Media Share 9

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Media Share 9 / MEDIASHARE_09.ISO / graphics / aquilacd.zip / AQUILA.DOC next >

Wrap

Text File | 1993-03-31 | 71KB | 1,769 lines

Aquila Lite ----------- Aquila Lite (pronounced like "tequila") is a shareware AutoCAD driver for all VGAs and SuperVGAs. It has been developed by Cornus Inc. as a demo version of "Aquila Plus"; a high performance AutoCAD driver for all Autodesk products using the protected-mode interface. Aquila Lite has the following features: * Protected mode operation, PADI 4.2 specification. * 36 active viewports, including pspace and perspective viewports. * Birds-Eye and Edge-Pan features for convenient zooms and pans. * Dynamic (real-time) pan & zoom in birds-eye. * Spy-Glass feature. * Icon-based menu system. * Intelligent clean-up to eliminate "flashing". * Display list memory meter. * AutoCAD memory usage statistics. * Paging Alarm (tm) - will disable display list usage when paging becomes excessive. * Reliable dual screen operation. * International font support. * User configurable screen colors. * Text screen emulation window for Release 12. If you find that you like the way this driver works, call Cornus and order Aquila Plus, which is the full featured version of this driver. Aquila Plus has the following additional features: * Multi-Stage birdseye * 15, 16 and 24 bit rendering modes * Resolution support to 1280 x 1024 (SuperVGAs) and higher for others. * Support for S3, XGA and other high performance hardware. * Larger more complete icon menus * Variable size fonts For more information on ordering, please the the companion file "ORDER.DOC". License, Copyright & Warranty ----------------------------- Software License Agreement -------------------------- Important: Please read this agreement before installing the files. By installing the files you acknowledge your agreement to the terms and conditions of this license. Refund ------ If you do not wish to follow the terms of this license agreement, you may erase the files from your computer. Since this is shareware, you did not pay anything for Aquila Lite, and so are due no funds of any kind. Definitions ----------- The term "Software" as used in this agreement means the full system and all utility computer programs as well as any associated data files contained on the disks in this package, together with any updates subsequently provided by Cornus. The term "Software Copies" means the actual copies of any or all portions of the Software, including back-ups, updates, merged or partial copies permitted hereunder or subsequently supplied by Cornus. The term "Related Materials" means all the printed materials provided in this package or subsequently supplied by Cornus for use with the Software. Permitted Uses -------------- You may: Use the Software on a single stand alone computer or on multiple workstations on a network. Install the Software on a permanent storage device (hard drive). Make and distribute copies of this sofware, providing that you distribute the entire driver package intact, with no ommisions or modifications. You are permitted to do this only if not for profit. This license gives you certain limited rights to use the Software. You do not become an owner of and Cornus retains title to all the Software, Software Copies, and Related Materials. In addition, you agree to use reasonable care and effort to protect the Software from unauthorized use, reproduction, distribution, or publication. All rights not specifically granted in this license are reserved by Cornus. Uses not permitted ------------------ You may not: Alter, decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer the Software. Remove or obscure the Cornus copyright and trademark notices. Make copies of the Software, except as permitted above. Rent, lease, sublicense, sell or otherwise make any profit by the distribution of this Software, other than a small fee to cover the cost of the media and shipping expenses. Duration -------- This agreement is effective from the day you install or use the copies, until you become tired of the increased productivity gained by the use of Aquila Lite. If you breach this agreement, we can terminate this license by notifying you in writing. You will be required to return all Software, Software Copies and Related Materials. We may also choose to enforce other legal rights. General ------- This agreement represents our entire understanding and agreement regarding the Software, Software Copies and Related Materials and supersedes any prior purchase order, communications, advertising or representations. This license may only be modified in a written amendment signed by an officer of Cornus. If any provision of this agreement shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, it shall be deemed severable from, and shall in no way affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions of this agreement. This agreement shall be governed by Washington State law. By installing the enclosed disks, you acknowledge that you have read every provision of this license agreement. Limited Warranty ---------------- Since this is shareware, this product is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind. The entire risk as to the results and performance of the program is assumed by you. Cornus does not warrant, guarantee, or make any representations regarding the use of, results of, merchantability or general fitness for a