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1993-06-30
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PC-Draft-CAD (tm)
User Manual
Release 3.06g
UNREGISTERED VERSION
Copyright 1988 - 1993 - All Rights reserved
Natural Software
19 South Fifth Street
St. Charles Illinois, 60174
(708) 377-7320
_______
____|__ | (tm)
--| | |-------------------
| ____|__ | Association of
| | |_| Shareware
|__| o | Professionals
-----| | |---------------------
|___|___| MEMBER
This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware
Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle
works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem
with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to
help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an
ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products.
Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427
send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536"
LICENSE
THE PC-Draft-CAD SOFTWARE AND MANUAL ARE COPYRIGHTED, ALL RIGHTS ARE RESE-
RVED. YOU HAVE PURCHASED A LICENSE TO USE THIS SOFTWARE ON ONE MACHINE AT A
TIME. YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO MAKE COPIES OF PC-DRAFT-CAD FOR THE SOLE
PURPOSE OF BACKING UP YOUR SOFTWARE AND PROTECTING YOUR INVESTMENT FROM
LOSS.
Note: this copy of PC-Draft-CAD is being distributed as Shareware. This
means that you may copy the disk just as you received it and you may give
it to others for their trial use. You are also permitted and encouraged to
upload this version to electronic bulletin board services. You may not,
however resell or collect any fee for the distribution of PC-Draft without
the permission of Natural Software. (This does not include the normal fees
for using bulletin boards.) If you continue to use PC-Draft-CAD after your
trial use, you must pay the purchase price as detailed below.
WARRANTY
THIS SOFTWARE WILL PERFORM AS DESCRIBED HEREIN ONLY IF PROPERLY APPLIED.
OUR LIABILITY TO YOU IS LIMITED TO REPLACING THE SOFTWARE (FOR REGISTERED
USERS ONLY). WE HAVE NO LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGE OR LOSS, INCLUDING
SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL, CAUSED BY THIS SOFTWARE, DIRECTLY OR
INDIRECTLY.
YOU AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE BY YOUR DECISION TO USE THIS
SOFTWARE.
i
Table of contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Shareware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
What registered users get . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Microsoft Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Other Mice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Printers & Plotters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Files Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
File Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Manual Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Starting PC-Draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Context sensitive Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Cursor Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Cursor Increment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Suspend Cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Change Cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Menu Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Display Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
The Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
The Drawing Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Clearing the Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Undo Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Re-do Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Saving Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Directory Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Ending PC-Draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Parts of a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The drawing database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Database Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Drawing Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Object Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Internal
Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Drawing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
ii
Multi-Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
XLine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Parallel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Circle 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Dimension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Ellipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Arc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Kursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Mouse cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Object commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Object Currency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Add Object from Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Pick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Clone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Rotate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Mirror [X] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Mirror [Y] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
File commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Directory Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Macro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
View commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Shift Funct. Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Zoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Zoom All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Redraw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
iii
Options Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Auto Redraw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Text Redraw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Fill redraw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Dline Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Snap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Line Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Line Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Element commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Get Next . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Endpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Midpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Adjust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Move End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Restore command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Divide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Base set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Using Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Using Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Creating Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Suspend Cursor Increment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Relative [+/-] Cursor Increment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
.MAC file structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Printing & Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Printing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Destination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Device type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Printer resolution modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
HP LaserJet+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
WPG - GEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Controlling Virtual Memory use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Maximum Storage Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Extended Memory in Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Swap File Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Swap File Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
iv
Storage Overrides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Disable Disk Swapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
SVGA driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Utility Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Conversion Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
WPGCONV.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
DXF2PCD.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Database Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
PRTDATA.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Summary of Drawing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
v
Introduction
PC-Draft-CAD is a object oriented Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) utility,
which is designed to facilitate a variety of drawing and drafting needs. In
contrast to PC-Draft II (our bitmap (pixel) based "painting" program), PC-
Draft-CAD is a full fledged "draw" program. It stores your drawing as a
database of basic drawing elements such as points and lines.
Some of PC-Draft-CAD's features:
o You can produce scale drawings up to any size supported by your
printer or plotter
o Built-in functions allow you to draw circles, lines, boxes, arcs,
curves, ellipses.
o Automatic dimensions show distance in feet and inches or metric or
decimal units.
o PC-Draft is both menu driven and command driven -- all drawing com-
mands may be selected from the menus or may be entered by a single
keystroke command such as [C] to draw a circle or [L] for line.
o You can record graphic keyboard macros for later playback.
o You add text to your drawing with a variety of fonts.
o You can print your drawings on a variety of printers and plotters
including those compatible with IBM and Epson dot matrix, HP Laser-
Jet+, HP DeskJet printers and plotters that support the HPGL plotter
language. Also you can save the output to the printer in a file for
later batch printing.
o You can export your drawings in GEM and WPG file format. These can
then be directly imported into such Desk Top Publishing programs as
Ventura Publisher and WordPerfect 5.0.
o Drawing grids are displayable at any spacing with optional "grid-lock"
o A pop-up status panel shows x and y cursor position, as well as its
relative position in feet and inches.
o Drawings are stored as a database composed of multiple layers. Each
layer contains multiple objects. Each object is composed of multiple
basic drawing elements such as circles and lines.
o You have full access to the drawing database to make changes to the
values stored there.
1
New features for release 3.0
----------------------------
° Support for VGA (640x480), EGA (640x350) & super VGA (800x600) 16
color modes AND support for Hercules (720x350).
° Colors are used to indicate the current element, object, and layer.
° Virtual memory: drawing size can be larger than conventional memory
would allow, up to a theoretical maximum of 32 megabytes. The new
virtual memory code uses your Extended or Expanded memory and/or pages
to disk if necessary.
° Improved Font file structure results in 90% memory savings.
° Text elements can now be rotated at any angle, independent of the
rotation of the current object.
° New options allow you to skip Text and/or Fill patterns during screen
regeneration.
° Improved interface between the printer drivers and the main program
result in faster printing and additional memory savings.
° Enhancements to the Double Line command make it easier to use for
architectural plans.
° The previous drawing command can be repeated by pressing the right
mouse button or the Enter key.
° Deleted drawing elements can be restored with the new restore command.
Shareware
------------
PC-Draft-CAD is copyrighted. It is not a public domain program. It is being
distributed as Shareware, which means that unmodified copies of the soft-
ware and documentation may be freely copied and shared. We ask in return
that should you find PC-Draft-CAD to be useful, you become a registered
user. You become registered by sending $65.00 to:
Natural Software
19 South fifth Street
St. Charles Illinois, 60174
Or call with your VISA, MasterCard or American Express number:
(708) 377-7320.
The file: ORDER.FRM on the disk can be printed and used as an order form.
Page 2 PC-Draft-CAD
What do you get by becoming registered?
o The latest version of the software without the introductory ShareWare
screen.
o Free telephone support: You can talk directly to the author (Mike
Allen). Many of the features in this latest version of PC-Draft came
directly from suggestions and wishes from users. You can also communi-
cate with the author via Compuserve. Send an EMAIL message to Mike
Allen (PID: 70047,744)
o Free introductory membership to Compuserve including: your own private
User ID and Password, $15 introductory usage credit, and free sub-
scription to Compuserve's monthly member magazine.
o The latest additions to the Font, Macro, and Object libraries: They
require too much disk space to distribute with the Shareware version.
And, as a registered user you will be notified when new libraries
become available. Current libraries exist for Architectural use and
electrical engineering use.
o A typeset quality bound user manual profusely illustrated with drawings made
with PC-Draft-CAD and full of helpful hints.
o A second 50 page manual with detailed tutorial and technical details.
plus macro files that automate the tutorial lessons.
o As a registered user you will be informed of new versions of PC-Draft.
o As a registration bonus you will get a sharware evaluation copy of
TSRPLOT and PLOT-LINE. Both are a TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident)
utilities that let you plot on HPGL plotters in the background while
you perform other tasks with your computer. TSRPLOT and PLOT-LINE are
products of:
Edward Ayliffe.
RR#4 Shelburne Ontario
Canada L0N 1SO (519)-925-5468
The shareware philosophy is to pay smaller amounts for well crafted and
useful software from developers who cannot spend the millions of dollars on
packaging and marketing necessary to compete with the large software
Introduction Page 3
development companies. You benefit by being able to try a wider variety of
software products to find the ones that suit your particular purpose. And
the trial is free. The shareware developer benefits from being able to
distribute his work to a wider audience than would be possible through
normal channels.
Your share of the responsibility for shareware to continue, and to support
the development of more and better products is to distribute your shareware
programs to others and become a registered user of those products you like
and use.
System Requirements
------------
PC-Draft-CAD is compatible with the IBM PC, XT, and AT and "true com-
patible" microcomputers with at least 384k of memory and with MS-DOS or PC-
DOS versions 2.0 or later. CGA, EGA, VGA, or Hercules Graphics Display
Adapters are supported.
Expanded memory that conforms to LIM 3.x or LIM 4.x specifications and
extended memory will be used automatically. If you do not have expanded or
extended memory available, drawing storage will be paged to your hard disk
as necessary.
Processor speed is an important factor with any CAD program and PC-Draft-
CAD is no exception. Panning and Zooming the display causes a complete re-
draw of the drawing. This may take several seconds with a 16Mhz 286 PC, or
several minutes with a slower 8088 PC. A floating point co-processor will
be used if installed in your PC. However, PC-Draft-CAD uses integer drawing
coordinates, so the presence of the co-processor does not improve re-draw
time very much.
Terminology
------------
Brackets are used to indicate keystrokes. For instance: [Ctrl + PgUp] means
to press the Control key and the PgUp keys together. Whereas: [F4][P][S]
means to press those keys in sequence. The four arrow keys on the numeric
keypad are indicated as: [v][<-][->][^]. Filenames are given in all upper-
case such as: PATTERN1.PAT.
Installation
------------
If you received your shareware copy of PC-Draft-CAD on diskette, there
should be three EXE files: PCD-CAD1.EXE, PCD-CAD2.EXE and PCD-CAD3.EXE:
To install on your hard disk (C:)
1 - Place the disk in drive A:
Page 4 PC-Draft-CAD
2 - Enter: [C:] to make it your current drive.
3 - Enter: [A:INSTALL].
To install on a two floppy system, you must have two formatted (empty)
disks
1 - Place the disk in drive A:
2 - Place a blank disk in drive B:
3 - Enter: [B:] to make B: your current drive.
4 - Enter: [A:INSTALL].
5 - When prompted switch the disk in B:
The install batch file creates a PCDCAD sub-directory and de-compresses the
three EXE files. It then determines what kind of display type you have and
automatically sets up a START.BAT batch file. You use this to start the PC-
Draft-CAD program by entering the command: START. This batch file loads
the correct display driver for your display type and runs the main program
(DRAFT3.EXE), it then removes the TSR display driver from memory when you
exit the main program. If the installation incorrectly identifies your
display type, you must change the START.BAT file so that it loads the
correct driver.
There are currently four display drivers:
CGADRV.COM supports CGA compatible display adapters
VGADRV.COM supports EGA and VGA compatible display adapters
SVGADRV.COM supports VGA adapters with at least 256K that support
800 x 600 x16 mode. With this driver, your mouse cursor
may not display (most mouse drivers know nothing of
extended VGA modes). If this is the case, you must use
the full screen cursor (press [K] ), the mouse should
still work for moving and selecting.
HGCDRV.EXE supports Hercules Graphics Cards. This driver is NOT a
TSR, it executes DRAFT3 directly and is not left in
memory when you exit from DRAFT3.
These are TSR programs (except for HGCDRV.EXE) that must be loaded before
the main program is run. The START.BAT batch file normally does this. If
you don't use the START.BAT, you simply run the correct driver program,
then when you exit the main program (DRAFT3.EXE) you can remove the driver
program from memory by running it again with the command line argument:
/U. For example, to load the vga driver and run PC-Draft-CAD, the follow-
ing commands would do the trick:
VGADRV
DRAFT3
VGADRV /U
Introduction Page 5
The VGADRV.COM driver automatically detects whether you have a VGA or EGA.
