home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
C/C++ Users Group Library 1996 July
/
C-C++ Users Group Library July 1996.iso
/
vol_400
/
422_04
/
microcad.doc
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1994-03-06
|
16KB
|
411 lines
MICROCAD is a very small drawing program (less than 12k!)
It has commands for drawing/erasing/moving/copying such things as lines,
boxes, circles, arcs, graphical text and other drawings as "group" objects.
It also features a "display" mode, where it can be used as a simple viewer,
and includes an MCPRINT utility to print your drawings.
This is not intended as a serious drafting package, however it is useful as
a means of transmitting simple drawings via diskette, or modem. MICROCAD is
"free", and may be used and distributed without payment or royalty.
The complete MICRO-C source code to MICROCAD is available free of charge
from our BBS, and may prove useful to anyone wishing to experiment with a
drawing editor, or add support for other devices.
In its current form, MICROCAD requires a mouse, a VGA display (it works
at 640x480), and either an HP LASERJET or EPSON DOT-MATRIX printer. It
should be fairly easy to modify it for compatibility with other devices.
The MICROCAD command:
--------------------
The MICROCAD command has the following syntax:
MICROCAD [drawing file] [F=font file] [/Display]
[drawing file] is the name of a file containing a drawing that you
wish to edit. The extension '.DWG' is assumed. If you do not specify a
file name, MICROCAD assumes its default name MICROCAD.DWG. This default
drawing file normally contains a blank drawing, and is used only to
establish the default settings for the "S)etup" values.
[font file] is the name of a file containing a character set font that
will be used to display any text in the drawing file. If you do not specify
a font file, The default MICROCAD.FNT is assumed.
[/Display] causes MICROCAD to act as a viewer. The mouse is not
activated, the grid is disabled (even if it is turned on in the drawing),
and the drawing is displayed. Pressing any key will terminate the MICROCAD
at this point.
Mouse:
-----
MICROCAD uses only the LEFT and RIGHT mouse buttons, allowing it to be
used with either a two or three button pointing device.
When sitting at the top command level (no command text visible at the
top of the screen), the mouse buttons function as follows:
LEFT - Brings up the command menu at the top of the screen. Pressing
the key corrsponding to a command will active that command.
RIGHT - Activates the last command that you executed. This is a useful
way to perform multiple operations, such as drawing multiple
box's etc.
Unless noted otherwise, the mouse buttons behave as follows once a command
has been activated:
LEFT - Performs an operation for which you are being prompted at the
top of the screen. Some commands may have several locations that
have to be selected. For each location, you will receive a
prompt at the top of the screen. Simply move the mouse pointer
to the desired location, and press the LEFT button.
RIGHT - Cancels the operation. In most cases this will return you directly
to the top command level (no command active). In some cases, this
will cancel a sub-function, and permit you to continue with the
command.
Main COMMANDS:
-------------
The following commands are available from within MICROCAD at the top
command level.
A)rc
Prompts you for a "center" point, a starting point, and an ending point.
Draws an arc clockwise from the starting point to the ending point, which
would be a portion of a circle centered about the center point.
B)ox
This command prompts you to select two corners, and after the second
one is selected, MICROCAD will draw a BOX with diagonal corners on those
points.
C)ircle
Prompts you to select a center point, and then a second point. MICROCAD
will draw a circle about the center point, which includes the second point
in its circumference.
D)up
Prompts you to select an object, and then for a new insertion point. The
object is copied to the new point. Most useful for duplicating a "group"
that you have included from another file, or insuring that you get a circle
of exactly the same size etc. Duplicating an object takes only 7 bytes in
the drawing file, no matter how large or complicated the object is.
See the E)rase command below for details on selecting an object.
E)rase
Prompts you to select an object. To select an object, you must position
the cursor over the BASE POINT of that object. In general, the base point
will be the first point that you selected when defining the object.
To make it easier for you, MICROCAD constantly watches the cursor
position when this command is executed, and selects any object who's
base point comes in contact with the cursor. Once an object is selected,
MICROCAD indicates so, by temporarily removing it from the screen. Press
the LEFT button to accept this, and permanently erase the object.
If you accidently select an object that you don't want to erase, just
move the cursor away from it, and press the RIGHT button. MICROCAD will
restore it to the screen, and continue to search for other objects.
If more than one object has its base point at the same location, MICROCAD
will select the one which was defined first. You may accept this with the
LEFT button, or press the RIGHT button to switch to the next oldest one.
If you wish to cancel the selection in this case, you must keep pressing the
RIGHT button until all objects at that location have been skipped.
You may use the S)etup / B)ase-markers command to cause the base points
of all objects in the drawing to be made visible.
F)unc
This command brings up menu of misc. functions:
F)ont
Prompts you for a new character font file, and if given, loads it, and
re-draws the drawing, using the new font.
I)nsert
Prompts you for a drawing filename, and then an insertion point. Inserts
the contents of that drawing into the current drawing as a single object.
The base point of the new object is the upper left corner of an invisible
box, just large enough to include all object base points in the included
drawing. This point will be shown by the cursor while selecting the new
object location.
If you wish to insert the same drawing several times, it takes much less
space in the drawing file if you insert it once, and then use the duplicate
function to create the other instances.
L)oad
Prompts for a filename, and loads a drawing from that file. Any unsaved
changes to the current drawing are lost.
Q)uit
Terminates MICROCAD.
S)ave
Prompts for a filename, and saves the current drawing to that file.
L)ine
Prompts for a starting point, and then a series of end points. Each
time you select a new point, a line is drawn to it from the previous point.
Press the RIGHT button to stop drawing lines.
M)ove
Prompts you to select an object, and then for its new base point.
The object is then repositioned in the drawing.
See the 'E)rase' command for details on selecting an object.
R)edraw
Redisplays the drawing. This is useful to see any objects which are
overwritten by the text line at the top of the screen, and to "fix"
any breaks in lines, or missing grid markers causes by erasing of
overlaid objects.
S)etup
Brings up a menu of setup subcommands:
B)ase-markers
This command toggles ON/OFF the display of base points. See E)rase command
for a description of base points. When ON, the base point for each object
in the drawing will appear surrounded by a tiny box.
C)urser-base
Prompts you to select a base point for the cursor. After you select one,
the cursor position shown in the upper right corner of the screen, will
be relative to this position.
G)rid
Prompts for the spacing (in pixels) of the grid markers. Entering a
blank line, or a value of zero turns off grid markers. Grid markers
are simply "dots" placed at regular intervals, which you can use
as a reference for aligning objects etc.
S)