particular use of the product. Should the program prove defective, you (and not Cornus or its dealers) assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction. Further Cornus does not warrant, guarantee or make any representations regarding the use of, or the results of the use of the program in terms of correctness, accuracy, reliability, currentness, or otherwise; and you rely on the program and results solely at your own risk. Cornus will not be liable for any damages, including but not limited to system damage, repair, service, correction, loss of profit, lost saving, or any other incidental, consequential or special damages of any nature whatsoever resulting from the use or inability to use this product. Copyright --------- Regardless of the release of Aquila Lite as a shareware product, Aquila Plus is NOT in the public domain. It is copyrighted by Cornus Incorporated with all rights reserved. Copying, duplicating, selling or otherwise distributing this product, whether for profit or not, is a violation of the law. Portions of this software are provided under license from ATC Graphics Company and Forest Computer Consultants. This manual is also copyrighted and all rights are reserved. This document may not, in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form without prior written consent in writing from Cornus. This manual may be copied in its entirity only, and must include this copyright notice. Installation ------------ Create a directory on your hard drive for these files. EXAMPLE: "md \aquila". Move to that directory. EXAMPLE: "cd \aquila". Copy all files from diskette to this directory. EXAMPLE: "copy a:*.*". Configuration ------------- Basic configuration ------------------- Add the following 3 lines to your AUTOEXEC.BAT: "set dspadi=c:\aquila\rcaquila.exp" "set rcpadi=%DSPADI%" "set rdpadi=%DSPADI%" This will cover all Autodesk applications except AutoCAD Release 12. Simplified configuration ------------------------ Aquila will detect the Autodesk application that it is being configured for, and will provide correct defaults for all the various applications. Simply by accepting all the default parameters, your driver will be configured correctly. This will work with AutoCAD, AutoShader, or 3D StudioTM . Font configuration ------------------ This driver will use the 8 bit international font in the VGA BIOS (8x16), or if a font file is present, will use that instead. Font files may be in any size up to 16 x 48. The shareware product "Aquila Lite" is not provided with any font files, and this section is provided for only to give the user an idea of the additioanl functionality available with the Aquila Plus driver. The driver searches for font files in the following order: Looks for the file "AQUILA.FNT" in the current directory. Looks for the file "AQUILA.FNT" in the driver directory. Searches for the path & file specified in the variable "AQUILA_FONT" found in the DOS environment. EXAMPLE: "set aquila_font = c:\aq_plus\9x15.fnt" Searches for the file name specified in the specific directory. EXAMPLE: "set aquila_font = 9x15.fnt" Searches for the file specified in the driver directory. EXAMPLE: "set aquila_font = 9x15" If the font file is readable, it will be used, otherwise Aquila will borrow font data from the VGA BIOS. For the latest information on font files and specifications, please see the "README" file on the release disk. Please note that font files can always be used on AutoCAD and AutoShade, while 3D Studio may choose the internal 8x16 VGA font. This is because 3D Studio needs at least 80 columns and 30 rows of text to run. If the external font cannot provide this, then Aquila will use the internal 8x16 VGA font. AutoCAD Release 11 configuration -------------------------------- *************************************************** * * * AutoCAD configuration options: * * ------------------------------------------- * * 0 Exit * * 1 Display mode: 640 x 480, 16 colors * * single screen mode * * 2 Menu colors * * 3 Flip screen (R12 only): disabled * * 4 Display list: 16 bit, Dynamic * * 5 Erase-Buffer: on * * 6 Page-Alarm: medium * * 7 Edge-pan: on * * 8 Birds-eye: on * * 9 Double click button: 1 * * command: 'aqbird * * * * Enter selection, 0 to 9 <1>:_ * * * *************************************************** AutoCAD Release 11 configuration screen 1. Start AutoCAD by moving to the "\ACAD" directory and typing "ACAD". 2. Select option #5 "Configure AutoCAD". 3. Select option #3 "Configure video display". 4. Select option #1 "ADI P386 v4.0/4.1 display". The Aquila configuration menu (see above example) will appear next. 5. Choose the resolution mode to use (menu options 1). Aquila Lite will detect which graphics card you are using, and provide you with a list of resolution modes that will be valid for your graphics card. If this is the first time, it may take Aquila Lite a minute or two to try all the possible combinations; during this time, the screen will go blank, but will come back. Please note that Aquila Lite has limited resolutions, but that Aquila Plus is capable of much higher resolution. If you think that your graphics card is capable of much higher resolution than the list you are given- you are probably right. 6. If your system is capable of dual screen operation, you will be asked if you wish to use this option. 7. Choose the menu colors to use for various parts of the screen (menu option 2). 