However, if you have a VGA and want to experience EGA mode (or there is a
problem -- you have an EGA but it didn't detect it properly), you can force
EGA mode by running the driver again and adding the command line argument
/E. (Also the command line argument: /V forces VGA mode).
In addition to the drivers discussed above, the executable PC-Draft program
consists of the main program: DRAFT3.EXE and a configuration file:
DRAFT3.CFG. Also, to use the on-line help feature, the file: DRAFT3.HLP
must be available.
These files must be on your current directory. If you are using a floppy
disk based system, you must leave the diskette containing DRAFT3.CFG in the
disk drive when you exit PC-Draft. Also, if you want to add text to your
drawing, you must have at least one font file available.
Microsoft Mouse
If you have a mouse compatible with Microsoft's Mouse driver software, PC-
Draft will automatically use the mouse if the mouse driver is loaded.
Be sure the mouse driver is properly loaded (either with the CONFIG.SYS
DEVICE=MOUSE.SYS command, or from the keyboard (or in your AUTOEXEC.BAT)
run the MOUSE.COM program.
Mouse movement emulates the arrow keys, the left button simulates the [F2]
key (to pop-up the menus), the right button simulates the [Enter] key (to
terminate drawing commands and to select drawing modes when in zoom mode),
and both mouse buttons pressed together simulates the [Esc] key to exit
from a menu or process.
Some IBM (not so) compatible systems do not initialize the mouse interrupt
so that, if you do not have a mouse installed, the system will hang when
PC-Draft calls this interrupt to tell if a mouse driver is loaded. If this
happens to you, load PC-Draft with a command line argument: -M, such as:
DRAFT3 -M
This will cause PC-Draft to not even attempt to determine the presence of a
mouse.
Other Mice
Most other brands of mice should work as described above if:
1. They can be configured to emulate Microsoft's Mouse driver or:
2. You can setup your mouse to:
Page 6 PC-Draft-CAD
a. convert movement into the appropriate arrow key.
b. simulate the [Enter] key with the right button.
c. simulate the [F2] key with the left button.
d. simulate the [Esc] key with both buttons (or the third button?).
Please let us know if you have a problem with your mouse.
If you do not have a mouse and intend to do much work with PC-Draft, it is
strongly recommended that you get one. You'll love the difference.
If you are using the cursor keys instead of a mouse, it is strongly recom-
mended that you use one of the many shareware or public domain keyboard
speedup programs available. This will make cursor movement around the
graphics screen much nicer. If you have an IBM AT, look for SETKEY.COM on
your bulletin boards. If you have and XT or compatible, look for
QUICKEY.COM. Both of these were published in PC Magazine and can be down
loaded from their BBS. Also the shareware programs:
FASTKEY.COM from:
Biologic Corp.
P.O. Box 1267
Manassas, Virginia 22110
and KBFIX2.COM from:
Skip Gilbrech
90 Lexington Ave. #10-G
New York, NY 10016 ( Compuserve: 71445,534 )
Printers & Plotters
------------
The current version of PC-Draft-CAD will work with several families of
printers for graphic output. Some printers which claim to emulate the IBM
Graphics or Epson dot matrix do not support all resolution modes, so you
will have to experiment to see which is appropriate for your brand.
Any plotter that accepts Hewlett Packard's HPGL plotter language will work
with PC-Draft.
If you plan to use a dot matrix printer, you must rename one of the printer
configuration files (such as EPSON240.CFG) to: PRINTER.CFG. This file is
used when printing to determine the resolution mode to use and the control
codes appropriate for the printer. Refer to the chapter Printing and
Plotting for more detail on these configuration files.
(^^^^^ see READ.ME1 ^^^^^)
Introduction Page 7
Refer to the READ.ME file on the disk for possible information about
additional printer support.
Files Used
------------
The only necessary files used by PC-Draft are the graphic display drivers,
then main code file: DRAFT3.EXE and the configuration file: DRAFT3.CFG (and
DRAFT3.HLP to use the help function). All other files are optional. (Well,
sort of. Text added to your drawing will not display unless you have loaded
a font file. Therefore, the file: SIMPLEX.FON must be accessible, normally
it is in a sub-directory named: FON). Once you have loaded a font, the next
time you run PC-Draft the same font will be loaded automatically. When you
print your drawing, you must select one of the printer driver files (one of
those whose filename matches ?????DRV.EXE).
File Names
------------
The file naming conventions used are also optional. However, it is recom-
mended that you follow them. When PC-Draft saves a file of a particular
type, say a font file for instance, it uses the appropriate filename
extension unless you override it by entering a different extension. This
helps prevent accidental data loss by overwriting files and by loading the
wrong type of file.
The default filename extensions are:
Drawing files: filename.DWG
Font files: filename.FON
Object library files: filename.LIB
Macro files: filename.MAC
Printer Drivers: ?????DRV.EXE
GEM files: filename.GEM
WordPerfect files: filename.WPG
AutoCAD data exch. format .DXF
Manual Organization
------------
The next two chapters of this manual: The Basics and Parts of a Drawing
discuss the basic knowledge you need to begin using PC-Draft-CAD. You
should read these first. The following chapters are organized around the
main PC-Draft menu choices.
o The Drawing Commands chapter shows how to add new drawing elements
(lines, circles, rectangles, etc.) to a drawing.
Page 8 PC-Draft-CAD
o The Object Commands chapter discusses how to make changes directly to
the drawing database and how to manipulate drawing objects (logical
collections of drawing elements).
o The File Commands chapter covers those commands which save and load
data in files on your disk, including saving your drawing, loading
fonts, creating and replaying macros.
o The View Commands chapter shows the various ways to change the current
view (screen window) of the full drawing.
o The Options chapter discusses the configuration information such as
line width, grid and snap. These affect other drawing commands.
o The Element Commands chapter shows how to find and change individual
drawing elements.
o The Print Commands chapter covers how to set up the parameters for
printing and how to print drawings to scale.
o The Controlling Virtual Memory chapter shows how to set certain
environment variables to control the way PC-Draft handles expanded or
extended memory and paging to disk.
o The SVGA driver chapter discusses the special "Super VGA" driver for
800 by 600 pixel 16 color modes.
o The Utilities chapter discusses the available conversion utility
programs which allow you to import drawings from other formats into
PC-Draft-CAD, and utilities for accessing the drawing database.
Introduction Page 9
The Basics
There are a few basic things you must know to start using PC-Draft and
begin making your own drawings. This chapter will give you a quick over-
view. Each drawing command and other parts of the PC-Draft system will be
covered in more detail in later chapters. Before starting to create a
"real" drawing, you should read the chapter on Parts of a Drawing, to gain
an understanding of the structure of a drawing database. This understanding
will affect the way you proceed in making a new drawing.
Starting PC-Draft
------------
To start PC-Draft, type the command: START with the files START.BAT,
DRAFT3.EXE and DRAFT3.CFG on the currently logged drive. This batch file
automatically loads the graphic display driver, runs DRAFT3.EXE, then
removes the TSR driver from memory when you exit PC-Draft. The Copyright
notice will appear for a moment, then it will display the graphics screen.
< Illustration >
You may also start PC-Draft with an optional command line arguments which
control checking for a mouse driver (-M), checking for display type (-H)
and which specify a drawing file to load. Remember, you must load the
appropriate display driver first. For example the commands:
VGADRV
DRAFT3 -M DWG\HOUSE.DWG
loads the VGA/EGA graphics driver and then runs PC-Draft without checking
for the mouse, and loads the drawing: HOUSE.DWG in the DWG sub-directory.
The configuration file: DRAFT3.CFG contains your previous filename choices,
printing modes and scale, and the drawing options: snap, grid, grid spac-
ing, auto-draw status, default line width and style.
Context sensitive Help
------------
The help file: DRAFT3.HLP contains help text explaining each menu choice
and option. When you press the [F1] key (when no menu is displayed) you
see:
Page 10 PC-Draft-CAD
< Illustration >
( a summary of all keyboard commands )
When a menu is showing, move the menu cursor to a menu option and press
[F1] for help on that specific topic.
Cursor Movement
------------
The cursor will appear as a small cross in center screen. Press the cursor
movement keys on the numeric keypad (or move the mouse) to move about the
screen.
Initially, the cursor will move 8 dots for each key pressed. As you move
the cursor you will notice that the X and Y location is shown in the
control panel at screen right. Also shown is the current cursor increment
value. With a mouse, the cursor moves smoothly along with the mouse move-
ment. You may find that for precise positioning, the arrow keys give you
more control.
Cursor Increment
The amount the cursor moves (in dots or pixels) is called the cursor incre-
ment. To change the cursor increment value, enter a number (using the top
row of number keys, or press [Num Lock] to use the numeric key pad keys).
For instance, enter 24 to cause the cursor to move 24 dots for each cursor
movement keystroke.
You will quickly get into the habit of adjusting the cursor increment value
to a larger number to quickly move to a new position on the screen, then to
a smaller number (try 1) for detailed work.
Suspend Cursor
Pressing the [S] key Suspends the current cursor increment value, causing
the cursor to move one dot at a time. Pressing [S] again restores the
increment value. This allows you to quickly change from coarse to fine
movements and is also useful when creating graphics keyboard macros as
described below.
Basics Page 11
Change Cursor
There are two cursor types (more if you have a mouse). Initially, the
cursor appears as a small cross. Press [K] ([K]ursor) to change the cursor
to a full screen cross. This cursor type is helpful when positioning lines
and objects in line with other elements in your drawing. Press [K] again to
toggle between the two cursor types. If you have a Microsoft compatible
mouse, you can change the mouse cross cursor by pressing [Alt + C]. Press
it again to change to the next cursor type. Each press of [Alt + C] changes
to a new form of mouse cursor until you return to the first one. You can
still use the full screen cursor by pressing [K].
This command is also helpful for locating the cursor. Sometimes when a
complex drawing is displayed, it is hard to find the small cursor on the
screen. Simply press [K] twice to flash the full screen cross.
Home
Press [H] to move the cursor to center screen.
Menu Selections
------------
Initially, the eight main menu selections are displayed across the top of
the screen. To make a selection, press its corresponding function key. For
instance, press [F2] (or the [/] key) (or left mouse button) to display the
pop-up Draw functions menu.
With the pop-up menu displayed you may now:
1. Press the Escape key: [Esc] (both mouse buttons), to exit from a menu
without making a choice.
2. Select a choice from the menu by:
a. press the [L]etter in brackets for your choice.
b. use the arrow keys: [^] and [v] to move the reverse video cursor
to select your choice. Then press [Enter] (or either mouse
button) to make your selection.
3. Press the left or right arrow keys: [<-] or [->] to move to another
menu (or move the mouse right or left).
< Illustration >
Page 12 PC-Draft-CAD
For example; press [F2], then press [B] for the [B]ox command, then press
[Enter]. The Draw menu will disappear. Now, move the cursor. A box will
form with its diagonal corners determined by the original cursor position
and the opposing current cursor position. When you are satisfied with the
final position of the box, press [Enter] (right mouse button)
to complete the [B]ox command.
Most of the other menus work the same, press the function key, then up and
down arrows, then [Enter].
Note: With a mouse you never have to touch the keyboard to make
drawing selections. Simply press the mouse left button to pop up the
drawing menu and make your selection by moving the mouse up or down
and pressing the mouse right button to select. The initial cursor
position or starting anchor for the drawing command selected will not
be moved as your are making menu selections.
You can also pop up a menu by moving the cursor to the top of the screen
under the top menu bar. When you press the right mouse button the menu
immediately above the mouse cursor will pop up.
Display Menu Bar
By pressing the [F1] key, you can pop-off the menu bar to allow full screen
drawing. When you press [F1] again, the menu bar will pop-up again. The
drawing obscured by the menu, will be untouched, but inaccessible, until
you pop-off the menu.
