point the line being deleted from the system. If the line being deleted is the first line in a line series, then the system will place a "blip" at both ends of the line segment. This command can be selected continuously until the whole the drawing file is deleted. If the user selects <Series>, then the last line series entered into the drawing file will be deleted. All points in the line series will be marked with "blips" by the system. This command can be selected continuously until the whole drawing file is deleted. If the user selects <Surface>, the last surface entered into the drawing file will be deleted. This command can be selected continuously until the whole drawing file is deleted. The system will draw blips at each point on the surface being deleted. If the user selects <Regen>, the system will regenerate the current window with the deleted entities removed. If the user selects <RegenAll>, the system will regenerate all windows with the deleted entities removed. The user must be careful with this command as it will even delete lines, series and surfaces that are assigned to layers that have 61 been "turned off". ----------------------------------------------------------------- Vars menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu allows the user to assign settings to various system variables. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {AbsRelDbas} ------------------------------------ This menu allows the user to select the manner in which the readouts at the bottom of the screen display the cursor coordinates. When the user selects this command, the system displays the bracket menu, "Display Coordinates < UCS > < Relative > < Database >". If the user selects <UCS>, the system will display the coordinates in terms of distances from the the UCS origin along each axis of the current UCS. This is normally termed as "absolute" coordinates. If the user selects <Relative> the system will display coordinates in terms of distances from the last point entered along each axis of the current UCS. These coordinates are usually termed as "relative". If the user selects <Database>, the system will display coordinates in terms of PrintCADD 3-D's internal database. This "absolute" coordinate system is identical to the UCS invoked when a drawing file is first created. It basically conforms to a top plan view with the origin in the center of the {Limits} setting. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {Aperture} ---------------------------------- The setting of this variable controls several facets of PrintCADD 3-D. It controls the size of the cursor and the size of the area that the snap search will look at on the screen when searhing for snap objects. When this command is selected, the user is prompted to enter a number between 1 and 25. This number is multiplied by the length of a horizontal pixel unit in the current window to give a length that is used by the system for the aforementioned sizes. This allows the user to set cursor size and snap radius as apparent screen size rather than as a givenlength. Even after a "zoom" or selection of another window the size will remain in pixels and therefore allow the user to know how close he must come to an object to have it selected by a snap. The user will also be able to judge the distance with a greater amount of certainty because the size of the cursor reflects the size of this snap distance. 62 [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {CursorType} ------------------------------------ When this command is selected, the system will display the bracket menu, "< + > < X > < Box > < 3-D >". When <+> is selected, the drawing cursor will take on the shape of "+". It will be the width and height of the {Vars} {Aperture} setting. When <X> is selected the drawing cursor will take on the shape of "X". It will be the width and height of the {Vars} {Aperture} setting. When <Box> is selected the drawing cursor will take on the shape of a square box. It will be the width and height of the {Vars} {Aperture} setting. When <3-D> is selected the drawing cursor will be formed from three intersecting lines. One line will run parallel to the UCS X axis, one line will run parallel to the UCS Y axis and one line will run parallel to the UCS Z axis. The three lines will intersect at the current cursor position. Each line will be three times the size of the {Vars} {Aperture} setting. The reason for this is that the directions of the UCS axes will be much more evident with a longer line. Each line will be a different color. In perspective viewing mode the cursor will grow smaller as it goes away from the eye position and grow larger as it gets nearer to the eye position. It will be equal to the {Vars} {Aperture} setting at the viewing distance set when the window was put into "perspective" mode. The 3-D cursor will be shown only in the current drawing window. Other windows will use the "+" cursor. This prevents the cursors in other windows from over shooting the floating point accuracy of the system when they are put close to the view point of their own windows. One general note on all cursors is that when the cursor falls behind the viewing point in "perspective" viewing mode it will not reflect the true position of the cursor. If the cursor in the "current" window "freezes" while in "perspective" viewing mode it is an indication that the cursor either is behind the "clipping" point or that the user would be moving the cursor behind the clipping point, if it was moved any further. The 3-D cursor will normally become extremely large before this happens reflecting it's closeness to the view point. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {Blipmode} ---------------------------------- This command allows the user to control the shape of "blips" left on the screen when a point is entered into the system. "Blips" mark a point that has been selected on the screen. They are temporary in nature and will dissapear after a window "redraw" or "regenerate" command. The command works similarly to the {Vars} {CursorType} command except the bracket menu that appears has an additional option. 63 The additional option is <Off> which stops the system from using "blips" when a point is entered. Even when {Blipmode} is set to "off", the system may still leave blips for certain commands. The [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Mdfy} {DeleteLast} is an example of this type of command. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {DragLevel} ----------------------------------- This command is used to set the number of "elements" that will be displayed when the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {View} {Aim} <File> command is used. See the "PrintCADD 3-D Files" section of the manual for more information on "elements". [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {Limits} -------------------------------- This command allows the user to specify the amount of area that will be shown on the screen at a zoom level of 1. This area also controls the size of the regeneration area. The user will always see a dashed or dotted white line around the regeneration area. The size of this box on its shortest side will be the length of the {Limits} setting unless the user has used a {Regen-New} or <Regen-New> command to temporarily override the size of the regeneration field. In this case, the user may reset the regeneration box by performing a {Zoom}{ Limits} and {Rdrw} {Regen-new} command to set the regeneration limits back to the former setting. No matter what the size of the regeneration field though, the zoom level readout at the top of each window will show the amount of zoom as a reflection of the {Limits} setting. For more information see the [File] {Create} {Drawing} command. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {WindwRdOut} ------------------------------------ This command allows the user to shift the readouts at the top of the current window one readout field to the left thus allowing a different set of values to be displayed. The "Wind=" readout shows the number which is associated with a window. The first window created is assigned "1", the second, "2", the third, "3" and the fourth, "4". This allows the user to select the appropriate window when using the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Wndw} {Select} command. The "Zm=" readout tells the user the level of "zoom" that a window has. The "Proj=" readout tells the user whether the window is a parallel projection, "Prll" or a perspective projection, "Persp". The "View= X rotation, Y rotation, Z rotation" tells the user the amount of rotation around the X, Y and Z view axes. The "Winsiz= X length by Y length" tells the user the length of the window along the X and Y axes. The "Pixsiz= X pixels by Y pixels" tells the user the dimensions 64 of the window by the number of screen pixels that it covers. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {AutoSize} ---------------------------------- This command allows the user to set up the scaling that the system will use for the <Auto> commands. These include the {Text} {TextScale} <Auto>, {Dims} {ArrowScale} <Auto>, {Dims} {Overlap} <Auto> and the various {Surf Part} <Auto> commands. This means that text, dimensions, arrowheads and overlap may be kept consistent throughout the drawing. When this command is selected, the system will display the bracket menu, "Automatic sizing < Length > < Pixels >". When the <Length> option is selected the user will be prompted to enter the length that these various entities will become. The <Pixels> option allows the user to enter this size in horizontal pixel lengths of the "current" window. In this manner the user will be better able to judge the size that the entities will become, in comparison to the overall drawing. After the user has entered the appropriate size, the system sets all affected scales to this size. If the user then sets the scale to another value, within the individual scaling menus, they may select <Auto> from the scaling menu to return to this "master" scale. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {auToaline} ----------------------------------- The <Change> option toggles between forcing the cursor to realine with the {Units} grid at the start of each point selection (default) or simply allowing the spacing to continue from the last point selected whether it lies on an exact increment of the spacing grid or not. (See [Draw] {ucsAline}) [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {cuRsorsize} ------------------------------------ This command prompts the user for a drawing cursor size. The size is converted to horizontal pixel units. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {Grupsiz} --------------------------------- This command allows the user to set the maximum size of the groups that can be obtained with the {Grup} commands and {View} {Aim} command. The system will prompt the user for a maximum group size in surfaces. This command gives the user control over memory allocation performed by the system. If the user needs to move a large group of objects, then the system will take memory that is allocated to the hidden line commands and make it available to the group commands. Likewise by setting the group size to a smaller value, the system will make more memory available to the hidden line commands thus allowing more surfaces to be analyzed during these commands. The expanded memory versions of PrintCADD 3-D allow much larger groups for either of these commands. 65 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Zoom menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu allows the user to perform "zooming" and "panning". A "zoom" is where the drawing is enlarged as if put under a magnifying glass. "Zooms" are in terms of the {Limits} setting. For instance, if the {Limits} of the drawing was set to 10 feet then a "zoom" level of 2 would produce a visible area of 10 divided by 2 or 5 feet by 5 feet in the window. A "zoom" of 5 would produce an area of 2 feet by 2 feet. A "pan" is where the drawing is moved left, right, up or down to show an area of the drawing that was not visible in the window before the "pan" was performed. A "pan" is normally needed after a "zoom" because by "zooming" into the drawing causes portions of the drawing to not be visible. "Zooming" and "panning" have been optimized to perform as quickly as possible because the user will normally perform a great many of these operations when making a drawing. From time to time, when the user "Zooms" into a drawing a large amount, (normally over 50), the system may display the prompt, "Incomplete Redraw < Continue > < Regen-New >". This means that the system may have "cut" certain line segments out of the view because they caused a coordinate "overflow" condition. In more cases then not, the drawing will still look fine to the viewer because the "zoomed" view does not contain the points that were "cut" out. In this case the user can select <Continue> without any consequences. If the user finds that these "cuts" did affect his view then he may select <Regen-New> to regenerate the drawing at this new level of "zoom". However when the view is "zoomed" back out only the small portion of the view that was <Regen- New>'ed will be visible. In this case the user should perform an [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Zoom} {ZoomLimits} and [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {Regen-New} to re-establish the "zoom" and regeneration limits back to the original view and size. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Zoom} {Factor} -------------------------------- When this command is selected, the system will display the prompt, "Zoom factor =". The user must then type in the zoom factor required. The zoom factor is a number that represents the amount that the current view will be "zoomed" by. For instance, if the current "zoom" level is 4 and the user types in 3 at the prompt, then the "zoom" level will become 12. Once the "zoom" factor has been established, the system will display the prompt, "Zoom center @". The user must select the point in the current window that the view will be "zoomed" around. This point will become the center of the window in the "zoomed" view. 66 [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Zoom} {Level} ------------------------------- When this command is selected, the system will display the prompt, "Zoom level =". The user must then type in the level of zoom required. Once the "zoom" level has been established, the system will display the prompt, "Zoom center @". The user must select the point in the current window that the view will be "zoomed" around. This point will become the center of the window in the "zoomed" view. The current "zoom" level is shown on the readout line of each window. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Zoom} {ZoomScale} ----------------------------------- This command should be used if the user wishes to produce printfiles or plotted output at a specific scale. The program will zoom the current window so that it produces a specific scale on the hard copy material. The {QuikPrint} command, however, will not print to this scale. When this command is selected, the user will be prompted for the width of the page that the hard copy is being scaled for. The user must answer this prompt in units appropriate for the setting of the {UCS} {Units} menu. The program will then prompt the user for a scale factor. This factor is in terms of the area represented by the window to the physical area that will be produced by the plot or printfile. For example, if the user replied 50 to the prompt, the system would produce a scale where 1 unit in the plot represented 50 real units. After the user has given an appropriate scale, the system will zoom the current window so that printed or plotted output will assume this scale. The program will then return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Zoom} {WndwZoomIn} ------------------------------------ This command allows the user to draw a box around the area that they wish to "zoom" into. The system will display the prompt, "Zoom box corner @". The user must then select one corner of the box. The system will then display the prompt, "Zoom box opposite corner". As the user moves the cursor, a "rubber band" box will form between the first point selected and the current cursor position. The user then positions the box so it surrounds the area to be zoomed and presses "Enter" or "MLB". The zoom will be performed so that the area within the box fills the window. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Zoom} {WndwZmOut} ----------------------------------- This command allows the user to draw a box around the area that the current view within the window will be put into. This causes a zoom out action. The prompts are similar to the {WndwZoomIn} command. 67 [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Zoom} {ZmPrevious} ------------------------------------ This command causes the view to return to the view before the last zoom or pan command was selected. For instance, if the user zoomed in to a level of "5" and then zoomed out to a level of "2", then selecting {ZmPrevious} would cause the screen to zoom back to a level of "5". If the user pans to the left 20 feet and then selects {ZmPrevious}, the view would pan back to the right 20'. If there was no previous zoom or pan command in the current drawing session, then the system will perform a {ZoomLimits} command. If the viewing angle has changed, the system will zoom the view so that the previous zoom level is achieved and the center point (cursor position when zoom or pan performed) is again centered in the view, but the view angle will not be changed. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Zoom} {ZoomLimits} ------------------------------------ This command zooms the view to a zoom level of "1" and pans the view so that the database origin, (0, 0, 0), is in the center of the window. This command is very useful if the user has inadvertently "lost" the view, as it resets the view to original zoom and pan coordinates. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Zoom} {PullPan} --------------------------------- This command allows the user to "pull" another section of the drawing into view. When this command is selected, the system will display the prompt, "Point to pull @". The user must then select the point on the drawing he wishes to "pull" on. The system will then prompt the user, "New position @". The user must then select point that the first point selected will appear at on the screen. After this point is selected, the system will pan the view so that the first point selected will appear at the position of the second point selected. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Zoom} {ReCenter} ---------------------------------- This command pans the view so that the current cursor position becomes the center of the view in the current window. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Redraw menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu gives access to commands that provide hidden line elimination and shading of the view. There are also utility commands that redraw and regenerate the view. Although the hidden line algorythms are quite rudimentary and may not provide a perfect rendering of the view, the user may, through use of the tools provided in this menu, touch up the view so that it is accurate. The <Truesort> algorythm is normally very accurate in 68 parallel projections but does not work as well in perspective projections because of the distortion of surfaces caused by the projection. What is lost in precision of the view, is gained via the speed of the rendering process. These algorythms are substantially faster than other, more accurate, algorythms. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {ReDraw} -------------------------------- This command redraws the current window eliminating blips or ghosting that may have occurred during use of other commands available in the system. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {ReGenerate} ------------------------------------ This command is used when the regeneration area requires re- centering. This is not normally required, if the regeneration area has been set approximately twice as large as the drawing area via the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Vars} {Limits} command, but it will be invoked automatically by the system when certain other commands are used. The user will normally know when a regeneration is required by the system because the bracket menu, "Regenerate < Auto > < NewCenter >" will appear on the top line of the screen. The way in which the <Auto> option works depends on whether the current window is in "perspective" view mode or "parallel" view mode. In "perspective" mode the screen will regenerate at the current zoom level around exactly the same point that was used for the previous regeneration, ie. the drawing will pan back so this point is centered and then do the regeneration. In "parallel" mode the screen will regenerate around the center of the current window at the current zoom level. The drawing will not pan. The <NewCenter> option allows the user to select the point at which the drawing will regenerate around. The system will display the prompt, "View center @" and the user must then select the point that the regeneration will be centered about. This point will become the center of the window in the new regeneration. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {RegenAll} ---------------------------------- This command will regenerate all windows that are currently open. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {QuickHide} ----------------------------------- This command performs hidden line elimination and shading on the view in the current window. The surfaces will be filled with the patterns that were established when they were drawn. The system will also display the information line, "Sorting XXXX surfaces 69 YYYY surfaces available.". "XXXX" will be a number that indicates the number of surfaces in the current window. "YYYY" will be a number that depends upon the amount of available RAM in the computer and indicates the maximum number of surfaces that PrintCADD 3-D can handle. This information may flash by to quickly to see unless there are a significant amount of surfaces in the current view. The surfaces are sorted according to the distance of the center point of each surface from the view point. The surfaces are then displayed starting with the surface whose center point is furthest from the view and working towards the surface whose center point is closest. As each suface is displayed it blocks out those surfaces behind it. In many cases this produces very good results while in others the results may not be as good. In virtually all cases however, the user will be able to get a good idea of the relative view point and the depths of the various surfaces. This will allow the user to re-order the surfaces with other commands available in this menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {HiddenLine} ------------------------------------ This command works in a similar fashion to the previous {QuickHide} command except that the surfaces will be screen background color. This gives the illusion of hidden line elimination but the surfaces will not be patterned or shaded. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {FillSurf} ---------------------------------- This command allows the user to fill surfaces whose "center" or "fill" point was not within the window when the {QuickHide} command was performed. It also allows the user to "pull" surfaces that should not have been blocked to the front of the view. This essentially allows the user to re-order the surfaces so that the view in the window is correct. When this command is selected, the system will display the prompt, "Select surface @". The user must then place the cursor so that it falls within "aperture" range of an edge on the surface. The system will then display the snap verification menu. After the user has verified the surface that he wishes to fill, the system will display the prompt, "Fill point @". The user must then select a point on the interior of the surface to be filled. The system will then fill the surface with the colors and patterns that were selected for it when it was drawn. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {PullSurf} ---------------------------------- This command is similar to the {FillSurf} command except that the user does not need to select the fill point. The system will use the center point that was established when the surface was drawn. If the fill point is not within the window the surface will not be filled. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {LinSurf} --------------------------------- This command is identical to the {FillSurf} command except that 70 the surface will be filled with the screen background color thus performing hidden line elimination rather than shading of the surface. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {NoClearRdw} ------------------------------------ This command does not clear the screen before doing a redraw. This command is useful if the user has used a dashed line style for surfaces that have had hidden line or shading done on them. The hidden lines will then appear as dashed lines in the window. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {OutLinSurf} ------------------------------------ This command allows the user to outline a hidden or open surface. The user will be asked to select and verify the surface. The system will then draw that particular surface. This command is useful if the user wishes to reveal text or dimensions that were hidden by the hidden line elimination. This command has a down side in that the user must know where the surface was before the hidden line elimination was done because it will be hidden. Usually this isn't a problem but the user may wish to use the {DrawLayer} command, discussed next, to perform this operation. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {DrawLayer} ----------------------------------- When this command is selected the system will display a list of layers used in the drawing. The user must select the layer they wish to have drawn. This command is very useful if the user needs to reveal text or dimensions in a hidden line view of the drawing. By keeping the items that need to be revealed in a separate layer, the user will be able to reveal them with this command. ----------------------------------------------------------------- View Menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu allows the user to rotate the viewing angle of the drawing. Through a combination {View}, zoom and pan the user will be able to derive any view of the drawing they wish. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {View} {RotateXYZ} ----------------------------------- This command allows the user to set the viewing angle by telling the system the amount of rotation around each of the three principle axes of the database. The drawing will always be revolved about the database origin, (0, 0, 0). This command is easy to use, if the user only needs rotation about one of the axes, but becomes considerably more complicated when two or three axes are used. The system always considers X rotation, then Y and finally Z. The user may wish to use other methods within this menu to accomplish these complex rotations and then note the view angles in the readout of the window for reuse. When this command is selected, the system will first display the 71 regeneration menu, "Regenerate < Auto > < NewCenter >". In this instance the <NewCenter> option is probably the best as the system will center the view about this point once the view rotation has been done to the database. The system will then display, in turn, the prompts, "X rotation =", "Y rotation =" and "Z rotation =". The user must answer these prompts with a number that represents the degrees that the database will be revolved about each axis. After the last prompt is answered, the system will perform the view rotation. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {View} {Aim} ----------------------------- This command allows the user to perform a "dynamic" rotation of the drawing using either a "selection set" of surfaces in the drawing or the first {Vars} {DragLevel} amount of drawing "elements" that fall within the boundaries of the window at the view angle being shown. When this command is selected the system will display the regeneration menu, "Regenerate < Auto > < NewCenter >". Again the <NewCenter> option is probably the best as the user will be able to select the point that the view will keep centered in the window. The system will then display the bracket menu, "Aim type < File > < Group >". The <File> option uses the {Draglevel} setting to determine the number of elements that will be displayed for "aiming" purposes while the <Group> option allows the user to select the surfaces they wish to use as an "aiming" device. If the <Group> option is selected the user will have to go through a selection process that is identical to that of the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Grup} commands. This group, however, is a completely different "group" than those used in the {Grup} commands, so the <Previous Group> option is only valid if you have already selected an "Aim" selection set, not a {Grup} selection set. See [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Grup} menu for information on establishing selection sets. After the selection set is established the system will display the "Aim" bracket menu. If the <File> option is selected the system will go directly to the "Aim" menu, "< Axis > = X <-90> <-45> <-10> <-5> <-1> <1> <5> <10> <45> <90> < Regen >". The <Axis> option will toggle between "X", "Y" and "Z" and represents the axis about which rotation will be done. The <numbers> represent the amount of rotation that will be applied to the selected axis. When one of the <numbers> is selected the "elements" or "selection set" will be rotated around the given axis thus allowing the user to "aim" the view. The <Regen> option will cause the drawing to be regenerated with the new view and return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. 72 If the user presses "Escape" or "MRB" the system will redraw the old view and return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {View} {TopPlan} ... {LeftPlan} ------------------------------------------------ The various "Plan" views allow the user to select the direction in which the view is directed. {TopPlan} is the original view when the drawing is first created. All other {Plan} views refer to other directions of view. The user will be prompted to use <Auto> or <NewCenter> and then the view will be regenerated with the appropriate viewing angle. After the drawing is regenerated, the system will display the menu, "Set UCS to view < Yes > < No >". This menu allows the user to make certain that the UCS and view correspond. If the user selects <Yes> the system will perform a command identical to that of the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {UCStoView} command and then return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {View} {ViewToUCS} ----------------------------------- This command allows the user to align the view to the current UCS. After this command is performed, the view will be aligned so that the user is looking directly down on the current UCS. The origin of the UCS will be in the center of the window, the bottom and top of the window will be parallel to the X axis of the UCS and the left and right borders of the window will be parallel to the Y axis of the UCS. Once the user is comfortable with the idea of "User Coordinate Systems" and how they are used and created, they will find that this is probably the easiest manner in which to get a view. The user can use a combination of {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {3Point} and {ViewToUCS} to precisely align the window in a certain viewing direction. See [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {3Point}. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {View} {Look} ------------------------------ When the user selects this command the system "hides" the {CAD/CAM} menu, allowing the user to see anything that lies under it. To have the menu return, press any key or mouse button. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Window menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- PrintCADD 3-D can have up to 4 windows. Each window can have an independent view angle, zoom, pan and projection type. Each window will show where the cursor lies in relation to its own view angle and all "rubber band" drawing entities will show independently in each window as the entity is being placed. This allows the user to visually assure themselves that the drawing is being properly constructed in 3-D space. Each window also has its own independent UCS, allowing the user to select windows without having to go through the process of re-setting or adjusting the UCS. Windows may be any shape allowing the user to utilize the screen space to it's maximum, ie long narrow windows 73 for tall objects and long side views or square windows for symetrical objects. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Wndw} {Select} -------------------------------- This command allows the user to select the "current" window. Many commands relate to the "current" window. For example, when the user selects {Redraw}, the "current" window redraws, if the user selects {UCS} {3Point} then the UCS is for the "current" window, if the user selects a {Zoom} command then the zoom is performed in the "current" window. The current window can be recognised by the fact that it's upper "readout" line is highlighted. The window's "letter" will be visible in the upper left hand corner of the readout (That is if the readout has not been "shifted" via the {Vars} {WndwRdOut} command). The {Select} command uses this number to identify which window is being selected. When this command is selected, the system displays the menu, "< Window A > < Window B > < Window C > < Window D >". After the user selects the window that they wish to make "current", the system will regenerate the selected window and highlight the upper readout bar. The user will then be returned to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Wndw} {Create} -------------------------------- When this command is selected, the system will display the regeneration menu. The system is referring to the current window, not the one that is being created. After the user has selected the appropriate response, the system will display the prompt, "Upper left window corner @". The cursor will not be restricted to the current window but will be free to move throughout the "window area". The [Draw] menu will not be available for use. The user must then move the cursor to the point that they wish to use as the upper left corner of the window. Unlike other drawing commands the window corner will be entered whether the "Enter", "Escape", "MLB" or "MRB" is pressed. Although windows are allowed to overlap this may become confusing because two cursors and two drawing objects will appear in the same window. This may have other uses though, especially when used in conjunction with screen capture utilities or the DOS graphics command. After the user has selected this point, the system will display the prompt, "Lower right window corner @". The system will "rubber band" a box between the previously selected point and the cursor, allowing the user to visualize where the window will appear. Once this point is selected, the system will form a window and regenerate the drawing oriented in a "Top Plan" fashion within this window. This window will be given a number and will become the current window. 74 [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Wndw} {Close} ------------------------------- When this command is selected, the system will display the menu, "Window to close ? < Window A > < Window B > < Window C >". In fact, only those windows which are allowed to be closed, will be shown in brackets to the right of the prompt. The current window can never be closed. Once the user has selected the appropriate window to be closed, the system will blank the area that the window used to cover andreturn the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Wndw} {Resize} -------------------------------- After this menu item is selected, the system will display the regeneration menu. After the user has selected the appropriate resonse, the system will blank the area that the current window used to be in and display the prompt, "Upper left window corner @". The user must then select the position on the screen where the upper left window corner will appear. The system will then display the prompt, "Lower right window corner @". A "rubber band" box will appear between the previously selected point and the cursor. Once the second corner of the box is selected, the system will regenerate the window and the user will be returned to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Wndw} {Projection} ------------------------------------ This menu allows the user to select from two different types of projection. The "parallel" projection receives it's name from the fact that the "projectors" remain parallel even as they go further into the distance. On the other hand, the "perspective projectors" converge towards a single point as they go further from the viewing position. "Projectors" are lines that run parallel to the "view" Z axis. If the user does either a {ViewToUCS} or a {UCStoView} then the "view" Z axis and the UCS Z axis will be in the same direction. The parallel projection is useful from a drafting stand point because the X and Y lengths can be measured directly from the a plan view without fear that lines which are parallel but at a greater distance will be smaller. The perspective view gives a much more realistic view of an object. The depth of objects can be conveyed because items grow smaller as they get further away. When this command is selected, the system will display the menu, "< Parallel > < Perspective >". If the user selects <Parallel>, the system will display the menu, "Regenerate < Auto > < NewCenter >". After the user has selected the appropriate response the system will regenerate the window to a "parallel" view and return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. If the user selects <Perspective>, the system will display the 75 prompt, "Vanishing Point @". The user must select the point to which all of the projectors will eventually converge. Once the vanishing point is selected, the system will display the prompt, "Viewing distance =". If the viewing position is closer to the object, then the perspective effect will be more pronounced and vice versa. The user may use the standard methods, based on the setting of {UCS} {Units}, for giving this distance to the system. The view point will be set back this amount of distance from the plane that is parallel to the current view and intersects the database origin. Once the viewing distance is set, the system will display the prompt, "Clipping distance =". The clipping distance is measured from the eye, forward. This allows the user to cut away walls or other obstructions that lie between the view point and the object that the user wishes to view. Again, this length may be given in units that correspond to imperial, metric or scientific depending on the setting of the {UCS} {Units} setting. The system will then display the regeneration menu. After the user has responded appropriately, the system will regenerate the view in perspective mode. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Wndw} {Aspect} -------------------------------- This command adjusts the aspect of the current window to provide the user with a "square" view. This command is needed because not all monitors offer an exact ratio of four units width to 3 units height. This is the normal ratio that PrintCADD 3-D uses internally when presenting the drawing in the window. This ratio is normalized to a value of 1 for the user. The user may find the exact value for use on his monitor by drawing a large square on the screen, making sure that the UCS and view are aligned. The user must then measure the square on each side with a ruler. The level of aspect, to make the square appear square, is then the ratio of the height of the square over the width of the square. When this command is selected, the system will display the prompt, "Aspect (.1-10) =". The user must then type in the ratio that they require. The system will then display the regeneration menu and will regenerate the window with the correct aspect after the appropriate selection is made. One other use for this command may be to square up {Quik Print}'s made in the [Output] menu. By experimentation with the {Aspect} menu item a user should be able to make these prints appear with the proper aspect no matter what the printer and video mode. This is what PrintCADD 3-D does automatically when doing {PrintFile}'s. 76 ----------------------------------------------------------------- UCS menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu controls most of the aspects of the user coordinate system. As the UCS controls the behaviour of a great many of the commands in PrintCADD 3-D, the user should have a thorough understanding of this term and it's application. The user may want to review the chapter on 3-D geometry and coordinate systems at the beginning of the manual. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {3Point} ------------------------------- This command allows the user to establish a user coordinate system via the use of three points. The user will be prompted, in turn, to select the origin of the UCS, a point on the X axis of the UCS and a point in the positive Y direction of the UCS. The system will then be able to determine the directions in which all three axes of the UCS run, as well as to align the cursor so that it runs parallel to these three axes when the appropriate keys are pressed or the mouse is moved. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {UCStoView} ---------------------------------- When this command is selected, the system aligns the UCS so that the origin is in the center of the window, the X axis runs parallel to the top and bottom of the window, the Y axis runs parallel to the left and right sides of the window and the Z axis runs perpendicularly to the window. The UCS is thus aligned with the view. This command is especially useful if the user wishes to keep text square to the view. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {ucstoSurf} ---------------------------------- When this command is selected, the system prompts the user to select a line segment. This line segment is used as the UCS X axis. The system then realines the UCS so that it falls on the surface that the line segment belongs to. [Edit {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {Origin} ------------------------------ This command alines the UCS so that it corresponds directly to the internal database maintained by PrintCADD 3-D. This conforms to the top plan view with the origin in the center of the window, established when the drawing was first created. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {CursrSpace} ----------------------------------- This command sets the amount of space that the cursor will jump parallel to the current UCS axes when the appropriate key is pressed or the mouse moved. Mouse movement is actually governed by a multiplier effect that detects the speed of the mouse as well, but the movements will be a multiple of the basic spacing units in the X and Y directions. It is important to note that, as the cursor moves towards the view point in perspective viewing 77 mode that these jumps seem to get larger. In fact the jump remains the same, but the divergence of the projectors as they approach the view point becomes larger. This is consistent with the fact that although an inch at 100' can barely be seen while at 1' away from the eye it is easily seen. In either case 1 inch remains 1 inch. When this command is selected the system will prompt, "X axis spacing =", "Y axis spacing =" and "Z axis spacing =". The user may respond to these prompts with a length that is consistent with the current setting of the {UCS} {Units} command. The user will be returned to the {CAD/CAM} menu after these prompts are answered. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {Units} ------------------------------ This menu item controls the type of units that the system will display in the coordinate readouts at the bottom of the screen. It also controls the units that the dimensioning utilities will apply to the drawing as well as the way in which lengths are parsed by the system. When this command is selected, the system will display a list menu that contains 43 different formats, in 3 groups, for use within the program. The first 21 use imperial measurements, the next 15 are metric, while the last 7 are "generic". If the user selects any one of the first 21 formats, the system will parse user input as imperial measurements. The coordinate readouts will format according to the format displayed in the list menu and all dimensions, other than angular, will use this format. Choosing one of the other two groups will have the same effect. The user may freely choose any unit, at any time, however, the "generic" input will be stored in the file as inches. Generic is useful when dimensioning because the ', ", m and cm signs can be replaced by the users own "suffix", (See {CAD/CAM} {Dims} {Pre/Suffix}). After the user has selected the measurement, the system will return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {VisiGrid} --------------------------------- This command allows the user to create a grid that can cover any parallelogram shaped surface. The user can use this grid for [Draw] {GridSnap} snaps. The user may align the grid at any orientation in 3-D space. When the user selects this command, the system will display the menu, "Grid Type < Off > < Dot > < Line >". The <Off> command allows the user to turn the current grid off. The grid will not dissapear until a {Redraw} or {Regenerate} is performed. The grid will, however, become inactive. 78 The <Dot> command draws a grid with dots while the <Line> command draws a grid of intersecting lines. In either case, if one of these commands is selected, the system will display the prompt, "First corner @". The user must then select a point for the first corner of the parallelogram that describes the grid. This corner is the "origin" of the grid. The grid will be measured outward from this point along the two edges of the parallelogram. After this point is selected, the system will prompt for the second and third corners of the parallelogram. The system will "rubber band" the parallelogram, allowing the user to visualise the shape of the grid. After all three points on the parallelogram are selected the system will display the prompt, "Grid spacing origin @". This point will be used as the relative point of the grid spacing. After this point is selected, the system will display the prompt, "Grid spacing offset @". The distance between these two points determines the spacing that will be applied to the grid. The system will then draw the grid and return the user to the {CAD/CAM} menu. [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Exit} ----------------------- When this command is selected the user will be returned to the "Main" menu. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Touchup menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu system is identical to the {CAD/CAM} menu system. The difference between these two menus lies in the fact that most of the commands are temporary. The user can then have a drawing that contains a house plan and pull a view from the drawing. He may then "touch it up" with dimensions, "title it" and "personalize it" with a client's name before printing it. All of these changes will be temporary. The user can then exit the program and when the drawing is retreived again, the changes will be gone. Not all changes are temporary. If the user uses the {Grup} or {Mdfy} menu items on objects in the drawing file, that were in place before entering the "Touchup menu", then these items will be changed. If the user enters the {CAD/CAM} menu system, the system will warn the user that changes will be lost and then regenerate the drawing with all changes eliminated. Refer to the {CAD/CAM} commands for information regarding the use of each command. 79 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Print Editor menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu system allows the user to edit "Printfiles". It performs bitmap oriented editing on these files. Some of the uses for this feature include adding borders to the file, using "freehand" drawing to "sign" the file or enhancing a feature of the {Print Plot} that did not stand out when printed. Essentially, the user has control over each dot that the printer will print. The user may even keep a Printfile of a drawing with nothing in it and use this feature to draw and print quick sketches. When this command is selected, the system displays a list of all available Printfiles as well as the prompt, "Select printfile to edit _". The system then blanks the screen and displays a box within a box, an "X = 0" readout, a "Y = 0" readout and the prompt, "Pan mode @". The user will be able to move the inner box via the keyboard or mouse. The outer box represents the printfile as it would look if printed to paper while the inner box represents the amount of that file that the screen can hold for editing at one time. Because the printfiles vary in their "aspect" according to the printer that the printfile was destined for, the inner box may not bear a resemblance to the screen shape. The "X" and "Y" readouts at the top of the screen tell the user how many inches the inner box is away from the top corner of the "paper". As this system can print long Y axis plots the Y readout may continue to grow even though the box seems to have hit the bottom of the paper. Similarly, when panning up, the readout will continue to decrease even though the inner box is touching the outer box. After the user has selected the area that needs editing, the system will load the selected area to the screen and display the menu, "< Draw > < Line > < Blot > < Fill > < Bitpan > < Reload > < Exit >". [Edit] {PrintEd} <Draw> ----------------------- If the user selects <Draw> the system will go into a "freehand" drawing mode, the prompt, "Press Scroll Lock to toggle draw mode", as well as a cursor, will appear. The user may use the numeric keypad and "Shift" keys to move the cursor. When using the keys, the user must press "Scroll Lock" "on" to start drawing and "Scroll Lock" "off" to move the cursor without drawing. If the user has a mouse then the mouse will draw while "MLB" is pressed and stop once it is released. The user must press "Escape" or "MRB" to exit back to the {PrintEd} menu. 80 [Edit] {PrintEd} <Line> ----------------------- If the user selects <Line>, the system will go into a line drawing mode, the prompt, "Start point @", as well as a cursor, will appear. The user may use the numeric keypad and "Shift" keys to move the cursor. This command is very similar to the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Line} {Line} command in the way that it works. After the user has selected the start point, the system will display the prompt, "End point @". The system will "rubber band" a line between the start point and the cursor. After the user selects an end point, the line will solidify and the system will continue to display the prompt, "End point @". The user may continue to draw lines or press "Escape" or "MRB" to exit back to the start point prompt. At this point the user can either, move the cursor and select another start point or, press "Escape" or "MRB" to exit back to the {PrintEd} menu. [Edit] {PrintEd} <Blot> ----------------------- If the user selects <Blot>, the system will display another bracket menu, "< Continue > < Mode > = "Blot" or "Erase" < Size > = 10". If <Mode> is selected the system will toggle between "Blot" and "Erase". In "Blot" mode the person will be able to draw with a square shaped drawing tool. In "Erase" mode the user will be erasing with this tool. The <Size> command allows the user to change the size of the square drawing tool to between 1 and 30 pixels along a side. When <Continue> is selected, the system will display the prompt, "Press scroll to toggle blot mode @" and a cursor will appear. The user may use the numeric keypad and "Shift" keys to move the drawing tool. When using the keys, the user must press "Scroll Lock" "on" to start bloting or erasing and "Scroll Lock" "off" to move the tool without drawing. If the user has a mouse then the mouse will erase or blot while "MLB" is pressed and stop once it is released. The user must press "Escape" or "MRB" to exit back to the {PrintEd} menu. [Edit] {PrintEd} <Fill> ----------------------- This command allows the user to "grab" a pattern and use it to fill an area. The user will be able to "match" a pattern that already exists in the drawing. When this command is selected, the system will display the prompt, "Place box around pattern you wish to duplicate @", and a box shaped cursor will appear on the screen. The system will "grab" the pattern that falls under this box when 81 "Enter" or "MLB" is pressed. The system will then display the prompt, "Fill @", and the box shaped cursor will turn into a "crosshair" style cursor. The user must then select the area to fill. The area should be totally enclosed or the fill pattern will "leak" out the sides of the area. This pattern may not be identical to the pattern selected due to a bug in the Microsoft PD7 (C) and QuickBasic (C) compilers as documented in the PrintCADD 3-D help files. The system will adjust patterns that have a chance of locking the computer, into patterns that shouldn't lock the computer. If this happens to one of the patterns the user has selected and the results when filling the area are unsatisfactory, then the user should select <ReLoad> from the {PrintEd} menu. The user should be aware of the fact that intricate patterns that fill inside of other intricate patterns can take an extremely long time to do their job. [Edit] {PrintEd} <BitPan> ------------------------- This command allows the user to pan to another portion of the print file. When the user selects this command, the system displays a virtually identical panning menu to the one encountered when the {PrintEd} menu was entered. The one difference is that there will be a third box on the page. This third box represents the area that you were just working on. In this manner you will be able to judge the next area that you may have to work on a little easier. After the user selects the new area, the system will save the current area if the user has worked on it, and pan to the new area. The user will be returned to the {PrintEd} menu. [Edit] {PrintEd} <ReLoad> ------------------------- This command allows the user to "reload" te area of the print file that they were working on, thus erasing any changes that may have been made to the drawing. This can come in handy if a "fill" has leaked out the edge of a surface and blotted the entire area. When this command is selected, the system will reload the screen and return the user to the {PrintEd} menu. [Edit] {PrintEd} <Exit> ----------------------- When the user selects this command, the system saves the {Print Plot} file, if the user has made any changes, and then regenerates the drawing that was being worked on before the {PrintEd} menu was entered. It then returns the user to the [Edit] menu. 82 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Output menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu system allows the user to get hardcopy from the drawings. It is designed to work with most IBM (C) 8 and 24 pin, Epson (C) 8 and 24 pin and Tandy (C) 24 pin dot matrix printers. The system also prints to Laserjet (C) printers. Most other printers on the market are compatible with one of these printers. [Output] {Print} {Printer} -------------------------- When this command is selected, the system will display the prompt, "Select print driver _" along with a list of all print drivers available for use. The user must select the print driver that he wishes to use. This is the driver that will be used by PrintCADD 3-D for printing the drawing. Although these driver files may be renamed at the DOS level by the user, when shipped by Birdseye software, these drivers are named according to a code. The first 8 letters of the print driver file name represent the code. The first two letters of the code indicate the manufacturer of the printer. These codes are, "IB" for IBM (C), EP for