8. Choose the display list options desired (menu option 4). For more information on this, please see the section on Display List Configuration. Please note that menu item 3 is valid only for Release 12 and later versions of AutoCAD. 9. Enable and select a size for the Erase-Buffer if you wish to have "flash-less" redrawing when editing your drawings. 10. Choose a sensitivity setting for the Page-Alarm. 11. Enable or disable the Edge-Pan feature. If you decide later to change any Edge-Pan setting, this can be done from inside AutoCAD. 12. Enable the Birds-Eye, and choose a size for it. The size will be a percentage of total screen size. 13. Configure the digitizer or mouse button to use for entering a command for you. We recommend using the transparent birds-eye command "'aqbird", as this will allow you to change the location inside a drawing while in the middle of any AutoCAD command. 14. Exit the Aquila configuration menu (option 0). 15. Configure pointer (mouse or tablet), printer and plotter as needed. 16. Return to the main AutoCAD menu, saving the configuration results. AutoCAD Release 12 configuration -------------------------------- *********************************************** * AutoCAD configuration options: * * * * ------------------------------------------- * * 0 Exit * * 1 Display mode: 640 x 480, 16 colors * * single screen mode * * 2 Menu colors * * 3 Flip screen (R12 only): enabled * * 4 Display list: 32 bit, Dynamic * * 5 Erase-Buffer: on * * 6 Page-Alarm: medium * * 7 Edge-pan: on * * 8 Birds-eye: on * * 9 Double click button: 1 * * command: 'aqbird * * * * Enter selection, 0 to 9 <1>:_ * * * *********************************************** AutoCAD Release 12 configuration screen AutoCAD Release 12 uses a much different method of locating device drivers than Release 11. Release 12 will search directories for device files, and ignores the "DSPADI=" environment variable. If you are installing or configuring Release 12 for the first time, please pay careful attention to the following setup instructions: 1. Set the environment variable as follows: "set ACADDRV=C:\ACAD\DRV;C:\AQUILA". 2. Start AutoCAD by moving to the "\ACAD" directory. 3. Enter "ACAD -r". 4. Select the video display driver "Aquila Lite by Cornus Inc." from the menu. 5. The Aquila Lite configuration menu (see above example) will appear next. 6. Choose the resolution mode to use (menu option 1) Aquila Lite will detect which graphics card you are using, and provide you with a list of resolution modes that will be valid for your graphics card. If this is the first time, it may take Aquila Lite a minute or two to try all the possible combinations; during this time, the screen will go blank, but will come back. 7. If your system is capable of dual screen operation, you will be asked if you wish to use this option. 8. Choose the menu colors to use for various parts of the screen (menu option 2). 9. Select whether you wish to use the "Flip screen" feature (option 3). If enabled, this will allow the AutoCAD text screen to appear in the center of the graphics screen, and will eliminate the mode switching delay common to most multi frequency monitors. If you are using an after market TSR product that pops up into the screen during AutoCAD sessions (calculator, plot spooler, etc.) then you should not use this option. 10. Choose the display list options desired (option 4). For more information on this, please see the section on Display List Configuration. 11. Enable and select a size for the Erase-Buffer if you wish to have "flash-less" redraws when editing your drawings. 12. Choose a sensitivity setting for the Page-Alarm. 13. Enable or disable the Edge-Pan feature. If you decide later to change any Edge-Pan setting, it can be done from inside AutoCAD. 14. Enable the Birds-Eye, and choose a size for it. The size will be a percentage of total screen size. 15. Configure the digitizer or mouse button to use for entering a command for you. We recommend using the transparent birds-eye command "'aqbird", as this will allow you to change the location inside a drawing while in the middle of any AutoCAD command. 16. Exit the Aquila configuration menu (option 0). 17. Configure pointer (mouse or tablet), printer and plotter as needed. 18. Upon saving the configuration results, you will be placed in the AutoCAD graphics screen. Display List configuration -------------------------- This section covers the configuration of the display list features found in Aquila Lite. Please pay careful attention to the information presented here, since this will affect the performance of Aquila Plus under AutoCAD. During configuring, you must choose a method of memory management for the display list information. Which method you use will depend upon the type and number of drawings you work with during an AutoCAD session. "Dynamic" means that the memory just keeps on growing as it is needed. This requires the least amount of operator interaction, and is the most carefree. "Static", the other choice, means that the memory is a fixed amount that you will specify. When the display list grows bigger than memory limits, the display list will be shut off. The static option is a little bit faster, but requires a knowledge of how much memory your drawings will consume. Some experimentation will be necessary to make Aquila work optimally for your particular environment and needs. * The first option is "Enable Display List?". Answering "No" will end the display list configuration choices. * If