The Control Panel
------------
The panel along the right side of the screen shows:
o the drawing name, current layer name, current object name,
o the current cursor increment value (C = 8),
o the status of the suspend (cursor increment) function,
o the status of: Grid, Snap, and Autodraw,
o the status of Text and Fill re-draw (if "OFF", text/fills will not be
redrawn during screen regeneration.
o the current X and Y cursor location, in absolute drawing units and in
feet and inches (or meters) relative to the origin point of the
current object,
o the width and height of the current screen in drawing units,
o the current view number,
o the amount of free memory in bytes.
Basics Page 13
You can pop-off the control panel by pressing [Alt + P] for full screen
drawing.
The Drawing Area
------------
View
The full drawing area is represented internally as a 32768 by 32768 grid.
Normally only a portion of this full area is shown on the screen at one
time. This is the current view. By zooming in and out, and panning, you can
change the view and draw on any portion of this grid. The basic unit of
measurement on the drawing grid is called a "Drawing Unit". In other words,
the full drawing area is 32768 drawing units square. The View Commands
chapter discusses how to move around the full drawing area and how to used
the shifted function keys to jump to different saved views.
Scale
You determine the relationship between drawing units and "real world units"
such as feet and inches by setting the drawing scale. This is actually a
ratio between drawing units and inches. This scale determines the smallest
increment in real world units that you can position drawing elements.
Initially, PC-Draft is configured with the drawing scale set to 0.0625.
This means that the distance between each drawing unit is 0.0625 of an inch
(1/16 inch). So, the finest detail you can reach in the drawing is 1/16
inch. With this setting, the real world dimensions of the full drawing is
171 feet square.
You can change the drawing scale by accessing the drawing database. Press:
[F3][D] to open the database window. (This window will not stay open unless
there is at least one drawing element created.) The current drawing scale
is shown at the top. Press [Return] to move the cursor to the scale field,
and enter a new value. The [Esc] key exits from this window. For example,
if you do not need 1/16 inch resolution, or you need to draw an object
greater than 171 feet in one dimension, you can change the scale ratio to
0.25. This makes each drawing unit equal to 1/4 inch (1 / 4 = 0.25) and the
full drawing area 683 feet square. If your are using metric dimensions, it
makes sense to set the drawing scale to a multiple of 10. For example, set
it to 0.1 to make each drawing unit equal one tenth centimeter.
Note: the drawing scale should not be confused with printing scale.
Refer to the chapter on Printing and Plotting for a discussion on
output scale.
Page 14 PC-Draft-CAD
Clearing the Drawing
------------
To clear the drawing, press the [F9] key. A warning pop-up will ask if
you're sure. Press the [Y] key for [Y]es, if you are.
Undo Command
------------
Whenever you have performed some drawing operation that changed the drawing
in a way you did not expect (you goofed), you can press [U] to Undo. This
erases the last drawing element added to the drawing. The previous element
in the database then becomes the current element. Each time you press [U]
another element is erased working backward through the drawing database.
Re-do Command
------------
You can restore any "deleted" drawing element by pressing [Alt+U].
Saving Your Work
------------
Once enough of your masterpiece is constructed to make you nervous about
losing your work, you should save it to a file on disk.
1. Press the [F4] key to pop-up the File menu.
2. Select [D]rawing to save your drawing.
3. Then, select the operation from the next pop-up: [S]ave.
4. Then, enter a filename in the next pop-up. Enter any valid
DOS file path specification, including drive and sub-direc-
tories unless you want to save the file on the currently
logged drive and path.
Simply enter a filename such as: "DRAWING1.DWG" or "A:SUBDIR1\DRAWING1.DWG"
PC-Draft will save your drawing as: DRAWING1.DWG (See note below for
directory searches.)
5. Press [Enter] to complete the operation.
Once you've done this a few times, the operation of saving and retrieving
drawing files should become easy, intuitive and obvious with the help of
Basics Page 15
the pop-up prompts. The method is the same for other file operations such
as saving and retrieving object libraries or macro files.
Directory Search
When entering a filename for any file operation, you can enter a wildcard
filename mask with '*' characters. When you press [Enter], a list of all
files that match the filename mask will be displayed. For example enter
DWG\*.DWG:
< Illustration >
Also you can automatically add the wild card to the path by pressing either
the up or down arrow keys [^] or [v].
To search the directory other than the current one, enter the DOS path
information, for instance to refer to the directory containing font files,
enter: "FON\", then press [^] or [v]. (You must have the '\' at the end.)
The search path will be expanded to: FON\*.FON. Press [Enter] to display
the FON directory.
Other useful keys to use when entering filenames:
o [<-] and [->] move the cursor non-destructively.
o Backspace [<-] moves left destructively.
o The [End] key moves the cursor to the last character.
o The [Home] key moves to the first character.
o The [Esc] key restores the field to its original contents.
o Press [Ctrl + End] to clear the field from the cursor position to the
end.
o The [Ins] key toggles insert/overwrite mode.
Page 16 PC-Draft-CAD
Ending PC-Draft
------------
Press [F10] to exit PC-Draft. If you have made changes to your drawing but
not yet saved it, a warning pop-up will ask if you want to do so. If
everything is safely saved, when you press [F10] you will immediately be
returned to the DOS prompt.
Basics Page 17
Parts of a Drawing
When you draw lines, arcs, circles, etc. to create a new drawing, what you
are actually doing is adding data to a drawing database. This chapter
describes the various pieces of the drawing database and defines the
terminology used in this manual. It is important that you know the internal
structure of the drawing database because it will determine the best method
to create your drawing.
The drawing database
------------
Each drawing database is stored in one DOS file. The drawing database is
composed of four hierarchical levels of components. These are: Layers,
Object Nodes, Objects, and Drawing Elements. You might say that:
"A drawing is composed of one or more layers which has one or more
object nodes, each of which refers to one object from a pool of one or
more objects each of which is composed of one or more drawing ele-
ments".
Each component can be given a name which will be displayed on the control
panel. The other attributes of each component are described below.
The Drawing itself has a Scale attribute (discussed in the previous chap-
ter) which determines the ratio between drawing units and real world
dimensions.
Page 18 PC-Draft-CAD
< Illustration >
Database Window
------------
You can view and modify values in the drawing database by opening the
Database Window. Press [F3][D] to open it. This window will not stay open
unless at least one element has been drawn.
You can move the cursor from field to field by pressing [Enter]. The [Tab]
key moves to the next component. If there is more than one component, such
as layers, you can page through them by pressing [PgUp] or [PgDn] (while
the cursor is within the component area). You can learn more about the
database window by reading the Object Commands chapter.
Drawing Components
------------
"A drawing is composed of one or more layers:"
Layers
Layers provide a method analogous to the manual drafting technique of
overlays where different logical subsystems are drawn on separate sheets.
For example, an architectural floor plan may have a separate overlay for
electrical, mechanical, and structural subsystems.
In addition to its name, each layer has a status attribute. This is set to
either "ON" or "OFF". When "ON", the objects in the layer are drawn and/or
plotted. When "OFF", the objects in the layer are not drawn. This allows
for temporary elements such as "construction lines" which you do not want
to appear in the final printed drawing. Or, using the architectural ex-
ample, you may turn the electrical layer "ON" along with the basic floor
plan layer to print the electrical plan, then turn the electrical layer
"OFF" then the mechanical layer "ON" to print the mechanical plan.
"A layer is composed of one or more object nodes:"
Basics Page 19
Object Node
An object node describes the position, scale, and angle of rotation for
each object that is a part of the current layer. This mechanism allows for
the smallest possible storage requirements (memory and disk space) for
drawings. As you copy objects in your drawing, new object nodes are created
in the drawing database. The object itself (which takes up more internal
space) is only stored once. The coordinate (x and y) values determine where
the actual object will be drawn. When an object is moved, scaled, or
rotated, the values in the object node are changed. The object itself is
not changed.
The object node attributes: Name, Origin, Scale, and Angle may be changed
in the database window. Also shown are the number of elements in the
referenced object and the object extent (the overall size of the object in
drawing units).
"Each Object Node refers to one object from a pool of one or more objects:"
Objects
Objects are logical groupings of drawing elements which together make an
entity which can later be copied, moved, scaled and rotated. Each object
has an origin. The elements which make up an object (lines and circles) are
drawn in relationship to this origin. The object origin is usually the
original cursor position when the object was begun.
You can use the libraries of objects that come with PC-Draft to select
objects to add to your drawings. And, you can create object libraries of
you own. (See the Object Commands chapter.)
"each of which is composed of one or more drawing elements."
Elements
Drawing elements such as lines, circles, boxes, text, etc. are composed of
drawing coordinate values which define their size and orientation within
the object. In addition there are other attributes appropriate for each
element type such as line width, line style, font scale (for text ele-
ments), offset (for dimension elements). The coordinate values are ex-
pressed in drawing units and are relative to the origin of the object.
Internal
Structure
It may be helpful to visualize this hierarchy of drawing, layer, object
node, object, and element, by looking at a diagram of the actual internal
structure:
Page 20 PC-Draft-CAD
┌───────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
│Drawing │ │Layer │ │Obj Node │ │Object │ │Element │
├───────────┤ ├──────────────┤ ├─────────┤ ├─────────────┤ ├──────────────┤
│name │ │name │ │x, y │ │name │ │x1, y1, x2, y2│
│# layers │ │shown (Y/N) │ │*object ──>│# elements │ │type │
│scale │ │ │ │scale │ │*root_element─>│line style │
│x1, y1, │ │# objects │ │angle │ └─────────────┘ │line width │
│x2, y2, │ │*root_obj_node─>│*prv_obj │ │*prv_element │
│cur_view; │ │*prv_layer │ │*nxt_obj │ │*nxt_element │
│view[10] │ │*nxt_layer │ └─────────┘ └──────────────┘
│*root_layer─>└──────────────┘
└───────────┘
The structure of a typical drawing with four layers is shown below. Note
that layer one has five objects (object nodes). Also not how object nodes
simply act as place holders in a drawing, indicating position, scale and
angle of the actual objects. On the right side of the drawing are the
actual objects. Note that object D is replicated in two positions in the
drawing. It is referenced by both object node one and three (by using the
Object Copy menu choice). Objects C and F are not used in this drawing.
┌─────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐
│OBJECT NODE 5│ ┌─>│ OBJECT A │
┌─┴───────────┐─┤ │ └────────────────┘
┌─────────┐ │OBJECT NODE 4│──────┘ ┌────────────────┐
┌────────┐ ┌─┴───────┐4│ ┌─┴───────────┐─┤ │ ┌─>│ OBJECT B │
│DRAWING │ ┌─┴───────┐3├─┤ │OBJECT NODE 3│────────┘ └────────────────┘
├────────┤ ┌─┴───────┐2├─┤ │ ┌─┴───────────┐─┤ ├─┘ ┌────────────────┐
│Scale │ │LAYER: 1├─┤ ├─┘ │OBJECT NODE 2│─────────┐ │ OBJECT C │
│4 Layers->┼─────────┤ ├─┘ ┌─┴───────────┐─┤ ├─┘ │ └────────────────┘
│ │ │[ON] off ├─┘ │OBJECT NODE 1│─────────┐ │ ┌────────────────┐
└────────┘ │5 Objects ────>├─────────────┤ ├─┘ │ ├──>│ OBJECT D │
└─────────┘ │Object #4 ─────────────┼─┘ └────────────────┘
│Location │ │ │ ┌────────────────┐
│Angle ├─┘ └────>│ OBJECT E │
│Scale │ └────────────────┘
└─────────────┘ ┌────────────────┐
│ OBJECT F │
└────────────────┘
├ Object Library ┤
This has given you a top-down view of the internal composition of a
drawing. The importance of these concepts will become more clear as you
begin to create more complex drawings. Actually your initial experience of
drawing with PC-Draft provides a "bottom-up" view. The first line you draw
becomes the first drawing element of the first object of the first object
Basics Page 21
node of the first layer in the drawing. At first none of these has a name.
You can give them a name via the [D]atabase option from the Objects menu.
You could continue adding new elements to the drawing until the complete
drawing is finished. However, this would result in a drawing with only one
object which encompasses the full drawing. It is a much better practice to
logically group drawing elements into objects. For example, lets say you
want to draw an office layout showing the position of desks and movable
partitions. You would begin by creating a set of separate objects such as a
desk, chair, and partition. Then you would copy each object as needed at
different positions on the drawing.