Epson (C), TA for Tandy (C) and HP for Hewlett Packard (C). The next two numbers indicate the number of pins the printer has, "08" for 8 pin printers, 24 for 24 pin printers and "01" for laser printers. The next letter indicates whether the printer is laser, "L" or dot matrix, "D". the final three numbers indicate the horizontal resolution, in dots per inch, of the print driver. All printer driver file names have the extension, ".PRD". [Output] {Print} {Port} ----------------------- When this command is selected, the readout at the top of the screen will switch from "Lpt1" to "Lpt3" and then "Com1" to "Com4" and finally back to "Lpt1". This represents the DOS printer port towards which output will be directed. See your DOS manual if you do not understand these terms. If the user has a serial printer, then they should use the DOS "Mode" command to set the baud rate and appropriate protocol for the serial port. Look under "Mode" in the DOS manual that comes with your computer for information on how to set this protocol. [Output] {Print} {Shading} -------------------------- "Shading" cause the system to interpret the color of the pixel as a group of four dots. When this command is selected, the readout at the top of the screen, "Shade =", will toggle between "Yes" and "No". The "Yes" option effectively halves the resolution of the printing in both the vertical and horizontal directions but allows the user to produce printings that are shaded according to 83 the color of the pixels. The "No" option simply prints the pixel as a single dot if it is not background color. This provides the highest resolution available but the user should make use of "patterns" to determine the shading of the various surfaces within the drawing. [Output] {Print} {PrintFile} <Create> ------------------------------------- This command allows the user to produce files, that may later be printed, that are formatted to the width of the page and the "aspect" of the printer driver. This means users can use their printers as long Y axis plotters. These files may also be edited via the [Edit] {PrintEd} commands. These files are constructed from the current view in the current window. They are formatted so that the current view width will exactly format to the width of the page defined in the current printer driver. The length of the printed page will keep the same ratio as the current window displays on the screen. ie if the window shows an area of 2 feet in width by 3 feet in length and the print driver has a width of 8 inches then the length of the printout will be 12 inches. The scale of this drawing would be 8 inches to 24 inches or 1 to 3. By use of the {Zoom} {ZoomScale} command the user may set the scale of the printfile to whatever is needed. As the resolution of the print driver increases, and the length to width ratio increases, the amount of information that must be processed increases dramatically, eg. a laser printfile at 300 dpi and 10 inches in length will have to encode 300 x 300 x 8 x 10 or 7,200,000 printer dots and requires a printfile of over 900,000 bytes. For these reasons it helps to have a fast computer and ample disk space when doing very high resolution printfiles. Also remember that the shape of the window plays an important roll in determining the file size. When this command is selected, the system will display the prompt, "Printfile name >". The user must reply with an 8 or less letter name for the file using standard DOS conventions. This name will then have the extension, ".PFL" appended to it. The system will then display the menu, "Filesize = ????K Redraws = ?? < Touchup > < Continuous > < Abort >". The size of the file is shown in kilobytes and the "Redraws =" refers to the number of redraws that the system will have to perform in order to create the required printfile. This allows the user to establish some sort of reference to the resources that are required before proceeding with the printfile. If the user selects <Touchup>, the system will display the message "Creating printfile ..." and proceed to allocate disk 84 space for the printfile. The system will then draw a portion of the drawing in the current window formatted to the aspect of the printer. This may cause some distortion of the shown picture if the aspect of the screen and the printer driver are not the same. The system will also display the menu, "< Cont > < Abort > < QHide > < LHide > < OutLn > < FSurf > < LSurf > < DLay >". This menu allows the user to perform various "touchups" to what is shown before it is saved to the file. The <Cont> command proceeds to save what is shown to the printfile and then redraws the screen with a different portion of the drawing shown and displays the "touchup" menu once more. This process is repeated until all sections of the drawing have been drawn and touched up. The system will then redraw the view that was originally in the window and return the user to the {Print} menu. The <Abort> command allows the user to abort this process. The file will be erased from disk and the system will return to the {Print} menu. All other commands in this menu work identically to the commands shown in the follwing table and the user should refer to these other commands for explanations on their use and purpose. Menu Item Refer to ------------------------------------------------------ <QHide> - [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {QuickHide} <LHide> - [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {HiddenLine} <OutLn> - [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {OutLinSurf} <FSurf> - [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {FillSurf} <LSurf> - [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {LineSurf} <DLay> - [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Rdrw} {DrawLayer} ------------------------------------------------------ If the user selects <Continuous>, the system will create the file as before but will not stop to display the "touchup" menu between each redraw. If the user selects <Abort>, the system will abort the process and return the user to the {Print} menu. [Output] {Print} {PrintFile} <Print> ------------------------------------ When this command is selected, the system will display a list of all printfiles. The user must then select the printfile to be printed. The system will then display the menu, "Get printer ready < Continue > < Abort >". If the user selects <Continue>, then the system will print the printfile to the currently selected printer port and then return the user to the {Print} menu. The <Abort> command aborts the printing process and returns the user to the {Print} menu. 85 [Output] {Print} {QuickPrint} ----------------------------- This command allows the user to dump the contents of the current window to the printer. The print is not corrected for aspect so the user must use a print driver that is similar in aspect to the current video mode or perform a correction of the aspect using the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {Wndw} {Aspect} command. When this command is selected the system displays a box within a box overlaid on the current screen. The user may use the arrow and shift keys or the mouse to move the inner box. The outer box represents a sheet of paper while the inner box represents the shape and the positioning of the printed output. After the user has positioned the box correctly they must press "Enter" or "MLB" in order to continue the operation. The system will then display the menu, "Get printer ready < Continue > < Abort >". If the user selects <Continue>, then the system will print the printfile to the currently selected printer port and then return the user to the {Print} menu. The <Abort> command aborts the printing process and returns the user to the {Print} menu. [Output] {Print} {Exit} ----------------------- This command returns the user to the main menu. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Plot menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This command allows the user to send output to the plotter or to a file as HPGL. Your plotter must be compatible with this plotting language. The user can also build plot drivers that provide custom setup of the plotter. When this command is selected, the software will display the menu, "< Port > = Lpt1 < MirrorX > = 0 < MirrorY > = 0 < MakeDriver > < Plot >". Each time the <Port> option is selected, the software will cycle through the ports, "Lpt1", "Lpt2", "Lpt3", "Com1", "Com2", "Com3", "Com4" and "File". When the <File> option is selected, the system will prompt for a filename when the <Plot> option is selected. If one of the "Com" options is selected, the user must set the appropriate communications parameters via the DOS "Mode" command. For information on this command, refer to the DOS manual for your computer. 86 The <Mirror> options allow the user to flip the file about the "X" or "Y" plotting axes. When a zero, (0), is displayed, it means that the axis will not be flipped. To mirror the axis simply select the appropriate <Mirror> option and the zero, (0), will turn to a one, (1). The <MakeDriver> option allows the user to customize their own plot driver. When this command is selected, the software will prompt the user for several pieces of information. Some of this information is measured according to the settings of the [Edit] {CAD/CAM} {UCS} {Units} menu so be aware of the way it is being parsed ie don't use metric if you are giving the units in inches. "Initialization codes >" The software requires the user to type in a string of letters or "escape" codes that set the plotter in HPGL mode and initialize the plotter. The normal initialization code for HPGL plotters is simply, "IN;". If the user requires that escape codes be sent to select HPGL mode, then they must use the "Alt" key in conjunction with the numeric keypad to create the appropriate code. eg "Alt" "27" would produce the ASCII code # 27 or "Escape". The system will display the code as a left pointing arrow. The user may also rotate the plot with the sequence "RO90;". This would put an HPGL laser printer into "landscape" mode. The user could invoke a clipping window via the, "IW;" command. The user might also try executing a laser printer macro that printed the company logo on the paper before plotting. These are just a few of the ways that initialization codes can be used to produce customized plots. "Finish codes >" These codes are the same as the initialization codes except that they are sent to the plotter at the end of the plotting sequence. The user could send a page feed command or return the plotter to its previous mode. "Plot width =" The user must type in the width of the plot. This data will be parsed according to the {UCS} {Units} setting. Make different drivers for different sized plots. "Plot length =" The user must type in the length of the plot. "Step size =" The user must type in the stepping size for the plotter. It is normally .001 inches. On some lasers it may be 1/1024 inches. Check the plotter manual for this specification. 87 "Number of pens (1-15) =" The user must type in the number of available pens on this plotter. Any color in the drawing that is higher than this pen number is converted to the highest available pen number. "Number of styles (1-15) =" The user must type in the number of line styles that the plotter supports. Any line style in the drawing that is higher than this pen number will be converted to the highest available style number. HPGL laser printers normally have 7 styles, "ST;" and "ST1;" to "ST6". "ST0;" is not supported. "Name for driver file >" The user must type in a name, 8 letters or less, that they wish to remember their newly created driver by. The system will append the extension, ".PLD", to the name given and save the plot driver. The user will then be returned to the {Plot} menu. The <Plot> option invokes the plotting process. The software will first display a list of plot drivers from which the user may select the one they wish. If the <Port> option is set to "File", the system will then prompt the user for the name that they wish to remember this plot file by. The user must type in a name that is 8 characters or less and the system will append the extension, ".HPG" to the filename. The system will then send the plot commands to the file. The "File" option is very useful when debugging plot drivers because HPGL files can normally be loaded into a word processor for analyzing the output. The user will find that they can also use the DOS, "Copy" command to send this file to the port of their choice. To "Scale" plots, the user must use the {Zoom} {ZoomScale} command to scale the window so that it conforms with the width of the output device. Plots will be clipped exactly to the view in the current window. They will however, exactly fit the width denoted in the <MakeDriver> command. After the system has finished plotting, the user will be returned to the {Plot} menu. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Print Driver menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This command allows the user to "build" printer drivers. PrintCADD 3-D is shipped with pre-made printer drivers that cover most types of printers but the user may find that on their personal clone printer, the print is not quite square or that 88 they need access to other modes of printing not normally available. This command allows the user to take care of these situations as well as being able to customize page sizes and take advantage of wide body printers. In order to take advantage of this feature, the user must be familiar with escape codes and in particular the escape codes used on the printer in question. For this reason it is almost a necessity that the user have his or her printer manual available. The user must also know the printing resolutions of the printer in question. All escape codes are entered as decimal numbers, so if the printer lists hexadecimal escape codes, then these must be converted to base 10 before proceeding. Likewise, if the printer manual lists letter codes, then the user must use an ASCII table to cross reference the actual decimal ASCII value of the letter before proceeding. Fortunately most printer manuals list all three of these values as well as the resolutions of the different printing modes. When the system requests the values for an escape sequence or control code, the user enters a single number between 0 and 255. The system will then again display the same request so that another number between 0 and 255 may be entered. Once the user has entered all the codes for a particular sequence, they must press the "escape" key to proceed to the next prompt. Several of the prompts ask for actual values and in this case the user must simply type in the particular value rather than the ASCII code for the value. The following section explains each prompt and gives examples of the appropriate response for each prompt. Text following the semi colons (;) are comments. "Enter" means press "Enter" or "Return" key. "Escape" means press "Escape" or "Esc" key. For further information examine the PrintCADD 3-D help system and the sample printer drivers given therein. "Setup code =" The system requires the user to enter the control or escape sequence that sets the appropriate page size, paper feed and if required top of form set. This sequence is sent by system before printing begins. IBM (c) 24 pin triple density (180 horizontal DPI) X24 Setup code = 27 "Enter" ; 27 means escape Setup code = 65 "Enter" ; 65 n/72 inch paper feed Setup code = 8 "Enter" ; 8/72 inch paper feed Setup code = 27 "Enter" ; escape sequence Setup code = 50 "Enter" ; make paper feed active 89 Setup code = 27 "Enter" ; escape sequence Setup code = 67 "Enter" ; page length, top of form Setup code = 0 "Enter" ; required filler Setup code = 11 "Enter" ; 11 inch page Setup code = "Escape" ; next prompt "Line start code =" This code is sent before the graphics information is sent to the printer. It normally sets the appropriate graphics mode. Line start code = 27 "Enter" ; escape sequence Line start code = 91 "Enter" ; bit image mode Line start code = 103 "Enter" ; bit image mode Line start code = "Escape" ; next prompt "Name code =" This code will be one of "IBM", "Epson", "Tandy" or "HP". This code determines the way in which the system will format the length of line data which needs to be sent in conjunction with the graphics mode selection. The "IBM" code is designed for formatting this information according to IBM X24 modes. Note that IBM 8 pin printers actually use the "Epson" method of formatting this data. The "Epson" code formats data for Epson 8 and 24 pin printers as well as IBM 8 pin printers. The "Tandy" mode sends data in accordance with Tandy's older 24 pin printers ie DMP 2100, 2100p and 2110. I believe most newer Tandy printers use "Epson" modes. The "HP" code formats data for HP laserjets and compatibles. These codes must be entered by converting each letter in the code to the corresponding ASCII value as follows. Name code = 73 "Enter" ; ASCII "I" Name code = 66 "Enter" ; ASCII "B" Name code = 77 "Enter" ; ASCII "M" Name code = "Escape" ; Next prompt "Tail code =" This prompt is used by IBM 24 pin printers to inform the printer of the actual image mode selected. It is referred to as the tail code because this code is sent after the line length data but before the actual data itself. Tail code = 11 "Enter" ; 180 DPI Triple Density Tail code = "Escape" ; Next prompt "CRLF code =" This code is the carriage return, line feed code. It is not normally used on HP laserjets. Some printers send automatic line feeds when a carriage return is sent so this code must be set according to each printer. It usually consists of "13", carriage return and "10", line feed. 90 CRLF code = 13 "Enter" ; Carriage return CRLF code = 10 "Enter" ; Line feed CRLF code = "Escape" ; Next prompt "Form feed code =" This code causes a form feed to be sent after the current print. In some cases it may be better to ignore this code so that printing may resume where the last print left off. Form feed code = 12 "Enter" ; Form feed Form feed code = "Escape" ; Next prompt "Number of pins =" This prompt refers to the number of pins in the print head of the dot matrix printer. For HP Laserjets and compatibles the user must answer "1". In 8 pin printing modes on 24 pin printers the user must answer "8". Number of pins = 24 "Enter" ; 24 pins "Total pin columns =" This refers to the total number of pin columns across the page. The user may adjust this number to a narrower page than is actually available if they wish but on laser printers the number must be an even multiple of 8. Total pin columns = 1440 "Enter" ; 180 DPI x 8" "Columns per inch =" Enter the number of print columns in 1 inch as described in the printer manual for a particular mode of printing. Columns per inch = 180 "Enter" ; 180 DPI "Rows per inch =" The user must refer to the printer manual to determine the number of rows per inch. Note that a lot of IBM compatible 24 pin printers actually only print 180 rows per inch meaning that the line feeds and rows per inch may have to be adjusted to work properly. Rows per inch = 216 "Enter" ; 72/8 LFPI * 24 pins "Print driver name >" The system needs an 8 or less character name to save the file by. The system will then append ".PRD" to this name, save it and make it the current printer driver for the system. The system will then return to the [Output] menu. If the user presses "Escape" at this prompt, the system will not save the print driver. 91 Print driver name > IB24D180 "Enter" ; finished ----------------------------------------------------------------- System menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu system allows the user to set system configuration parameters. The settings in this menu will be saved in the "PRCAD.DEF" file and will be restored each time the system is started. If this file is present before the initial setup, ie it has been copied from another computer to your own, and the system does not seem to work properly or at all, even though it should, then it could be because of invalid information contained in this file. In this case, the user should delete the file and the system will automatically create a new "PRCAD.DEF" file on the next invocation of the PrintCADD 3-D. [System] {Video} ---------------- This menu allows the user to select the video mode for their particular computer. In the standard version of PrintCADD 3-D there are three different selections available. {EGA 640x200 16 color} This selection allows the user that has an EGA video card connected to a CGA monitor to use the system. It is also the default video mode as this mode can also be viewed on EGA and VGA monitors that have been connected to EGA or VGA video cards. The 640x200 refers to the screen resolution in this video mode. There are 640 horizontal pixels and 200 vertical pixels. Aspect of the screen is automatically compensated for. {EGA 640x350 16 color} This selection can be used by used when the user has an EGA or VGA monitor connected to an EGA or VGA video card. There are 640 horizontal pixels by 350 vertical pixels in this mode. Screen aspect is automatically compensated for. {VGA 640x480 16 color} This selection requires that the user possess both a VGA card and VGA monitor. There are 640 horizontal pixels and 480 vertical pixels. This normally provides the user with a 1 to 1 aspect ratio as the horizontal to vertical ratio is the same as the screen width to screen height ratio in most instances. ie 640 / 480 = 4 / 3 In the future Birdseye Software will be providing drivers for, or versions of, PrintCADD 3-D that provide other screen resolutions and compatibilities. Contact Birdseye Software for more information. 92 [System] {Colors} ----------------- This selection allows the user to customize the colors of various parts of PrintCADD 3-D. The user must select the particular item from the pop up menu that appears and then another pop up menu will appear with all available colors for that menu item. The user must then highlight the appropriate choice and press "Enter" or "MLB". The system will then return the user to the item menu. If the user presses "Escape" or "MRB" then the system will not change the color setting for that menu item. The menu items and a brief explanation of each follows below. {Top Text} This menu item changes the color of the top menu bar. This is normally referred to as the main menu. {Menu Text} This item changes the color of the menu items that appear in the various drop down, pop up and bracket menus that appear in the system. {Data Text} This menu item changes the color of the various readouts that appear on the top and bottom lines of the screen. {Help Text} This menu item controls the color of the text that appears in the help reference. {Error Text} This menu item controls the color of error messages. {WindowLine} This menu item controls the color of the lines that frame each of the drawing windows. {Input Text} This menu item controls the color of the text that is typed in by the user. {MenuLine} This menu item controls the color of the lines that frame the pop up and drop down menus. 93 {ShadowLine} This menu item controls the color of the shadow that displays to the right and below pop up and drop down menus. {Cursor} This menu item controls the color of the drawing cursor. When the 3-D cursor type has been selected, it selects the color of the X axis line. The Y axis line will assume the color of the next color higher on the color menu while the Z axis color will be one higher color than the Y axis (2 higher than X axis). [System] {Palette} ------------------ This menu allows the user to set the color of each color in the various color menus. Although only 15 colors are available in the color menus, each one of these colors can be set to 1 of 16 colors in EGA 640 x 200 mode, 1 of 64 colors in EGA 640 x 350 mode or 1 of 262,144 colors in VGA 640 x 480 mode. (See [System] {Video}) The system will first display a pop up menu with all 15 colors displayed on it. The user must highlight and select the color slot that they wish to change. The method of establishing the new color for this color slot will now depend on the current video mode. In EGA 640 x 200 mode the user will be prompted to select a number between 0 and 15. The user must then type in the number of the color they wish to use in this slot. The system will change the color of the slot and return the user to the color pop up menu. The user may then select another color slot to change or press "Escape" or "MRB" to return to the [System] menu. In EGA 640 x 350 mode the user will be asked to type in a red, green and blue intensity value. The intensity values in this mode are between 0 and 3 with 3 being the highest intensity available. For instance a red value of 3, a green value of 0 and a blue value of 0 would give a bright red. A red value of 3 , a green value of 3 and a blue value of 3 would give bright white. The VGA 640 x 480 mode is identical to the EGA 640 x 350 mode except that the intensity values for red, green and blue can be varied between 0 and 63. [System] {Mouse} ---------------- This menu allows the user to enable or disable the ability of the system to use a mouse. The user must have a valid Microsoft (c) or compatible mouse and driver in order to enable this option. If in doubt, try it. There are also many digitizing tablets, trackballs and other types of devices that are compatible with this interface so look at the reference manual that comes with 94 the input device to see if it will work. Birdseye Software would be appreciative if users would notify us of devices they have tied and the results. We may even be able to write drivers for a particular type of device if we receive the appropriate information for the device. [System] {Keyboard} ------------------- This menu allows the user to select the appropriate keyboard driver for the system in question. If in doubt, select each driver in turn and see if the keyboard responds properly. It is normally the arrow keys that won't work properly if the wrong driver has been selected. [System] {Directry} ------------------- When this command is selected the system will display the menu, "Directory < Drawing > = ?" where "?" will be replaced by either "Off" or "On". If the "?" = "Off", then selecting <Drawing> will cause the system to display the prompt, "Drawing files path >". The user must respond with the name of a valid path name to a directory that the system will use to store the drawing files in. The path name must include a drive identifier ie a:, b:, c: etc.. The system will then turn the <Drawing> setting to "On" and return the user to the [System] menu. If the user prefers to leave the setting at "Off", the system will use the directory that PrintCADD 3-D resides in for storing the drawing files. This menu may only be accessed before a file is loaded into the system. [System] {Optimize} ------------------- This command allows the user to take full advantage of RAM disks to increase the overall filing speed of the system. Certain commands may very well double or more in speed. Another advantage of this command is to insure file integrity. The system is forced to work on a copy of the drawing file rather than the drawing file itself. This means that if the computer happens to lock up due to power failure, static or other problem, then the original file is in no danger of being corrupted. At the end of any editing session on a file the system will prompt the user as to whether or not they wish to save the editing session. If the user responds affirmatively then PrintCADD 3-D will copy the contents of this temporary file back to the original file thus updating the original. If the user responds negatively then any edits in the current session will not be saved. 95 When this command is selected, the system will display the menu, "Optimize < Drawing > = ? < Redraws > = ?" where the question marks will be replaced by either "Off" or "On". The <Drawing> refers to an "optimization" of the drawing files while the <Redraws> option allows the user to optimize the temporary "redraw" files. In either case when the command is selected, the system will prompt the user for a valid path, that includes a drive identifier, where the temporary copy of the file will be stored. If the user has set the path to a RAM disk then the overall operation of commands on the file will be quicker. As redraw files are only temporary in any case, the user should only optimise these files if a RAM disk has been set up. This menu may only be accessed before a file is loaded into the system. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Help menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- This menu system gives the user access to online help on most aspects of PrintCADD 3-D. It also contains some useful utility routines. [Help] {Index} -------------- This menu item allows the user to access the index of the help system. When this command is selected, the system will display a two column menu that contains various subjects. The user must highlight the appropriate subject and press "Enter" or "MLB". The system will then display help on the subject selected. The user may use the "Page Up" keys or "Page Down" keys to display more help or place the mouse cursor on the <PgUp> or <PgDn> at the bottom of the page and press "MLB". Pressing the "F3" key will send the current page of help to the printer on Lpt1 while pressing the "Escape" key will return the user to the index. The index itself has three pages that can be accessed by the "Page Up" and "Page Down" commands. The third page is provided for users to set up their own index as provided by the [Help] {HelpEdit} command. [Help] {Tutor} -------------- The tutor system was designed to give the user their first step through the PrintCADD 3-D environment. The user can accesss the tutor system at any time by pressing the "F2" function key. This allows the user to leave off in the lesson, perform a set of actions required by the lesson, and continue on with the lesson by pressing the "F2" key. The tutor system will remember where the lesson was left off. 96 The tutor system is broken down into 10 lessons that cover most of the major aspects of PrintCADD 3-D. The system also uses tutor graphics files to convey some of the concepts. The "PRCAD.TUT" file and the "TUTOR*.GVF" files must reside in the startup directory for the system to find them. When {Tutor} is selected, the software will display the menu, "Tutor lesson = 1 < Current > < Next > < Previous > < First > < Exit >". Selecting the <Current> option continues on with the lesson in progress. (In this case #1). Selecting the <Next> option progresses to the start of the next lesson, (In this case, the start of #2). Selecting the <Previous> option causes the system to go to the start of the previous lesson, (In this case there is no lesson previous to #1, so the lesson will goto the start of lesson #1). The <First> option takes the user to the start of lesson #1. The < Exit> option takes the user back to the [Help] menu system. [Help] {HelpEdit} ----------------- This command allows the user to set up there own help screens and index page. This is especially useful if the user has created parts files, print drivers or fonts whose names are cryptic because of the 8 letter limit enforced by DOS. The user may then pass on this information by distributing their parts files with the appropriate help imbedded in the help system. This command may also be useful for shareware distributors that might like to promote themselves or another product that could be used in conjunction with this package. In effect the user will be able to advertise within the product itself. When this command is selected, the system will display the menu, "< Edit > < Link > < Exit >". If the user selects <Edit>, the system will display the prompt "Page (3, 181-200) >". Selecting page 3 allows the user to edit the index while pages 181 to 200 can be the actual help pages. After the user has replied to the prompt, the system will then display the appropriate page and go into edit mode. The editor will display a box shaped cursor where the current letter will be placed. The cursor is always in "overwrite" mode except when being moved with the arrow keys. The "Enter" key returns the cursor to the left border of the page. The "Backspace" key moves one character to the left blotting the character to the left. 97 The user may also move the cursor by moving the mouse pointer to a point on the page and pressing "MLB". The user must press "Escape" to save the page and return to the "< Edit > < Link > < Exit >" menu. If the user selects <Link>, the system will prompt the user for the column and row number of the index as well as the page that this index should be linked to. The <Exit> command returns the user to the [Help] menu. [Help] {Rescue} --------------- This command resets various system variables back to their default values. This command is useful when the user has adjusted colors or sizes of various system variables to values that will cause visibility problems. 98 ================================================================= File Makeup ================================================================= This section of the manual is devoted to explaining the actual makeup of the individual files. This information, while not necessary, may provide help to the user who is mystified by some of the terms and what they actually mean. This information may also be used by those who have some programming experience, to produce file transfer or file modification utilities. While the information in this section is correct at the current time, Birdseye Software reserves the right to change the files and there makeup as seems appropriate. Having said that, we will attempt to keep the routines in their current state and merely add to what is available. Changes to the file design, that are currently being considered, will be noted in each section. If you have made a utility that you believe could be of use to people using PrintCADD 3-D, you should contact Birdseye Software and we will make an effort to advertise your utility in our help system. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Drawing files ----------------------------------------------------------------- Drawing files in PrintCADD 3-D can be recognized by the ".GVF" extension on the name. The coordinates used in the files are single precision 32 bit floating point IEEE numbers. These numbers are of the standard used by most programming languages. All coordinates are a group of three of these numbers where the first number represents a distance along the X axis, the second number is measured along the Y axis and the third number is measured along the Z axis. All coordinates entered into PrintCADD 3-D are converted from polar, metric, UCS offsets, etc., to an inch based internal format that marks the points as offsets from a top plan view. The files also use signed 16 and 32 bit integer formats for other types of information. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Header Information ----------------------------------------------------------------- All drawing files are preceded by a header section that defines the various defaults for the file. The first section of the header defines the 4 possible windows available to the drawing. Each window consists of the following 99 data fields. Information Format ------------------------------------------------------ Left corner of current view Single Floating Lower corner of current view Single Floating Right corner of current view Single Floating Upper corner of current view Single Floating Available flag 2 Byte Integer Active flag 2 Byte Integer Graphics cursor type 2 Byte Integer Currently executing routine 2 Byte Integer Left corner of highlight 2 Byte Integer Lower corner of highlight 2 Byte Integer Right corner of highlight 2 Byte Integer Upper corner of highlight 2 Byte Integer Left pixel corner 2 Byte Integer Upper pixel corner 2 Byte Integer Right pixel corner 2 Byte Integer Lower pixel corner 2 Byte Integer Left pixel clip 2 Byte Integer Upper pixel clip 2 Byte Integer Right pixel clip 2 Byte Integer Lower pixel clip 2 Byte Integer Rotation around X axis Single Floating Rotation around Y axis Single Floating Rotation around Z axis Single Floating Sine of X rotation Single Floating Cosine of X rotation Single Floating Sine of Y rotation Single Floating Cosine of Y rotation Single Floating Sine of Z rotation Single Floating Cosine of Z rotation Single Floating Cursor offset UCS X Single Floating Cursor offset UCS Y Single Floating Cursor offset UCS Z Single Floating Cursor offset X Single Floating Cursor offset Y Single Floating Cursor offset Z Single Floating Parallel - Perspective flag 2 Byte Integer View point X Single Floating View point Y Single Floating View point Z Single Floating Zoom level Single Floating UCS origin X Single Floating UCS origin Y Single Floating UCS origin Z Single Floating UCS cosine X axis X move Single Floating UCS cosine X axis Y move Single Floating UCS cosine X axis Z move Single Floating UCS cosine Y axis X move Single Floating UCS cosine Y axis Y move Single Floating UCS cosine Y axis Z move Single Floating UCS cosine Z axis X move Single Floating UCS cosine Z axis Y move Single Floating 100 UCS cosine Z axis Z move Single Floating Viewing aspect Single Floating Previous zoom level Single Floating Vanishing point X Single Floating Vanishing point Y Single Floating Center of window X Single Floating Center of window Y Single Floating Center of window Z Single Floating cursor override Single Floating ------------------------------------------------------ After the four windows comes the general information for the file. Information Format ------------------------------------------------------ Video mode 2 Byte Integer First measurement suffix 3 Char String Second measurement suffix 3 Char String First measurement divisor 4 Byte Integer Second measurement divisor Single Floating Third measurement divisor Single Floating Measurement system 2 Byte Integer Left drawing limit Single Floating Lower drawing limit Single Floating Right drawing limit Single Floating Upper drawing limit Single Floating Cursor speed X axis Single Floating Cursor speed Y axis Single Floating Cursor speed Z axis Single Floating Text X scale Single Floating Text Y scale Single Floating Arrows X scale Single Floating Arrows Y scale Single Floating Current layer Single Floating Padding 6 Bytes ------------------------------------------------------ The actual drawing information then follows the header. This section is organized according to 2 byte integer codes that represent the type of information and following specification fields for each code. Closed surface 2 byte integer code = 30 Open surface 2 byte integer code = 31 Current surface 2 byte integer code = 32 These surface types are all followed by the following specification fields End of surface file address 4 Byte Integer Layer number 2 Byte Integer Center point X Center point Y Center point Z 101 Color Line type Pattern foreground color Pattern background color Pattern type Following the surface type and specification fields, the program will place data that belongs to that surface. Their are three basic data types that belong to surfaces, the continuous line, the circular curve and the spline curve. Continuous line 2 byte integer code = 4 Number of data points 2 Byte Integer Data X coordinate Single Floating Data Y coordinate Single Floating Data Z coordinate Single Floating Data X coordinate Single Floating Data Y coordinate Single Floating Data Z coordinate Single Floating etc. for number of data points Number of data points 2 Byte Integer Continuous line 2 byte integer code = 4 Notice that the coordinate values are terminated by the number of data points and the continuous line code. This allows the program to look both backwards and forwards through the data file. Circular curve 2 byte integer code = 11 Number of data points 2 Byte Integer Reserved Single Floating Reserved Single Floating Reserved Single Floating Reserved Single Floating Number of data points 2 Byte Integer Data X coordinate Single Floating Data Y coordinate Single Floating Data Z coordinate Single Floating Data X coordinate Single Floating Data Y coordinate Single Floating Data Z coordinate Single Floating etc. for number of data points Number of data points 2 Byte Integer Circular curve 2 byte integer code = 11 Other curve 2 byte integer code = 10 Number of data points 2 Byte Integer Reserved 2 Byte integer Number of data points 2 Byte Integer Data X coordinate Single Floating Data Y coordinate Single Floating Data Z coordinate Single Floating 102 Data X coordinate Single Floating Data Y coordinate Single Floating Data Z coordinate Single Floating etc. for number of data points Number of data points 2 Byte Integer Other curve 2 byte integer code = 10 Be advised that other types of data blocks are being considered. The surface groups are terminated by a surface end sequence. Closed surface end 2 byte integer code = 33 Surface start address 4 Byte Integer Closed surface end 2 byte integer code = 33 Open surface end 2 byte integer code = 33 Surface start address 4 Byte Integer Open surface end 2 byte integer code = 33 Current surface end 2 byte integer code = 0 or -1 The 0 or -1 code also marks the end of the file. Any data past this point will be meaningless. This code will very rarely be a -1, but may if last session was not terminated properly. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Font files ----------------------------------------------------------------- Font files are virtually identical to drawing files in that they have the same header and consist of the same data types. There are, however, differences in the way they are laid out, and in the way they are imported and portrayed by the software. 1. The font file actually consists of one header and several partitions. Each partition can contain one letter and each letter consists of one surface. Font File Addressing ------------------------------------------------ -----+ File Header information ª Start ª -----ª Space for the spacebar character ª ASCII 32 -----ª Space for the letter ! ª ASCII 33 -----ª Space for the letter " ª ASCII 34 -----ª Space for the letter # ª ASCII 35 -----ª Space for the letter $ ª ASCII 36 103 -----ª Space for the letter % ª etc. ------------------------------------------------ 2. Remember that the spacebar character contains the bounding rectangle. If the rectangle is made thinner, then the letters will space more closely or even overlap. Conversely, if the rectangle is made wider, then the gap between letter will become larger. 3. Each ASCII code has an equal amount of drawing space. The amount of space is determined when the font is created by the users answer to the prompt, "Character space in words (2 bytes) >". 