you are configuring for Release 12, you will then be asked "Enable 32 bit regens?". Enabling this feature will greatly reduce regens, providing faster operation. The disadvantage of this choice is that Aquila will use more memory for the display list. Aquila Lite allows you to make this choice, even though it will never actually provide a 32 bit display list for you. This feature has been disabled in the Aquila Lite version, although it is present in Aquila Plus. * Select a memory management scheme. "Dynamic dlist (automatic)?" Answering "Yes" will select the dynamic scheme. You would then be prompted to select a performance level, "Miserly (1), Normal (2) or High Performance (3)". If you have very little memory in your machine then select Miserly, if you have 8 megs or better, select High Performance. All others select Normal. If you selected Static management (by answering "No"), then you will be asked to provide a memory size to use. If this is the first time being configured, Aquila will make a suggestion based upon the amount of memory in your system. * Select erase buffer operation. Answering Yes to "Enable erase buffer?" bring up a second question "Erase buffer size?". This will determine the number of erased objects it takes before Aquila will start an automatic "cleaning" cycle to remove them from the display list. If you plan on editing very large drawings, you might want to set this threshold to a higher value. * Configure the Page-Alarm option, "Enable Page-Alarm?". Answering "Yes" will bring up a second prompt about the sensitivity setting for the Page-Alarm. Birds-eye configuration ----------------------- Enable the display list and set those options first. Without display list, the Birds-Eye will not work. Select a size for the bird's eye window. This size is a percentage of the graphics area of your AutoCAD screen. Edge-Pan configuration ---------------------- Enable the display list and set those options first. Without display list, the Edge-Pan will not work. "Enable edge panning? <Y>" turns on the edge panning feature. Select the amount of drawing to scroll by in the viewport with each pan occurrence. "Edge pan scroll amount (percent), 5 to 50 <10>:" allows you to change the amount of the drawing that scrolls past with each panning hit. Choose the amount of time that the cursor must remain idle at the edge of a viewport before edge-panning takes effect. "Edge pan initial delay? 5 to 180 <24>:" allows you to change this delay. The delay is in fractions of a second, and 18 of these is roughly equal to one second. Choose the amount of time between panning "hits" by answering "Edge pan repeating delay?, 1 to 18 <2>:". Again, there are 18 "clicks" to a second. Select the size of the border area. When the cursor remains still inside this border area, the edge panning will begin. This border area is specified in number of pixels. "Edge pan border zone (in pixels)? 5 to 50 <15>" will allow you to change the size of this invisible panning zone. AutoShade configuration ----------------------- 1. Start up AutoShade, with the special configuration command "SHADE /R". 2. Select the correct pointing device. 3. Select option #2 "P386 Autodesk Device Interface display driver". 4. Choose a display resolution mode. This is the display mode that will be used for the interactive screen. 5. Choose the colors to use in the various parts of the screen. (Menus, Pop-ups, Background, etc.) 6. Save and exit the colors menu when finished selecting colors. 7. Select option #2 "P386 Autodesk Device Interface rendering driver". 8. Choose a rendering resolution mode. This is the display mode that will be used for the rendering (shading and RenderMan) screen. 9. If you select the 32768 or 65535 color modes, you will be asked if you wish to enable "Band-Free" mode. This allows the best color quality possible in a 15 or 16 bit device. Select Low, Medium or High. 10. Answer the next 3 questions with a "YES", since only one screen is used, and must be redrawn upon switching. 11. Select a hard copy device option. 12. At this point, AutoShade will be configured, and you will find yourself in the interactive screen. 3D Studio 1.0 Configuration --------------------------- 1. Go to the "\3DS" directory, and edit the file "3DS.SET" file. 2. Change the line that starts with "DEFAULT-DISPLAY = VGA320X200" to read "DEFAULT-DISPLAY = RCPADI". 3. Change the line that begins with "MAIN-DISPLAY =" to read "MAIN-DISPLAY = RCPADI". Delete any leading semicolon (;) that may be present. 4. Change the line that begins with "MATERIAL-DISPLAY = VGA320X200" to read "MATERIAL-DISPLAY = RCPADI". 5. Save the file and exit the editor. 6. Delete the file "3DADI.CFG", if present. 7. Start 3D Studio with the command "3DS". 8. Select a resolution mode for the Main display. This is the mode that will be used for the 2D Shaper, 3D Lofter, 3D Editor, and Keyframer. There is no benefit to selecting a very high resolution mode, as these screens will not use any more than 16 colors, but you may choose to experiment with this. 9. Select a resolution for the Materials Editor. This must be a 256 color mode. Use of a 16 color mode will cause 3D Studio to crash in a horribly painful manner. Use of a resolution greater than 640 x 480 will not increase the usefulness of the Materials Editor at all. 10. You should now find yourself inside the 3D Editor of 3D Studio. 