You can save the objects you have created for use in other drawings with
the save object command: press [F4][O][S] (for File Commands, Object, Save)
and enter a filename for the object library.
You can also use objects from the object libraries that come with PC-Draft:
press [F4][O][R] (for File Commands, Object, Retrieve) and enter the
filename. This loads the object library into memory. Then you can pick an
object from this library by pressing: [F3][A] (for Object Commands, Add
from Lib.). A window will pop up showing the names of all the objects in
the library. Move the reverse video cursor to the one you want and press
enter. The selected object will be drawn in the location of the cursor.
Page 22 PC-Draft-CAD
Drawing Commands
This chapter discusses each drawing command in detail. You will be using
these drawing commands when constructing objects. As you draw, each new
drawing element is added to the current object. If you want to add elements
to other objects, you must change to that other object (via the Next Object
command or the Database window). Refer to the Element Commands chapter for
commands which manipulate existing elements.
PC-Draft provides both a menu based and a command based user interface. As
you begin to learn how PC-Draft works you may find the drawing menu useful
in selecting the various commands. But as you become more proficient, you
will probably find the single key command method easier and faster.
< Illustration >
Commands
Each basic drawing operation can be specified in two ways. You can press
[F2] (or mouse left button) to choose from the Draw menu, or you can press
the mnemonic character associated with the command. For example to select
the line command either press [F2] then press [v] enough times to move the
menu selection bar down to the "[L]ine" choice, then press [Enter] or you
can choose from the menu by pressing: [F2][L][Enter]. Or don't use the menu
at all: simply press [L] (the single key command mode).
Most drawing operations follow the same sequence of operations:
1. Position the cursor to a starting anchor point.
2. Select the drawing command.
3. Move the cursor to the desired ending point.
4. Press any key other than cursor movement or numeric key to complete
the operation.
The [Esc] key will abort the drawing operation.
Remember, at any time while moving the cursor, you can fine tune
cursor movement or speed up cursor movement by pressing the numeric
keys to change the current cursor increment. Also you can press the
[S] key to [S]uspend the cursor increment for fine work, and the [K]
key to change cursor type.
Basics Page 23
You can repeat the previous drawing command by pressing the [Enter] key or
the mouse right button. For example, if you draw a box, you can immediately
draw another box by positioning the cursor to the first box corner, press
[Enter], then move to the opposite corner and press [Enter] to complete the
command.
The most basic drawing element is the line. There are several ways to add
lines to a drawing layer.
Line
The method for drawing lines is typical of most drawing commands, involving
these four steps:
1. Move the cursor to one end of the future line.
2. Press [L] to start the line.
3. Move the cursor to the other end.
4. Press [Enter].
I think you get the idea.
The line is drawn using the current settings for line width and line style.
Please refer to the chapter on Options to see how to change these settings.
Multi-Line
If you want to draw several connected line segments, use the [M]ulti-line
command. Press [M] to start, move the cursor to the end point, press
[Enter] to anchor that end, move to the next end point, press [Enter], and
so on. Press [Esc] to end the multi-line command.
XLine
This draws two lines parallel to each other. This function is useful when
drawing walls. The distance between the two lines is controlled by the
"Dline Width" option on the Options menu. You enter the width between lines
in terms of the current dimension unit. For instance, when drawing archi-
tectural plans, enter a width of 4 inches for wood stud walls.
You start this command from the keyboard with [Alt + L].
You can select from 4 different line ending styles for each end of the
double line. This lets you merge double line elements at corners and other
intersections. The Four end styles are numbered from 0 to 3 as follows:
(The x represents the coordinates for the dline element)
Page 24 PC-Draft-CAD
Style 0: This is the default, the lines end at the element coordinate
(as they did before):
-------------------
x x
-------------------
Style 1: The top line extends longer, the bottom line is shorter:
-----------------------
x x
---------------
Style 2: The top line is shorter, the bottom line is longer:
---------------
x x
-----------------------
Style 3: Both lines are shorter:
---------------
x x
---------------
When you draw a double line element a popup dialogue box lets you enter the
end style for each end of the double line. You are first asked to enter the
FIRST end then the SECOND end. This means that if you drew the double line
element from left to right, the left end is "FIRST". The sense (first and
second ends) of vertical lines is similar. You can change the end styles
later via the DataBase access box.
Parallel
This draws a single line parallel to the previous element in the sequence
of drawn elements.
Box
Press [B] to begin the [B]ox command. The starting position is one corner
of the box, the ending cursor position is the opposite corner.
Drawing Commands Page 25
Circle
There are two circle commands. This version uses the center point and one
point on the circumference. Press [C] to draw a circle. The starting
position is the center of the circle. Move the cursor outward to establish
the diameter and press [Enter].
Circle 2
This draws a circle from three points on its circumference. Press [I] to
start the circle 2 command, an X will temporarily appear to mark the first
point, move the cursor to the second point, when you press [Enter] the
second point will be marked with an X. Then move the cursor to the third
point and press [Enter] to draw the circle through the three points. You
may press [Esc] at any time during this process to cancel the command.
Regardless of which method you use to draw a circle, the center point and
one point on the circle's circumference are stored in the database.
< Illustration >
Dimension
This command creates automatic dimensions. When you select this option from
the menu (or press the [D] key) a sub-menu will allow you to select either
horizontal or vertical dimension. Then a second sub-menu lets you select
from one of two methods. The cursor method allows you to select the points
to be dimensioned. When the cursor method is chosen, you then must select
the two points in your drawing by moving the cursor and pressing [Enter]. A
small circle will appear at each point to mark its location. The element
method uses the endpoints of the current element as the dimensioned points.
Once the two dimension points are determined, you then move the cursor to
the place where you want the dimension line to be drawn, then press
[Enter]. The final step is to specify the text scale to use for the
dimension label. Once all this is done the dimension will be drawn with
witness lines, arrows and distance shown in feet and inches.
Page 26 PC-Draft-CAD
Note: You must load a font file for the text portion of the dimension
to appear on the screen.
Ellipse
From the keyboard you start the ellipse command with [E]. As you move the
cursor, the area of the ellipse is indicated by a rectangle. Move the
cursor outward to establish the size of the ellipse and press [Enter]. Why
use the rectangle instead of the ellipse shape? We decided that drawing,
erasing, and re-drawing the actual ellipse shape as you move the cursor was
too slow, interfering with the normal flow of drawing. Note that when you
rotate an object that contains an ellipse, the corner points that define
the ellipse are rotated not the drawn ellipse. This may cause unexpected
results. For this reason, it may not be a good idea to use the ellipse in
objects that may later be rotated.
< Illustration >
Arc
There are two arc commands. The normal [A]rc command draws an interior arc
always less than 180 degrees. Exterior arcs (greater than 180 degrees) may
be drawn with the alternate arc command: [Alt + A].
a. Position the cursor to the center of the arc.
b. Press [A] or [Alt + A] to start the arc command.
c. Move the cursor outward to establish the diameter. (See note below.)
d. Press [Enter] to set the diameter and first end point of the arc. A
temporary X will mark this point.
e. Move the cursor to establish the second end point of the arc and press
[Enter].
Note: Arcs are always drawn clockwise. This means that the radius
of the arc is determined by the point that makes the smaller
angle from the center point.
Drawing Commands Page 27
Text
To add text to your drawing, position the cursor and press [T] to enter
[T]ext mode. You can use backspace and the [<-] and [->] arrow keys for
simple editing. Press [Enter] to accept the text string. After entering the
text string, you will be asked to enter an angle value. This value deter-
mines the rotation or angle the text is displayed. For instance, to display
the text vertically (written from bottom to top) enter a value of 90
(degrees). This value can be changed later via the Database window.
You will then be asked to enter a scale value. This determines how big to
draw the text. Enter the text scale (a scale of 1, produces text 64 drawing
units in height -- about average), and press [Enter]. You can modify the
text string and the scale via the database window from the Objects menu
(see the Object Commands chapter).
< Illustration >
Kursor
This command toggles the cursor shape back and forth from the small x (or
current mouse cursor shape) to the full screen cross. From the keyboard
press [K].
Mouse cursor
If you are using a MicroSoft compatible mouse, this command changes to a
different cursor shape. From the keyboard press [Alt + C]. Each time you
press [Alt + C] a new cursor type is selected until you reach the first one
again.
Color
This command only works for CGA displays. If you have a VGA or EGA display,
refert to the color menu selection on the options menu discussed below.
It changes the foreground color to one of the possible 15 standard IBM
Color Graphic Adapter colors (except black of course). From the keyboard
Page 28 PC-Draft-CAD
press [Ctrl + F1]. Each time you execute this command, the color is cycled
to the next in the list, eventually repeating.
Undo
As discussed above in the Basics chapter, this command deletes the current
element. For example if you just drew a new line (it is then the current
element), pressing [U] for Undo will delete that line from the drawing
database and erase it from the screen. Refer to the Elements Commands
chapter to learn how to make a particular element the current one (and how
to un-delete or "re-do").
Fill
This command fills a rectangular area with a repeating pattern. Once you
have selected the area to fill (just like drawing a box) you select the
pattern from one of the library objects or from one of the objects in your
drawing. The special object library called PATTERN1.LIB contains objects
specially constructed for use as patterns.
< Illustration >
After specifying the rectangular area to fill the object selection window
automatically pops up. If you have an object library loaded, its objects
will be shown. If no object library is loaded, or if you press the [ESC]
key, the object list from the drawing will be shown. Select one of the
objects to be used for the fill pattern.
By using regular objects as fill patterns, you have total freedom and
control in designing and modifying them. To see how the PATTERN1.LIB object
library was created, load the PATTERN1.DWG. You will see that each object
is drawn so that when it is repeated in a gridwork it will form a con-
tinuous pattern. The object chosen to act as a pattern fill is simply
redrawn over and over to fill the rectangular area. The width of the object
and its origin point determines the location of each redrawn instance.
Also the starting point is calculated from an absolute offset from the
upper left corner of the entire drawing grid - not the corner of the
rectangular fill area. This allows for smooth combinations of the same
pattern when fill areas are overlapped to fill non-rectangular areas. In
other words, the bricks will always line up correctly when filling areas
next to each other.
Drawing Commands Page 29
Object commands
Objects are logical groupings of drawing elements. This chapter describes
how to perform operations on drawing objects, such as scaling, rotating,
copying, moving, and changing actual data values in the drawing database.
All of these commands are accessible from the Objects menu by pressing the
[F3] key.
< Illustration >
Object Currency
An important concept to understand is Currency. By this we mean that a
particular drawing component is the active component. As you draw, new
elements are added to the current object. The last element drawn is the
current element. New elements and objects are added to the current layer.
The name of the current component (Layer, Object) will appear in the
control panel (if they are named).
Database
This option on the Object menu, opens a window showing a view into the
drawing database. You can examine and change the data there directly. For
example you can change the names of the drawing, layers and objects. When
you open this window, the current components are shown.
The [Tab] key moves the cursor from one component type to the next. Reverse
[Tab] moves backward among components. [Enter] moves to the next field.
When there are more than one instance of a component, the [Pg Up] and
[PgDn] keys page forward and backward through the instances. When you press
[Enter] at the last field, the cursor will move (wrap) to the first field
in the window, unless the current element type is Text. In this case a
window will open showing the current text string (which you can modify).
You can directly modify values in the drawing database by moving the cursor
to the field and entering the new value. For example, you can change the
location of a line's endpoint by moving (with [Tab] and [Enter]) to the X1
field of the element component section and entering a new x coordinate
value.
Page 30 PC-Draft-CAD
When the cursor is in the element type field, the up arrow [^] and down
arrow [v] keys change the element type to another valid type. You could
change a line into a circle or a box into an ellipse.
The [^][v] keys also are used to change the layer status field. This field
determines whether the layer is to be drawn or not. Move the cursor to this
field and press [^][v] to change to ON to display and print that layer or
to OFF to not display or print it.