4. There are a maximum of 224 ASCII code spaces. as 0 through 31 can not be used out of the total 256 ASCII codes. The user may use the "Alt" key and the numeric keypad to access codes above 126. ie "Alt" 251 = ASCII 251 5. When the character is brought into the drawing, the program looks only at the first surface in the character space therefore any surfaces beyond the first are ignored. The character's Z axis information is also ignored. The character is then scaled, rotated and translated to the position in the drawing that was dictated by the user. 6. There is a font header that resides between the padding bytes of the normal header. It contains 2 additional pieces of information that are used to calculate the offset of each letters individual file. Number of characters 2 Byte Integer Space per character 2 byte integer Code for space bar starts here ----------------------------------------------------------------- Parts files ----------------------------------------------------------------- Part files are created in the same manner as the font files except that they consist of only two characters, the spacebar code and the exclamation mark character. After this two character font has been created, it must be renamed with the extension, ".SRF". This allows the system to see it as a part. 104 ================================================================= Index ================================================================= Aligning view to UCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 72 AlongLock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 27 Aperture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 61 Arcs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 39 Arrow heads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 45 Aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 75 Automatic grid alinement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 64 Automatic sizing/scaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 64 Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 11 Blips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 62 Blot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 80 CenterSnap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 26 Changing colors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 49 Changing layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 50 Circles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 38 Closed surfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 60 Closing surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 50 Closing windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 74 Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 91 Coordinate parsing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 24 Coordinate Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 11 Coords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 27 Copying objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 49 Copyright. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 4 Creating layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 57 Creating printfiles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 83 Creating windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 73 Cursor grid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 76 Cursor size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 64 Cursor spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 76 Cursor type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 62 Curve menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 38 Cutting extrusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 51 Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 91 Deleting lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 60 Deleting objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 50, Page # 60 Deleting points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 60 Dimensioning menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 43 Distribution Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 10 Drag Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 63 Draw menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 24 Drawing Create. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 32 Load. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 31 Drawing files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 98 Drawing limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 63 Ellipses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 40 Erasing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 80 Expanded memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 17 Extension lines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 46 Extrusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 16, Page # 51 105 File copying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 35 File corruption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 94 File deleting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 35 File directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 35, Page # 94 File makeup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 98 File Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 31 Fill colors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 55 Fill pattern editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 56 Fill patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 55 Filling printfiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 80 Filling surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 69 Font Create. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 33 Load. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 31 Font file makeup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 102 Font selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 42 Freehand drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 79 General Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 19 Grids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 77 GridSnap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 25 Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 47 Maximum size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 64 Header information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 98 Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 22 Help editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 96 Help index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 95 Help menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 95 Hidden line elimination. . . . . . . . . . . Page # 68, Page # 69 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 19 Joining surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 52 Keyboard driver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 94 Layer locking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 57 Layer menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 57 Layer selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 57 Layer visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 57 Line Print editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 80 Line styles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 55 Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 36 Locks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 24 Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 23 Menu colors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 92 Menu types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 20 Menus and Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 24 MidPtSnap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 26 Modify menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 58 Mouse driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 93 MoveTo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 27 Moving objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 48 Moving points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 58 NearSnap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 25 Object colors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 54 106 Object patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 55 Open surfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 60 Opening surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 50 Order. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 6 Output menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 82 Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 93 Pan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 30, Page # 67 Printfiles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 81 Parallel Lock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 27 Parallel projections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 74 Parallelograms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 38 Part file makeup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 103 Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 53 Perp Lock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 27 PerpSnap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 26 Perspective projections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 74 Plan views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 72 Plot drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 86 Plot menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 85 Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 82, Page # 85 Polar coordinate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 28 Print drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 87 Print editor menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 79 Printfiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 79 Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 82 Projections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 74 Purge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 36 Quick prints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 85 Quit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 36 Radial arrays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 53 Ram disks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 94 Readout coordinates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 61 Readout units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 77 Readouts . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 21, Page # 31, Page # 63 Rectangles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 37 Redraw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 30, Page # 68 Redraw menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 67 Regenerate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 68 Relative point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 29 Required Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 17 Required Hardware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 17 Rescue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 97 Revolved surfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 52 Right hand rule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 14 Rotating objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 49 Rotating views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 70 Scaling objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 48 Scaling plots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 66, Page # 87 Selection sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 47 Maximum size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 64 Shareware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 4 Association of Shareware Professionals. . . . . . . Page # 4 107 Ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 4 Sizing windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 74 Snap aperture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 61 Snaps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 24 Splines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 40 Stretch command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 59 Surface menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 50 Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 15 System menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 91 Text menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 41 Thickness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 51 Touchup menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 78 Triangles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 37 Tutor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page # 23, Page # 95 UCS. . . . . . . . . . Page # 12, Page # 29, Page # 30, Page # 76 UCS menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 76 Units of Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 14 Unobstructed views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 72 User coordinate systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 76 Variables menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 61 Video drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 91 View menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 70 View rotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 70 Viewing angle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 70 Visigrids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 77 Window aspect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 75 Window closing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 74 Window creating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 73 Window dumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 85 Window menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 72 Window selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 73 Window sizing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 74 Zoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 29 Factor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 65 Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 66 Limits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 67 Previous. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 67 Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 66 Zoom menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page # 65