11. The first time that you try to render a drawing or view an image, you will be asked to select a resolution for the Rendering Device. 12. If you select the 32768 or 65535 color modes, you will be asked if you wish to enable "Band-Free" mode. This allows the best color quality possible in a 15 or 16 bit device. Select Low, Medium or High. Configuration is now complete. 3D Studio 2.0 Configuration =========================== 1. Go to the "\3DS" directory, and edit the file "3DS.SET" file. 2. Change the line that starts with "RENDER-DISPLAY = VGA320X200" to read "RENDER-DISPLAY = RCPADI". 3. Change the line that begins with "MAIN-DISPLAY =" to read "MAIN-DISPLAY = RCPADI". Delete any leading semicolon (;) that may be present. 4. Change the line that begins with "MATERIAL-DISPLAY = VGA320X200" to read "MATERIAL-DISPLAY = RCPADI". 5. Save the file and exit the editor. 6. Delete the file "3DADI.CFG", if present. 7. Start 3D Studio with the command "3DS". 8. Answer the question about having a VGA or SVGA. 9. Select a resolution mode for the "ADI main display". This is the mode that will be used for the 2D Shaper, 3D Lofter, 3D Editor, and Keyframer. There is no benefit to selecting a very high resolution mode, as these screens will not use any more than 16 colors, but you may choose to experiment with this. 10. Select a resolution for the "ADI MEDIT". This must be a 256 color mode. Use of a 16 color mode will cause 3D Studio to crash. Use of a resolution greater than 640 x 480 will not increase the usefulness of the Materials Editor at all. 11. Answer the question about "Will RDPADI render to a separate screen?". The answer is always "no". 12. Select a resolution mode for the Rendering "RDPADI" Device. 13. If you select the 32768 or 65535 color modes, you will be asked if you wish to enable "Band-Free" mode. This allows the best color quality possible in a 15 or 16 bit device. Select Low, Medium or High. 14. Answer the question about "Will RCPADI render to a separate screen?". If using Aquila for an 8514/A, the answer is "yes", for all others, the answer is "no". 15. Select a resolution mode for the Rendering "RCPADI" Device. 16. If you select the 32768 or 65535 color modes, you will be asked if you wish to enable "Band-Free" mode. This allows the best color quality possible in a 15 or 16 bit device. Select Low, Medium or High. You should now find yourself inside the 3D Editor of 3D Studio. Configuration is now complete. Special Features ---------------- AutoCAD Screen layout --------------------- The AutoCAD screen has a number of unique features that are unique to Aquila Plus. These include a memory and display list status window, current color display, and logo region. Current Color Display The rectangle in the top left of the screen displays the current drawing color. Logo This is used to display the manufacturer's logo. Driver Status This area displays a number of useful things about the AutoCAD and driver environment, including memory usage (by AutoCAD), memory usage (by Aquila Plus), and the active state of the display list and screen list functions. This area is present only when display list has been enabled. Memory Status The first line gives a percentage of total system memory that is being used by AutoCAD. When this display exceeds 100%, AutoCAD may start to slow down, as it will need to shuffle memory blocks to keep running. After this figure exceeds 105%, the disk drive light will start coming on, and "paging" will occur. Memory Usage The second line displays the amount of memory being used by the display list and screen list. When this line reads "Empty", this means that there is no drawing in memory (new drawing). If you have enabled the display list, but it does not appear in the status area, this is because Aquila has shut down the screen list due to excessive paging. Please see "Paging Alarm" for more information on this topic. The display should read "Disabled" when that occurs. Display List Status The next line, beginning with a "D", gives some additional information about Aquila Plus. The first letter indicates the type of display list in use. If it is a "D", then 32 bit display list data is in use. If it is a "d", then 16 bit display list data has been selected. The second letter indicates whether AutoCAD will let you zoom in the current viewport with the display list. If it is a "Z", then zooming from the display list is allowed. If a "z" is drawn, then this means that AutoCAD will handle all redraws for this viewport. This can be the case for PSPACE or perspective view viewports. If there is a lower case "z", then the bird's eye will not work in this viewport. The third and fourth letters are optional, and appear only as required. The first, if present, indicates that the Page Alarm has been enabled, and indicates the status of that function. If the Page Alarm is on, but no paging has occurred recently, "p" will be the indication. If any paging has occurred recently, this display will become "P". This does not mean that the Page Alarm has tripped, but only that some amount of paging has occurred recently. The last status letter is only present if the Edge-Pan feature has been enabled. When the cursor is inside the edge panning border area, the indicator will be "E" to indicate that an edge pan is impending. Otherwise the indicator will be a lower case "e". Icon Menu System This powerful feature allows you to create your own icon menus to speed up repetitive tasks insode AutoCAD. The Icons themselves can be created inside