Some fields cannot be changed. The Drawing Extent and Object Extent
indicate the current drawing area used, and the size of the current object.
They cannot be changed.
New layers, objects, and elements may be created by pressing: [Alt+N] (with
the cursor in the proper component window). You must enter meaningful data
if you make a new object or element.
Layers, objects and elements may be deleted by pressing: [Alt+D] (with the
cursor in the proper component window).
When you exit the database window (by pressing the [Esc] key) the com-
ponents shown become current.
< Illustration >
Add Object from Library
This command allows you to select an object from the currently loaded
object library to add to the drawing. You must first load an object library
(to retrieve an object library, press: [F4][O][R] and enter the filename of
the object library). When you select the Add<-Lib function a menu with the
names of all the objects in the library is displayed. Select an object by
moving the reverse video cursor with the mouse or the cursor keys and press
[Enter]. The selected object will be added to the drawing and drawn using
the current cursor position as the object origin. This object will then be
the current object.
Drawing Commands Page 31
Pick
This allows you to select an existing object from the drawing to make it
the current object. The Move, Erase, Copy and Rotate commands all operate
on the current object. If the selected object is one that had been deleted
from the drawing, it will be reinstated with its new origin at the current
cursor position.
Move
This moves the current object origin to the current cursor position. To use
this command you should:
1. Select the current object (with the Pick command or via the [Alt+O]
keyboard command).
2. Position the cursor where you want the object to be.
3. Execute the Move command.
New
This starts a new object. A box pops up to let you give the new object a
name. This new object then becomes the current object and each new element
from that point on is added to that object. The direct keyboard command:
[N] will accomplish the same.
Origin
This lets you change the origin of the current object. Once you have
created an object there may be a more convenient location for the origin,
when moving and copying the object. Position the cursor to where you want
the new origin to be, then select the Origin command.
Copy
This creates a new object node in the drawing which points to the current
object. In other words, the current object is copied. The location of the
new object is determined by the cursor location when the command is
executed. Position the cursor where you want the origin of the new object
to be. This new copy is actually the original object re-drawn in the
specified location. Changes made to this object affect the original object
(and vice-versa).
Clone
This creates a new object in the drawing database identical to the current
object. This is different from the Object Copy command which makes a new
Object Node. With the clone command, the new object is a completely
Page 32 PC-Draft-CAD
separate new object with all drawing elements from the original copied to
the new. Changes made to the new 'cloned' object affect only that object.
Note: If you add new drawing elements to an object with multiple
copies, the new elements are added to ALL copies of the object. This
is because in the drawing database there is actually only one copy of
each object. When copies are made, additional object nodes are made
which simply act as place holders describing the location, scale and
rotation of the particular instance of each copy of the object. (If
you do add new elements to such objects, you must redraw to see the
added elements in the other copies of the object.) If you do not want
this duplication to happen, use the Clone command instead of the Copy
command to make an actual new copy of the object.
Erase
This deletes the current object node from the drawing database. The actual
object is not deleted, just its object node. You can add the deleted object
back into your drawing with the Pick command.
Scale
This allows you to change the relative size of the current object. To
double an objects size (from its original size as drawn) enter: 2 in the
pop up window. to redraw the object at one half its original size, enter:
.5, and so on. This new scale affects the individual object node only.
Other copies of the same object are not affected.
Rotate
This allows you to enter the amount of rotation for the current object. For
example enter 45 to rotate the object 45 degrees (counter clockwise) from
its original orientation. You may enter a negative value to rotate clock-
wise. This rotation affects the individual object node only. Other copies
of the same object are not affected.
Stretch
This lets you stretch (or contract) an object in any direction. When you
select this command, the current object is outlined by a box. Move the
lower right corner of the box to indicate the new size for the object, then
press [Enter]. This affects all copies of the object.
Drawing Commands Page 33
Mirror [X]
This reverses the current object in the x direction.
Mirror [Y]
This reverses the current object in the y direction. These commands affect
all copies of the object.
Page 34 PC-Draft-CAD
File commands
This chapter discusses the various operations which access files on your
disks. This includes saving and retrieving drawings, fonts, object librari-
es, macros, and bit mapped objects. All of these commands are accessible
from the File menu by pressing the [F4] key.
< Illustration >
Each file operation is performed in a similar manner:
1. Press the [F4] key to pop-up the File menu.
2. Select which type of file you wish to save or load, for example press
[D] for drawing.
3. Then, select the operation type, (save or load) from the next pop-up.
4. Then, enter a filename in the next pop-up. Enter any valid DOS file
path specification, including drive and sub-directories unless you
want to save the file on the currently logged drive and path.
You need not enter a filename extension. PC-Draft will automatically add
the appropriate extension for you if you leave it off. Simply enter a
filename such as: "DRAWING1" or "A:SUBDIR1\DRAWING1"
PC-Draft will save your drawing as: DRAWING1.DWG.
5. Press [Enter] to complete the operation.
Directory Search
When entering a filename for any file operation, you can open a directory
window showing all files that match a wild card mask. Press either the up
or down arrow keys [^] or [v] to append the wild card and appropriate
extension to the existing path.
For example, when you are retrieving a drawing file, enter the directory
path such as:
C:\DRAFT\DWG\
Drawing Commands Page 35
then press the [^] key, this makes the path look like this:
C:\DRAFT\DWG\*.DWG
Then press [Enter] to display the directory:
< Illustration >
Other useful keys to use when entering filenames include: the
[<-] and [->] keys move the cursor non-destructively; Backspace [<-] moves
left destructively; the [End] moves to the last character. The [Ctrl + End]
key clears the field from the cursor position to the end; The [Esc] key
restores the field to its original contents. The [Ins] key toggles in-
sert/overwrite mode.
Drawing
This menu choice lets you save or load drawing files. The default file
extension for drawings is .DWG. Each drawing file contains all the layers,
objects, elements that have been created at the time it is saved (of
course). Drawing files also contain the ten saved views (called via the
[Shift+Function] keys, and the current view. Therefore, when you load a
drawing the last current view is displayed.
Font
This choice lets you load font files. The default file extension for fonts
is .FON. All text in the drawing is drawn using the currently loaded font.
If you load a different font, then re-draw, the new font will be used. You
cannot save fonts. You can, however load a font file as if it were an
object library. Then if you add each object from the library to a new
drawing then save the objects as a new library, you can in the process edit
the individual characters (each character is a separate object).
Object
This lets you save or load Object library files. The default file extension
for object libraries is .LIB. An object library is simply a collection of
objects. You can make your own libraries by selecting the [S]ave option
from this operation. This will save all the objects currently active in the
current drawing to the specified file.
Page 36 PC-Draft-CAD
Macro
This lets you save or load keyboard macro files. The default file extension
for macros is .MAC. When you select the [S]ave operation, a macro file is
opened and from that point on, each keystroke or mouse movement you make is
saved in the file. You terminate this recording of keystrokes by pressing
the [%] (percent) key. When you select the [L]oad operation, the specified
macro is played back.
This can be a very powerful device. Macros can be played back to create
duplicate sets of drawing elements with different sizes by changing the
cursor increment value. The chapter on macros discusses this in more
detail.
Drawing Commands Page 37
View commands
This chapter discusses the various operations which change the view of the
drawing as seen on the screen. This includes zooming, panning, saving
views, and redrawing. All of these commands are accessible from the File
menu by pressing the [F5] key.
< Illustration >
Views
When you start a new drawing, only a portion of the full drawing area is
shown on the screen. This is the current view of the drawing. To draw on
other areas you must change the view. You do this by zooming or panning.
Zooming means: enlarge or contract the current view so that more or less of
the full drawing is shown. You "zoom in" to increase magnification (co-
ntract the view). You "zoom out" to decrease magnification (enlarge the
view). Panning means: move the position of the view in relationship to the
full drawing without changing magnification.
The control panel indicates the current height and width of the current
view.
When you change a view by zooming or panning, the drawing must be redrawn
to match the new setting. If the Autodraw flag is on, the drawing will be
redrawn automatically. If the Autodraw flag is off, you must select the
redraw command (described below) to cause the drawing to be redrawn.
Shift Funct. Keys
You can change the current view to one of ten saved views by holding down
the [Shift] key and pressing one of the function keys ([F1] to [F10]).
Initially when you start a new drawing, all ten saved views are the same as
the opening screen. The control panel window indicates which of these views
is currently displayed. When you zoom or pan, the current view information
is updated for the corresponding function key.
These view settings are saved with the drawing, therefore you may set up
ten view settings that make sense for the particular drawing and when you
Page 38 PC-Draft-CAD
reload the drawing you may quickly move from one area of the drawing to
another via these preset views.
You may also change to one of these saved views by entering the view number
directly as described below: The View command.
Window
This command allows you to zoom in by specifying a rectangular area to
become the new view. This works just like the [B]ox command. Position the
cursor to one corner of the area, select the window command (press: [W],
then move the cursor to the opposite corner of the area to zoom, then press
the [Enter] key.
Zoom
This lets you zoom in or out by specifying a zoom factor. For example to
zoom in and magnify the current view by two and one half times, select the
zoom command (press [Z] ) then enter 1.5, then press the [Enter] key. To
zoom out, enter a number less than zero, for example enter .5 to double the
area of the full drawing shown.
Zoom All
This adjusts the current view so that all objects are displayed. It uses
the drawing extents values shown on the database window to determine the
size of this full view.
Center
This adjusts the current view so that it is centered around the current
cursor position.
Pan
This moves the current view laterally without changing its magnification.
Select the Pan command (press: [P]) then move the cursor (like you were
drawing a line) in the direction you want the view to be moved, then press
the [Enter] key.
View
This lets you enter a view number (one of the ten saved views) and makes it
the new current view.
Drawing Commands Page 39
Redraw
This forces a redraw of the drawing in accordance with the current view
settings. If the Autodraw flag is off you must use this command to redraw
the current view after zooms, pans, or after copying or moving an object.
Page 40 PC-Draft-CAD
Options Menu
This chapter discusses how you may view or change various options and
configuration information. This includes setting automatic redraw, grid,
snap, and the current line width and style. All of these commands are
accessible from the Options menu by pressing the [F6] key.
< Illustration >
Auto Redraw
This option determines whether the view of the drawing is redrawn on the
screen after each change such as deleting, moving, rotating or scaling an
object or changing the view with [Z]oom or [P]an. Because it may take
several seconds to redraw a complicated view, it will be faster if you do
several operations before redrawing. With Auto Redraw OFF, you can always
manually cause a redraw via the views option: [F5][R]edraw
Text Redraw
This option allows you to speed up screen regeneration by skipping the
drawing of text elements in your drawing. The more text elements you have
and especially if you load a complex font such as the triplex font, the
longer it takes to redraw the screen after pans or zooms. By setting this
option to OFF text will not be drawn and you can pan and zoom faster.
Select this option again (its a toggle) to turn text drawing back ON. The
current setting is shown in the control panel.
Fill redraw
Similar to the above, this option allows you to speed up screen regenera-
tion by skipping the drawing of fill elements in your drawing. By setting
this option to OFF fill elements will not be drawn and you can pan and zoom
faster. Select this option again (its a toggle) to turn fill drawing back
ON. The current setting is shown in the control panel.
Drawing Commands Page 41
Ratio
This sets the aspect ratio to use when calculating distance in relationship
to the actual pixel ratio of your display device. Normally, with an IBM CGA
type display which is 640 by 200 pixels the ratio should be set to 1.6. You
can adjust the ratio by turning on the grid (see below) and measuring the
vertical distance between grid points compared to the horizontal distance
and changing the ratio until the distance is equal.
The correct aspect ratio for the various display types is as follows:
Display Type Aspect
Ratio
CGA 640 x 200 2.40
EGA 640 x 350 1.37
VGA 640 x 480 1.00
SVGA 800 x 600 1.30
Dline Width
This lets you set the width between the lines for the double line command.
Depending on the current dimension unit set (US-Fractional, US-Decimal, or
Metric) you enter the width you want the double lines to be drawn. For
instance, when drawing architectural plans, enter a width of 4 inches for
wood stud walls.
Color
With the CGA driver, this menu option has the same result as pressing
[Ctrl+F1]. For VGA and EGA systems a sub-menu allows you to change the
default color choices for all the different elements of your display. The
color of the following screen elements can be set to any of the 16 possible
EGA/VGA colors (the default color as shipped is shown in ()): Please refer
to the chapter on Parts of a Drawing for a discussion of current elements
and objects.
Drawg fg (Blue) drawing elements in objects other than the current
object.
Drawg Bg (Lt.Grey) The basic background color for the drawing area.
Object (Black) The current object.
Element (Yellow) The current element.
Panel Fg (White) Text color in the control panel, help window and data
entry windows.
Page 42 PC-Draft-CAD
Panel Bg (Blue) Background color for control panel, help window and
data entry windows.
Panel Bx (White) color of box border.
Highlght (Yellow) Highlighted color for root menu, and color of the full
screen cursor.
Menu Fg (Black) Text color for menus.
Menu Bg (Lt. Red) Background color for menus.
Error Fg (White) Text color for error message window.
Error Bg (Red) Background color for error message window.
You can change these colors by moving the menu bar cursor to the item you
want to change then by pressing the left or right arrow keys to cycle
through the 16 possible colors.
After making changes to the drawing colors, you must perform a redraw
[F6][R] to show the new colors. After making changes to the panel colors,
you must re-display the panel by pressing [Alt+P].
The color selections are stored in the DRAFT3.CFG file. If you make changes
and end up with an unreadable combination such as black on black menu
colors, you can always restore the "factory default" color selections by
pressing [ALT+R].
Or, you can copy the original copy of the configuration file (for VGA/EGA
displays) VGAEGA.CFG from the installation diskette (renaming it to
DRAFT3.CFG).
Grid
To aid in positioning the cursor in line with other elements in your
drawing, press [F6][G] to specify a grid spacing in terms of feet and
inches. The grid will be spaced horizontally and vertically accordingly.
For example, enter [2] feet and [6] inches to set the grid spacing to 2'-
6".
Drawing Commands Page 43
< Illustration >
The grid is always drawn in relationship to the full drawing area rather
than just the screen. This means that as you move the screen window the
grid is redrawn and adjusted for that window with its starting point
remaining at the upper left corner of the full drawing area.
To turn the grid off, press [F6][G] again. The current setting (grid
spacing) will remain in effect for the Snap command (see below) even when
the grid is not displayed.
Note: You can zoom in or out to the point where the grid points would
be displayed too close together or not fall within the screen window
at all. The grid points will not be drawn closer than four pixels to
each other.
Snap
With snap on, the cursor will snap into position (as you add drawing
elements) on a grid intersection (whether grid is on or not).
Note: You can snap the cursor to the nearest grid point at any time
(even if snap is "OFF") by pressing: [Alt+S].
Line Width
This value determines the width of all new lines added to the drawing. Once
an element is drawn, you can change its line width via the [D]atabase
selection from the Objects menu. This value is expressed in drawing units.
Therefore the current drawing scale must be considered. For example if the
drawing scale is set at: 0.0625 (each drawing unit represents 1/16 inch),
if you want to draw a line that is four inches wide you would set the width
to 64 (4 * 16)
If you use an HPGL plotter to print your drawing, the line width value is
handled differently. The line width, in this case, is used to select the
plotter pen. The line width value must be from 1 to 6 to select pens 1
through 6. This can be used to select pens of different color or different
widths.
Page 44 PC-Draft-CAD
Line Style
This value determines the style of all new lines added to the drawing. Once
an element is drawn, you can change its line style via the [D]atabase
selection from the Objects menu. There are seven line styles available:
Style Number Description HPGL style
------------ ------------------ -----------
1 Solid Solid
2 Long Dash dotted
3 dotted medium dash
4 dash - dot long dash
5 medium dash dash - dot
6 dash - dot - dot dash - short dash
7 short dash dash - 2 shorts
This style may be interpreted differently by different output devices. HPGL
plotters have their own set of line styles. WordPerfect Graphic files and
dot matrix printer output emulate these seven line styles. Consult your
plotter manual for the line styles it uses for these values.
< Illustration >
Units
(^^^^^ see READ.ME1 ^^^^^)
This selection is used to set the type of dimension units used. You can
select from US feet and inches, US-Decimal, or Metric. Also, once the type
is selected, the precision can be set. The dimension precision determines
the number of decimal places shown in automatic dimensions in the case of
US-Decimal or Metric dimension types. In the case of US-Fractional dimen-
sion type, the precision determines the smallest fraction displayed. For
example, if US-Fractional dimensions are selected, enter 16 for the
precision to display fractions of an inch down to 1/16. If you do not want
any fractional part of the inch displayed, enter a zero for the precision.
< Illustration >
Drawing Commands Page 45
When the dimension unit type is changed and/or when the precision is
changed, the relative dimension shown in the control panel is adjusted
accordingly.
Note: When you change from US dimension types to Metric, it makes
sense to also change the drawing scale to a multiple of 10. While not
absolutely necessary, this makes for easier positioning of the cursor
on even dimension unit boundaries. Also if you have Grid "ON", you
should change the grid spacing to reflect the current dimension unit.
The current dimension unit type determines how the printing scale value is
interpreted by the various printer drivers. Therefore you must be aware of
the current setting when you are ready to print. When set to US units, the
printing scale is interpreted as fractions of an inch to the foot (ie: a
printing scale of 4 means 1/4 inch equals 1 foot). When set to Metric
units, the printing scale is interpreted as the scale ratio (ie: a printing
scale of 10 means to print at the metric scale of 1:10).
Page 46 PC-Draft-CAD
Element commands
This chapter discusses commands which act on individual drawing elements
(lines, circles, etc.). This includes finding (and making current) a
particular element; deleting, moving, or adjusting elements; and moving the
cursor to (snapping to) an element. All of these commands are accessible
from the Elements menu by pressing the [F7] key.
< Illustration >
The first three commands help you locate or choose the current element.
These commands may be used when moving the cursor to select a second point
for any of the drawing commands. Note that you can display this menu and
use these commands while in the process of moving the cursor to locate the
second point for the drawing commands.
Flash
This flashes a box around the current element. You can use this command to
locate which element is current in the drawing. Press [F] to flash the
current element. Note that this does not work if the current element is not
within the current view.
Get Next
This changes the current element to the next element in the current object.
Each time you use this command (press [G]) the current element is changed
and the new current element is flashed. You can also move backward through
the list of elements by pressing [Alt+G].
Search
This makes the element in the current object closest to the cursor location
the new current element. Position the cursor close to the end point of an
element in the drawing and press [R] to search through the drawing database
to find that element. When found, a box will flash around the element to
indicate that it is now current.
Drawing Commands Page 47
The next two commands adjust the cursor position in relationship to the
current element. These commands may be used when moving the cursor to
select a second point for the drawing commands.
Endpoint
This moves the cursor to the closest endpoint of the element.
Midpoint
This moves the cursor to the middle point between end points of the ele-
ment. In the case of box and circle element types, the cursor will be
positioned in the center.
These next commands modify the endpoints of the current element:
Adjust
This moves the current element to the cursor location. The endpoint closest
to the cursor is found and moved to the cursor, then the other endpoint is
adjusted accordingly.
Move End
This allows you to adjust one end point of the current element. The
endpoint closest to the cursor is found and then you can move it to a new
location just as if you were locating the second endpoint when originally
drawing the element. Press [Enter] to end the command.
Cross
This command operates on two elements. It finds the intersection of the two
elements and extends their endpoints to that intersection. You must first
select the correct current element, then choose the Cross command
([F7][X]), then select the second element (via the [G]et next or sea[R]ch
commands), then when you press the [Enter] key, the intersection will be
found and the elements will be redrawn.
Delete
This deletes the current element. The preceding element in the database
then becomes the current one. This command is the same as the undo command
on the draw menu.
Restore command
Page 48 PC-Draft-CAD
The Restore command "un-deletes" elements. You can choose this command from
the Element menu or by pressing [ALT+U]. If you have deleted an element
with the "Delete Element" command or the "Undo" command, this restores it.
In release 3.0 of PC-Draft-CAD, elements are not actually deleted from the
drawing database. When you delete ([U]ndo) an element it is marked as a
deleted element and it will not be drawn or printed. If more than one
element has previously been deleted, the next element in the drawing
database marked as deleted will be restored. If you use the restore command
and restore the wrong element, simply [U]ndo it and press [Alt+U] again to
restore the next deleted element in the list.
Note, that when you delete an object, it also is not really deleted.
You can restore the deleted object by selecting it from the pick
window (via the Objects menu). Only when you delete an entire layer
are objects and elements actually deleted "for good".
Divide
This divides the current element into two new elements. The new end points
for each new element are made from one of the original end points and the
cursor position.
This command does not modify any elements:
Base set
This resets the offset dimension shown in feet and inches in the control
panel. It is useful to reset this before you start to draw a new element so
that you can precisely measure the distance from the starting point of the
element.
Drawing Commands Page 49
Fonts
With PC-Draft you can load a variety of fonts. Each font is stored as a
file with a .FON extension.
Using Fonts
------------
You can load a font by pressing: [F4][F][L] for: "File menu, [F]ont,
[L]oad". In the filename prompt box, enter: "FON\" and press [^] or [v] to
step through the font directory. Press [Enter] to retrieve.
< Illustration >
Once you have loaded a font, the next time you run PC-Draft, the font file
will be automatically loaded.
To add text to your drawing, press [T] (for [T]ext). A text entry window
will pop up. Enter the text string. When you press [Enter], you will be
asked to enter an angle value. This value determines the rotation or angle
the text is displayed. For instance, to display the text vertically
(written from bottom to top) enter a value of 90 (degrees). This value can
be changed later via the Database window.
Next, you will be requested to specify the scale to use for the text
string. Enter number - generally a 1 will result in average size text.
Enter a larger number for larger text or a smaller number such as .25 for
smaller text.
Page 50 PC-Draft-CAD
Macros
The Macro feature of PC-Draft provides a way to store a sequence of key-
strokes in a .MAC file for later playback. MAC files are stored as normal
ASCII text files and can be edited by your favorite text editor. As well as
a way of saving drawing commands, macros can be used to provide a variety
of interesting animation effects.
Using Macros
------------
(^^^^^ see READ.ME1 ^^^^^)
To start the playback of a macro (for example use one of the samples
supplied with PC-Draft), press [F4][M][L] and in the filename prompt box
enter: [MAC\] and press [^] or [v] to step through the MAC directory. Press
[Enter] to start. The sequence of keystrokes stored in the selected macro
file will be immediately played back.
By changing the current cursor increment value, and then replaying the
macro, you can redraw a given shape larger or smaller (as long as the
cursor increment value was not changed within the macro itself).
< Illustration >
Creating Macros
------------
To start creating a new macro, press [F4][M][S], and enter a filename. When
you press [Enter] to return to the drawing screen, each keystroke from that
point on will be recorded and saved in the specified file.
To end the recording of keys, press [%] (the percent symbol key). The .MAC
file will be closed. You can then replay the macro in different positions,
and with different cursor increment values.
Suspend Cursor Increment
------------
It is useful to be able to move one pixel at a time within a macro without
actually changing the cursor increment value so that the macro can be
replayed for different sized objects. This can be accomplished with the
[S]uspend command to temporarily cause the cursor to move one dot at a
time.
Fonts Page 51
Relative [+/-] Cursor Increment
------------
Similarly, you can use the [+] and [-] keys to increment and decrement the
cursor increment value to make changes relative to the value in effect when
the macro is started.
.MAC file structure
------------
Macro files are created as standard ASCII text files and may be edited with
your ASCII text editor (even EDLIN!). .MAC files simply consist of each
keystroke as entered during their creation. Control keys are represented by
their keyboard scan value as an ASCII character preceded by a "^" charac-
ter.