AutoCAD, or with any Windows paint package. The commands may be any combination of AutoLisp and/or user commands that you wish. For more details, please see the Chapter "Icon Menu System". Birds eye view This is one of the most simple and intuitive means of panning and zooming within a drawing possible. A bird's eye window is analogous to the "You are here" maps in shopping malls. It give you an overall view of the drawing, showing you exactly where you are in that drawing. It also lets you change the zoom factor and offset (panning) without entering any AutoCAD commands, and your hand never has to leave the digitizer puck or mouse. For more details on the use of this powerful feature, please see the following chapter on the use of trhe Birds-Eye. Edge Pan Another method of moving around a large drawing is to use the edge panning feature. This is used to move around while zoomed into a drawing. By leaving the cursor near the border of the currently active viewport, Aquila Plus will automatically begin to pan in that direction. This only begins if the cursor if left idle for a predetermined time. There are a number of configuration settings to use, and they can be changed within AutoCAD. Experimentation will yield the best results for your needs. Perhaps several different settings would be useful as well, and could be set with the aid of a menu entry. See Appendix A for a menu example. Paging Alarm When AutoCAD's memory requirements exceed the amount of physical memory available in your machine, it begins "paging", to gain extra memory. Paging means that certain memory areas are traded back and forth with a "swap file" on the hard drive. Due to the difference in access speed between main memory, and this "virtual" memory that is on the hard drive, AutoCAD begins to slow down, often to the point of being unusable. To combat this, Aquila takes a very miserly approach to memory usage. Memory is used very sparingly, and only when absolutely necessary. As a second line of defense against paging, Aquila keeps track of the amount of memory paged out to disk. When it exceeds several preset thresholds, Aquila begins shutting down extra functions, and returns the memory to AutoCAD, so that AutoCAD may use it instead of paging to the hard drive. When paging activity exceeds the first threshold, the screen-list feature is disabled and all associated memory is returned to AutoCAD. At this point, the screen list status will change in the status window. Should paging activity continue, Aquila will disable the display list feature and return all of that memory to AutoCAD. When that has been done, the second line of the status window will say "Disabled", to indicate that all display list functionality has been terminated. The driver will continue to function normally, but redraws will be slower. However, AutoCAD itself will now be much faster than it was when the paging was occurring. This allows you to complete your drawing session in much less time. Graphics flip screen This option will only work in Release 12 configurations, and is not available for any other application. When enabled this will emulate the VGA text window (press the F1 key to toggle between modes) in the center of the graphics screen. If you need to be toggling back and forth often, this option can save you time, because there is no wait for the monitor to re-sync. If you wish to execute any DOS commands, however, Aquila will switch the screen to a full screen text mode. This allows for full DOS compatibility. If you are using a plot spooler or other TSR that requires a compatible "pop-up" window, then this option may need to be disabled, for it to work correctly. Erase buffer When AutoCAD erases objects from the drawing database, it erases them from the screen as well. Sometimes this action causes other objects to appear erased as well. Redrawing from the display list has no effect, but a "regen" causes the objects to appear correctly. This problem can be solved by using the erase buffer to correct the display corruption that occurs when objects are erase from the drawing. Normally, AutoCAD will request that the driver erase a line from the screen by drawing it in black. This causes the erased object to flash on and off the screen during redraws. Another bad side effect of this is that objects nearby the erased one may appear to be incomplete. To correct this in the fastest manner possible, Aquila will keep a list of erased vectors, and erase them only when the buffer fills. This speeds up block erasures considerably. To make optimum use of the erase buffer may require some tuning, according to the size of drawings you use, and the amount and type of drawing entities you work with. There are certain after market software packages for AutoCAD, such as CAD Overlay, which rely upon the ability to draw objects in black (background color). If you are using one of these packages and the screen images have an odd appearance, then you need to disable the erase buffer. Erased objects may also be "cleaned up" manually by using a special driver command. See the "New Commands" section for more information on this. Band-Free Rendering When using the 15 or 16 bit rendering modes, often times the images appear "banded". This banding or staircasing occurs most often on objects with large sloping or gently curving surfaces. To improve the image quality in these modes, we have introduced "Band-Free" rendering. This can eliminate banding and