The common keystroke symbols are as follows:
[F1] = ^; [^] = ^H
[F2] = ^< [v] = ^P
[F3] = ^= [<-] = ^K
[F4] = ^> [->] = ^M
[F5] = ^? [Home] = ^G
[F6] = ^@ [End] = ^O [Enter] = (value 13)
[F7] = ^A [PgUp] = ^I [Esc] = ^[
[F8] = ^B [PgDn] = ^Q
[F9] = ^C
[F10] = ^D
For example a macro to draw a box:
B^Q^M^M^M^HS^P^P^P^P^MR^M^M^M^M^M^MS^PR^K^K^K^KS^H^ H^HS^H%
Note that the macro file must end with the "%" terminator character.
Mouse movements are handled somewhat differently in Macro files.
Page 52 PC-Draft-CAD
Printing & Plotting
PC-Draft will print your drawing using a variety of IBM or Epson compatible
dot matrix printers or laser printers compatible with the Hewlett Packard
LaserJet+ (Note that this includes HP's DeskJet printer). Plotters which
accept Hewlett Packard's HPGL plotter language are also supported. This
function is also used to save your drawing to files on disk in different
graphics formats.
You always print the portion of your drawing that is shown in the current
screen window. Therefore you should adjust the current view so that the
entire drawing or the portion you wish to print is visible. The printing
function is evoked by pressing the [F8] key. The first menu choice lets you
set various printing options:
Printing Options
------------
(^^^^^ see READ.ME1 ^^^^^)
< Illustration >
Destination
This lets you set the DOS device used for printing. It is normally set to
LPT1 or LPT2 to use the printer device. If you wish to immediately print,
enter the device name such as LPT1 or LPT2.
If, however, you wish to dump the printer control bytes to a file for
later printing, enter the filename to use. You may include the optional
drive and path designations. You can later print the file created by this
method from outside of PC-Draft by the DOS command:
COPY /B PRTFILE PRN
Note: that you must use the /B option since the file is a binary file. For
the same reason, do not use the DOS print command, since the file is a
binary file containing byte values which may be interpreted by the Print
program as tabs.
This feature enables you to incorporate PC-Draft images into word proces-
sors that allow sending files to the printer in the middle of the word
processor document. It is also handy if you want to print several items at
a time but do not want to wait on the slow speed of the printer. You can
save all the images to files with a common extension (such as .PRT). Then
later print them all with:
Macros Page 53
COPY /B *.PRT PRN
Scale
This allows you to set the scale to be used when printing or plotting. Note
that when you are drawing, you are using "real world" dimensions. A line
that is 5 foot 4 inches in the drawing will be plotted or printed at the
scale you set. For example to print at a scale of 1/4 inch to the foot
enter a 4 in the scale entry window. At this scale, the 5 foot 4 inch line
will be 1 and 5/16 of an inch long.
The current setting of the dimension unit option (See the Options Menu
chapter) determines how the scale value is interpreted when you print your
drawing. When the dimension unit is set to US units, the printing scale is
interpreted as fractions of an inch to the foot (ie: a printing scale of 4
means 1/4 inch equals 1 foot). When set to Metric units, the printing scale
is interpreted as the scale ratio (ie: a printing scale of 10 means to
print at the metric scale of 1:10).
Orientation
This determines whether the drawing will be printed in landscape or
portrait mode.
Device type
This determines which device driver will be used to print or plot the
drawing. You must enter the complete filename (including drive and path if
necessary) for the appropriate printer driver program.
DOT--DRV.EXE prints on any dot matrix printer that uses the Epson or IBM
dot matrix graphics commands. This is a generic dot matrix printer driver
which may be customized for different printers or resolutions.
This driver uses a configuration file which contains the correct parameters
and control codes for a particular printer. On the disk are different
configuration files such as: EPSON240.CFG and IBMDM240.CFG. The number
portion of the filename indicates the printer resolution in dots per inch.
When printing directly from PC-Draft-CAD the program looks for a file:
PRINTER.CFG. Therefore, you must copy the appropriate .CFG file to
PRINTER.CFG (or rename it). For example, if your printer is compatible with
the IBM dot matrix type printers, rename IBMDM240.CFG to PRINTER.CFG to
print at a resolution of 240 dpi. When running DOT--DRV.EXE directly from
the DOS command line, you can specify which configuration file to use: for
example the command:
(^^^^^ see READ.ME1 ^^^^^)
DOT--DRV HOUSE.DWG EPSON120.CFG
Page 54 PC-Draft-CAD
prints the house drawing using the epson dot matrix printer configuration
file (at 120 dpi). If you omit the second command line argument (the name
of the config file) it will use the file: PRINTER.CFG.
If the provided configuration files do not work with your printer, you can
change them with any ASCII editor (such as EDLIN). The format for con-
figuration files is 9 lines of numeric data (in decimal format), followed
by optional comments. For example the file: IBM-DOT.CFG is as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------
8 - page width -- For Generic IBM dot-matrix mode: 60 dpi
10.67 - page height
60 - horiz dots per inch
72 - vert dots per inch
3 - # of raster passes
8 - # of scan lines per printer pass (print head wires)
480 - # dots per 8 inch line (01E0 hex)
27 65 8 27 50 255 - line feed string (Esc 'A' 8 Esc '2')
13 10 27 75 224 1 255 - line setup (cr lf Esc 'K' E0 01)
----------------------------------------------------------------
The last two lines are the most likely to need changing for different
printer types. Line 8 is sent to the printer once to set up the spacing
between lines. Line 9 is sent to the printer at the start of each line to
set graphics mode and determine the number of graphic bytes. The last
number (255) on these last two lines is a terminator - so if you change or
add data on these lines be sure the last number is 255.
If you have a 24 pin dot matrix printer the value in the PRINTER.CFG file
(copied from one of the sample configuration files provided) may have to be
changed. The current value is 72 (dots per inch) which is common for nearly
all 9 pin printers. Refer to your printer manual. If it indicates that your
printer has a vertical resolution of 180 dots per inch (which is adjusted
to 60 vertical dots per inch when emulation 9 pin modes) you should change
the 72 to 60 in the file.
HPLJ-DRV.EXE prints on Hewlett Packard's LaserJet+ or DeskJet printers.
HPGL-DRV.EXE is for any plotter that accepts HP's HPGL. Use the [Small]
menu choice for A size (8-1/2 by 11 inch). Use the [Large] menu choice for
B size (11 by 17 inch) plots.
(^^^^^ see READ.ME1 ^^^^^)
The following device types are designed to convert your PC-Draft drawing
into another CAD format. They are not meant to send output to the printer.
You must specify a filename as the destination when using one of these
output devices.
GEM--DRV.EXE converts the drawing to a GEM Draw file.
Printing Page 55
WPG--DRV.EXE converts the drawing to a WordPerfect WPG file.
Printer resolution modes
------------
The current version of PC-Draft supports two resolution modes for the HP
LaserJet and DeskJet printers directly from the menu. Printer resolution
for dot matrix printers is controlled by the PRINTER.CFG file (see above).
These two choices are represented on the menu as "Small" and "Large".
HP LaserJet+
(Also for HP DeskJet)
[Small] prints at 150 dots per inch. (1200 dots/8 inch line.)
[Large] prints at 300 dots per inch (2400 dots/8 inch line.)
WPG - GEM
Of great importance to users of DeskTop publishing programs like Ventura
Publisher and WordPerfect 5.0, is the ability to export drawings in a file
format that allows inclusion of graphics created with PC-Draft directly
into DTP documents. The current version of PC-Draft support two such file
formats: GEM Draw file format and WordPerfect WPG file format. Simply print
your drawing using the WPG--DRV or GEM--DRV device as your printer choice -
- you must give a filename (the filename should have an ".WPG" or ".GEM"
extension).
This manual (the printed and bound version) was created using WordPerfect
5.1. The illustrations of PC-Draft-CAD screens were made using PC-Draft II
exporting GEM .IMG (bit mapped) files. The sample drawings were produced by
exporting to WPG format.
Page 56 PC-Draft-CAD
Controlling Virtual Memory use
When PC-Draft-CAD starts it looks for an environment string named: PCDVM
(for PC-Draft Virtual Memory). If that string is present, the contents of
the string are used to override some of the default behavior of PC-Draft-
CAD's virtual memory management. You add environment strings with the DOS
SET command. For example the command:
SET PCDVM = /M32/PD:\TEMP
would set the contents of the PCDVM environment string to a typical
configuration. If you use this feature, you will probably want to add the
SET command to the START.BAT file.
Each parameter in the environment string must begin with a '/' or a '-'.
These introductory characters can be mixed and the parameters can be
entered in any order and are not case sensitive.
The valid virtual memory environment parameters are as follows:
Maximum Storage Space: /Mn
This parameter specified the maximum amount of storage space PC-Draft-CAD
is allowed to use. 'n' specified total storage in Megabytes. For example:
SET PCDVM = /M32
tells PC-Draft that it can use up to 32 Megabytes of storage space. This
includes both RAM storage and disk storage. The default value is 16
Megabytes.
Extended Memory in Use /Xn
This parameter tells PC-Draft than 'n' kilobytes of extended memory are
already in use. You may need to use this when you have a ramdisk in
extended memory -- although PC-Draft usually can detect the presence of
extended memory ramdisks. For example:
SET PCDVM = /X256
means that the first 256K of extended memory is not available for use by
PC-Draft.
Swap File Name: /Fxxx
Printing Page 57
This parameter sets the filename to use for the swap file. This file will
be used to page drawing data to disk if extended or expanded RAM is not
available. The default filename is HXXXXXXX.$$$. For example:
SET PCDVM = /Fswapfile.tmp
Tells PC-Draft to use the file SWAPFILE.TMP for its swap file.
Swap File Path: /Pxxx
This parameter sets the drive and sub-directory to use for the swap file.
The default path is the root directory of the current drive. For example:
SET PCDVM = /Pd:\temp
Tells PC-Draft to place its swap file in the temp sub-directory on drive
d:.
Storage Overrides: /NOEMM, /NOEXT
Normally if you have expanded memory, PC-Draft will use it for storage of
drawing data. If you have no expanded memory but there is extended memory,
it will be used. You can override this strategy by telling PC-Draft not to
use expanded memory or not to use extended memory, or both. For example:
SET PCDVM = /noemm
Tells PC-Draft to not use expanded memory, and:
SET PCDVM = /noext
Tells PC-Draft to not use extended memory.
Disable Disk Swapping: /NOSWAP
The command:
SET PCDVM = /noext
Tells PC-Draft to not swap data to disk.
Page 58 PC-Draft-CAD
SVGA driver
Also included with PC-Draft-CAD release 3 is a graphics display driver for
Super VGA displays. This driver (filename: SVGADRV.COM) sets up the Super-
VGA 800x600x16 color mode. This mode is a semi-standard for nearly all VGA
display boards (except IBM of course). "Semi-standard", because the value
used to set the mode is different on each VGA brand!
In order to work with the many different VGA chip sets -- each of which
sets its own standard for resolutions above IBM's 320x200x256 color mode,
you must supply the hex value used by your VGA board for the 800x600x16
mode. You can specify a graphics mode value when you run SVGADRV.COM with
the "/Mnn" command line argument, where "nn" is the hex mode value. For
example, for use with an ATI board, the mode value should be 54(hex), so to
load the SVGADRV driver enter:
SVGADRV /M54
By default the SVGADRV driver uses the correct mode value for boards using
the Trident chip (5Bh). The following table lists the correct mode value to
use for several different chip sets. If your board's chip set is not
listed, refer to your VGA board manual and use the mode value listed for
800x600 - 16 color mode.
VGA Brand or Chip set Mode Value
Ahead, VESA 6A
ATI, VGA Wonder 54
Chips and Technology 70
Paradise, AT&T, Compaq, 58
AST
Trident, Maxxon, Logix 5B
Tsing, VEGA, Orchid 29
Tatung 62
Video7, Tecmar VGA/AD 16
If your VGA board supports this mode, please give it a try. With my VGA by
Logix (trident chip), the display must be adjusted to fit on the screen but
it still leaves wide borders left and right. Also the character size in
this mode is 8 by 8 pixels, which means that the menus and dialog boxes are
SMALL. That is why I prefer the more normal 640 by 480 mode.
Printing Page 59
Note that the SVGADRV driver works like the other graphics drivers ment-
ioned in the release 3 addendum. To deinstall the driver after running the
main DRAFT3.EXE program, enter:
SVGADRV /U
Also note that your mouse cursor may not display when using this driver.
Use the full screen cursor instead (press [K]).
Page 60 PC-Draft-CAD
Utility Programs
PC-Draft-CAD comes with separate utility programs. Some allow you to
convert drawings made with other CAD programs into PC-Draft-CAD format.
Others are designed to query or report on the data in your drawing database
files.
Conversion Utilities
------------
WPGCONV.EXE
This program converts WordPerfect graphics files for use with PC-Draft-CAD.
It expects two command line arguments which specify the source file and the
output file. For example to convert the airplane graphic that comes with
WordPerfect 5.0, enter:
WPGCONV C:\WP\AIRPLANE.WPG AIRPLANE.LIB
WPGCONV has an optional scale argument which determines the size of the
converted WPG object. Add this argument right after the program name in the
form:
WPGCONV -N <INPUT FILE> <OUTPUT FILE>
where N is the scale factor. The default value for the scale is 4. If you
specify a larger value, the resulting size will be smaller. Specify a
smaller value to make the size larger. For example to make the airplane
drawing smaller enter:
WPGCONV -6 C:\WP\AIRPLANE.WPG AIRPLANE.LIB
DXF2PCD.EXE
This program converts AutoCAD Drawing eXchange Format (.DXF) files into PC-
Draft-CAD drawing format. It expects two command line arguments (in
addition to optional scaling factors explained below) which specify the
source file and the output file. For example, to convert a DXF drawing of a
house, enter:
DXF2PCD HOUSE.DXF HOUSE.DWG
This conversion process ignores elements which PC-Draft-CAD does not
support, such as shading, curves, 3D objects, and other esoteric con-
structs.
The drawing USAMAP.DWG was converted from a .DXF file.
Printing Page 61
DXF files generated by other programs (at least the ones I have been able
to acquire) have wildly different ranges of coordinate values. Some range
from 0 to 15 and are expressed in floating point format. For example the
USA.DWG files that comes with PC-Draft-CAD was generated from an AutoCAD
DXF file whose coordinate values ranged from 2.023452 to 12.543001. Also
the Y scale may not always match the X scale in some DXF drawings. There-
fore, The DXF2PCD program uses X and Y scaling factors to adjust the
coordinate values to fall in a valid range for PC-Draft-CAD's coordinate
space. Also x and y offsets (from the upper left corner of the drawing
space) can be applied to adjust the position of the drawing elements in
PCD-CAD's drawing space.
The new version of DXF2PCD now allows the following optional command line
arguments:
-x<value> - X axis scaling factor
-y<value> - Y axis scaling factor
-a<value> - X drawing offset (left margin)
-b<value> - Y drawing offset (top margin)
For example the drawing: HOUSE1.DWG will be created from HOUSE.DXF with the
following command line:
DXF2PCD HOUSE.DXF HOUSE1.DWG -x23.97 -y25.4 -a4000 -b4000
The above command supplies an X scale factor of 23.97, a Y scale factor of
25.4 and positions the drawing 4000 drawing units from the upper left of
the full drawing area.
Database Utilities
------------
PRTDATA.EXE
This program prints (or displays) a report showing for each layer in the
specified drawing, each object node: location, orientation, scale, and
name. The second section of the report shows each object and all of its
elements.
PRTDATA requires at least one command line argument: the filename of the
drawing you wish to examine:
PRTDATA HOUSE.DWG
This displays the house drawing database on the screen. If you wish to
print this data, simply redirect the output to your printer:
PRTDATA HOUSE.DWG > PRN
Page 62 PC-Draft-CAD
You can also save the data to a DOS text file by redirecting the output to
a DOS file:
PRTDATA HOUSE.DWG > DATAFILE.DAT
Printing Page 63
Summary of Drawing Commands
┌───Keyboard shortcuts
┴ menu choices Action
[F1] Menu bar - off/on
[F2] Draw - add new element to drawing (current object)
A [A]rc int - draw interior arc (less than 180 degrees)
AltA a[R]c ext - draw exterior arc (more than 180 degrees)
Y cur[V]e - draw conic arc
B [B]ox - draw rectangle
C [C]ircle - center and one point on circumference
I c[I]rcle 2 - three points on circumference
D [D]imension - [H]orizontal - [C]ursor
[V]ertical [E]lement
E [E]llipse - draw ellipse
H [H]ome - move cursor to center screen
L [L]ine - draw simple line
AltL [X]Line - draw 2 lines parallel to specified points
M [M]ulti-line - draw several lines in sequence
[P]arallel - draw new line parallel to current element
T [T]ext - add text to current object
U [U]ndo - delete current element
AltF [F]ill - select an object and fill rectangular area
[F3] Objects - perform operation on selected object
[D]atabase - access drawing data directly
[A]dd<-Lib - from object library
[P]ick - set current obj from drawing objects
[M]ove - new object node origin
N [N]ew - start new object - asks for obj name
[O]rigin - change element offsets to new object origin
[C]opy - copy current object (new object node)
c[L]one - copy current object (new object)
[E]rase - doesn't delete actual object
[S]cale - set scale (redraw object)
[R]otate - enter angle to rotate object
s[T]retch - distort object in any direction
mirror [X] - reverse object in X axis
mirror [Y] - reverse object in Y axis
[F4] File - file operations
[D]rawing - submenu for each:
[F]ont [S]ave
[O]bject [L]oad
[M]acro - start (save) recording a macro,
(load) = play a macro.
Page 64 PC-Draft-CAD
[F5] Views - - change current view
W [W]-zoom - draw box to for area to zoom to full screen
Z [Z]oom (n) - magnify current view by n, ie: n = .5 to
halve amount shown.
zoom [A]ll - zoom out to show full drawing
[C]enter - pan to make place cursor at center.
P [P]an - move cursor for amount and direction to pan
[V]iew (n) - shift[F1 .. F10] to change to view [1..10]
[R]edraw - redraw current view
[F6] Options - - modify config variables
[A]uto redraw - automatically redraw after change
[T]ext redraw - when "off", skips text during screen redraw
[F]ill redraw - when "off", skips fill elements during redraw
[R]atio - change aspect ratio
[S]nap - force element endpoints to align with grid
[G]rid - set spacing & display rectangular grid
[W]idth line - set default line width
[D]line width - set distance between Double line elements
[L]ine style - set default line style
[U]nits - set dimension unit & precision
[C]olor - set screen color selections
[F7] Elements - perform operation on current element
F [F]lash ele - * "flash" box around current element
G [G]et next - * select next element & "flash"
R sea[R]ch - * select closest element
J ad[J]ust - move current element to cursor position
O m[O]ve end - move current element end to new location
X [X]Cross - select 2nd. element, merge ends
U [D]elete - delete current element ("Undo")
AltU re[S]tore - restore deleted element ("Redo")
AltE [E]ndpoint - * move to nearest end point
AltM [M]idpoint - * snap to center of element
V di[V]ide ele - make two elements
AltB [B]ase set - * set position for relative measurements
[F8] Print - - print or plot drawing
[O]ptions
[D]estination - "LPT1, LPT2, or filename
[S]cale- (4 = 1/4 " = 1'-0")(or metric: 20 = 1:20)
[O]rientation
[P]ortrait
[L]andscape
[T]ype device - select printer driver program
[M]ode
[S]mall (300dpi) (HP-LaserJet+) (8.5 x 11 HPGL)
[L]arge (150dpi) (HP-LaserJet+) (11 x 17 HPGL)
[P]rint - starts printing
[F9] Erase drawing
Command Summary Page 65
Other Keyboard Commands
S - suspend cursor increment
K - switch cursor type (full screen/small)
[Alt-C] - switch mouse cursor
[Alt-G] - find ([G]et) next element (move backward thru element
chain)
[Alt-H] - move to current object origin (object [H]ome)
[Alt-O] - change to next object & move to origin
[Alt-P] - panel on/off
[Alt-S] - snap to grid point
[Alt-Y] - change to next la[Y]er
[Ctl-F1] - change foreground color (CGA only)
shift[F1 .. F10] - change to view [1..10]
Page 66 PC-Draft-CAD
Index
Arc 27 Text 27
ASP i Three point circle
Aspect ratio 42 26
AutoCAD 61 XLine 24
Box 25 Drawing Components 19
Circle 26 Elements 20
Clearing the Screen 15 Layers 19
Clone 32 Object Node 20
Color 28, 42 Objects 20
CONFIG.SYS 6 DXF 61
Control Panel 13 EGA 5
Cursor 12 Elements 20
Command 28 Elements commands 47
Increment 11 Adjust 48
Mouse 12, 28 Base 49
Suspend 51 Cross 48
Type 12 Delete 48
Database 30 Divide 49
Delete Endpoint 48
element 48 Flash 47
Layers and objects Get 47
31 Midpoint 48
Object 33 Move 48
Dimension 26 Restore 48
set base 49 Search 47
Units 45 Undo 29
Directory 16, 35 Ellipse 27
Display Drivers 5 Ending PC-Draft 17
Dline Width 42 Exit 17
DOT--DRV.EXE 54 Ending Macros 51
Double line 24 Expanded Memory 4
Width 42 Extended Memory 57
DRAFT3.CFG 10 Features 1
Drawing Area 14 File commands 35
Drawing Commands File Names 8
Arc 27 Files 8
Box 25 .FON 50
Circle 26 .MAC 51
Color 28 CONFIG.SYS 6
Dimension 26 Directory 35
Ellipse 27 DRAFT2.CFG 6
Fill 29 Font 36
Kursor 28 GEM format 56
Line 24 Macro 37
Multi-Line 24 Naming conventions
Parallel 25 8
Summary 64 Object 36
Command Summary Page 67
Fill 29 New 32
Fill Redraw 41 Origin 32
Find Pick 32
current element 47 Rotate 33
Fonts 50 Scale 33
GEM 56 Stretch 33
GEM--DRV.EXE 55 used as pattern 29
Graphic Macros 51 Object Currency 30
Grid 43 Objects 20
Help key 10 Options 41
Hercules 5 Auto 41
Home 12 Grid 43
HP LaserJet+ 56 Line 45
HPGL Line width 44
Line style 45 Ratio 42
Line width 44 Snap 44
HPGL-DRV.EXE 55 Units 45
HPLJ-DRV.EXE 55 Pan 38
Installation 4 Parallel Lines 25
Kursor 28 Pattern 29
Laser printer 53 Patterns 29
Layers 19 Printers 7
Line 24 DeskJet 56
style 45 dot matrix 54
width 44 GEM files 56
Line ending style 24 LaserJet 56
MAC file 51 resolution modes 56
Structure 52 Printing 53
Macros 51 Printing Options
Memory 57 Destination 53
Menus 12 Device 54
Metric 14, 45, 54 Orientation 54
MicroSoft 6 Scale 54
Mirror 34 Re-do 15
Mouse Redraw 40, 41
buttons 6 automatic 41
cursor 12, 28 Relative Cursor Increment
driver 6 51
Move Restore 48
current view 39 Rotate
Object 32 Object 33
Multi-Line 24 Scale
Object 20 Object 33
Add 31 Search
Clone 32 for element 47
Copy 32 Search directory 16, 35
Erase 33 Snap 44
Library 31 Stretch 33
Mirror 34 Style
Move 32 Line 45
Page 68 PC-Draft-CAD
Super-VGA 59
Suspend
Cursor 51
SVGADRV.COM 59
Swap to disk 58
Text 27
Text Redraw 41
Three point circle 26
Undo 15, 29
Units 45
VGA 5
Views commands 38
Center 39
Pan 39
Redraw 40
View 39
Window 39
Zoom 39
Zoom All 39
Virtual Memory 57
WPG--DRV.EXE 56
XLine 24
Zoom 38
Zoom All 39
Index Page 69