provide an image quality superior to all other rendering techniques used on 15 or 16 bit display modes. The "Band-Free" effect can be controlled as well. It may be set to "Low", "Medium", or "High", depending upon how much of the banding you want to eliminate. This feature will be of limited use to users of AutoShade, but is highly praised by users of Autodesk RenderMan and 3D Studio. Rendering modes with greater than 256 colors are not allowed in Aquila Lite, but are available in Aquila Plus. New commands ------------ Driver status (^L) Typing a ^L at the AutoCAD command prompt will give the user a display of the current display resolution, and memory allocation statistics. If invoked from the text screen, the command used to provide help on the driver local commands will also be displayed. Help screen (AQHLP) Aquila has so many different commands, which the programmers are constantly updating that it has become impossible to keep this manual updated. So instead we designed Aquila to use a self-documenting system of adding new commands. This allows our development staff the freedom to add new commands to the driver without making this manual obsolete. The help screen function displays a list of all the driver local commands, and gives a brief description of each. This command is best executed from the text screen (flip screen), as the list will be much longer than the 3 lines allowed inside the drawing editor. AQDLQ This command will give a printout of all the viewports currently in use, along with some useful statistics about each one. Perspective or paperspace viewports will be listed as such, and the current viewport will be indicated. Each viewport will list the amount of memory used by it, as well as the number of erased vectors. In multiple viewport drawings this will print out a large number of lines, so it is better to perform this command from the text screen. AQDRQ This command will indicate the status of many features of the driver, and will perform exactly the same as the driver status command listed at the beginning of this chapter. AQCLN When editing drawings, sometimes you may notice a flashing of erased or moved objects on the screen during redraws. This command will remove those objects from the display list by initiating a "cleaning" cycle. This can be executed at any time, even if the Erase Buffer has been disabled. AQCOLOR=index,red,green,blue This allows you to change the appearance of each color on the screen. It may be useful when trying to match screen colors to plotter pens. The valid range for all values is 0 - 255. AQICON=menu This will cause an icon menu to be displayed on the screen. If no parameter is given, the default icon menu is displayed. If the parameter passed is the name of a sub-menu, it will be displayed as the main menu. This may be used to activate different submenus with different digitizer buttons. AQICONLOAD=filename Loads a new icon library into memory, over the top of the existing menu. If filename does not exist the icon menu is disabled. AQLIB This will bring up the Icon Library Manager screen. You may add or remove icons from or to the loaded menu. AQMENU This will bring up the Icon Menu Manager screen. With this screen you may combine icons defined in the library into menus. AQBIRD This will cause the bird's eye window to appear underneath the current cursor location. The window will display an overall view of the contents of the currently active viewport. If the current viewport is a paperspace or perspective viewport, the bird's eye will not appear. AQEPAN Entering this command will toggle on & off the edge pan feature. It may be disabled and re-enabled at any time during an AutoCAD session. The bottom line in the status window will be updated to reflect the change. AQPL This will pan the current viewport to the left by 25 percent. Regens are never authorized by this command. AQPR This will pan the current viewport to the right by 25 percent. Regens are never authorized by this command. AQPU This will pan the current viewport up by 25 percent. Regens are never authorized by this command. AQPD This will pan the current viewport down by 25 percent. Regens are never authorized by this command. AQZI This will zoom in the current viewport by 50 percent. Regens are never authorized by this command. AQZO This will zoom out the current viewport by 50 percent. Regens are never authorized by this command. AQZX This will zoom the current viewport to the extents (extreme edges) of the display list. Regens are never authorized by this command. AQZWI Only available under Release 12, this special zoom command performs a "ZOOM WAY IN", while keeping the same scale factor on the screen. This will cause a regen to occur. Upon completion, you will be able to zoom in futher before another regen will occur. Careful use of this command upon loading a drawing can eliminate subsequent regens. When finished, the viewport will look exactly as it did before. The difference is that now you will be able to zoom in much farther before a regen occurs. In the case of 32 bit display lists, subsequent regens may never occur. By performing a "ZOOM ALL", followed by an "AQZWI" command, you will be able to zoom in and out of your drawing as much as possible without causing further regens. This can also be used to eliminate the small bird's eye image that is present when loading drawings in Release 12. AQZWO Only available under Release 12, this special zoom command performs a "ZOOM WAY OUT", while keeping the same scale factor on the screen. This is the conceptual opposite of the AQZWI command. This will cause a regen to occur. Upon completion, you will be able to zoom out as far as possible before another regen will occur. This can be very useful when making large additions to your drawings, such as array copying, or cross referencing other drawing files. To get the most out of this command, zoom in as far as you will need into your drawing. Then enter "AQZWO". When finished with the regen cycle, you will be able to pan and zoom out as much as possible without incurring further regens. This will allow you to add large blocks of data to your drawing without limiting your ability to zoom around it. AQSPY=xx This command can be used to change the size of the SpyGlass window. This is the area around the cursor that is magnified in the Spy Glass. The default window size is 25 pixels. To change the window to 50 pixels, "AQSPY=50" would be used. AQPANSCR=xx Changing the amount of the viewport scrolled by the edge pan feature is accomplished here. The value must be between 10 and 80, and is a percentage of the viewport size. Example- to set the scroll distance to one quarter of the viewport size, "AQPANSCR=25" would be used. AQPANBRD=xx This will change the width of the edge pan border. The value must be between 5 and 50, and is in number of pixels. Example- to set the edge pan scroll zone to 16 pixels, "AQPANBRD=16" would be used. AQPANTM1=xx This command allows you to change the amount of initial delay used before the edge pan begins to happen. This is given in number of "clicks", or fractions of a second. There are 18 "clicks" to a second. Valid range for this command is between 10 and 64. Example- to set the initial delay to 1.5 seconds, "AQPANTM1=27" would be used. AQPANTM2=xx This command allows you to change the amount of repeating delay used after the edge pan begins. This is given in number of "clicks", or fractions of a second. There are 18 "clicks" to a second. Valid range for this command is between 1 and 18. Example- to set the repeating rate to twice a second, "AQPANTM2=9" would be used. AQEBUF=xx This command is used to change the size of the Erase Buffer. If zero is used, the buffer is turned off. Example- to set the Erase Buffer to 25 objects, "AQEBUF=25" would be used. Valid range for this command is 0 (zero) to 32000. Birds-Eye --------- Aquila Plus provides you with an advanced Birds-Eye that is rich in features. * Lockable Birds-Eye mode anchors the Birds-Eye to the screen for ready access. * Powerful Dynamic PAN & ZOOM mode allows easy movement around the drawing. * Spy Glass locates areas within your drawing easily. * Multi-Stage Birds-Eye - This powerful feature makes working with birds-eye even easier when using Release 12's 32 bit display list. This feature has been disabled in the Aquila Lite version, but the manual entries are left show how useful this feature is. * Motif-style interface makes moving and re-sizing the Bird's-Eye a breeze. * Quick Icons provide fast access to features. Birds-Eye Shortcuts ------------------- Enable Birds-Eye To display the bird-eye window, double click the right mouse button. Disable Birds-Eye To remove the bird-eye window, simply move your mouse until the cursor is no longer inside the birds-eye. If this does not work, the birds-eye is in static mode. To remove a static birds-eye, click on the window close button in the top left corner of the birds-eye. Pan / Zoom To switch between pan and zoom, press the right mouse button. Real time pan and zoom Press the left mouse button (pick button), while pressing either shift key. The middle mouse button on a 3 button mouse also works. Zoom vmax Click on the zoom extents icon at the top of the birds-eye window. Zoom birds-eye (multistage) Select the new area within the the birds eye to be zoomed in. Click the right mouse button while pressing either shift key. Zoom vmax birds-eye (multistage) Click on the zoom extents icon at the top of the birds-eye window while pressing either shift key. Birds-Eye Usage --------------- This is one of the most simple and intuitive means of panning and zooming within a drawing possible. A bird's eye window is analogous to the "You are here" maps in shopping malls. It give you an overall view of the drawing, showing you exactly where you are in that drawing. It also lets you change the zoom factor and offset (panning) without entering any AutoCAD commands, and your hand never has to leave the digitizer puck or mouse. This bird's eye will work in multiple viewport drawings, and will appear in the aspect ratio of the currently active viewport. When activated, either by entering the "AQBIRD" command, or by double-clicking the proper digitizer button, the bird's eye view will appear under the current cursor location. In this window will appear a small overall view of the amount of the drawing that AutoCAD has currently placed in Aquila's display list. A highlighted rectangle will appear within this window (filled white rectangle), indicating the currently viewed area. Also within this window is an outline rectangle that moves around with the digitizer. This indicates the area that will be shown if a bird's eye zoom is completed. If this rectangle contains an "X" in the middle, then the bird's eye is in pan mode. If this rectangle contains an arrow, then the bird's eye is in zoom mode. This is the same user interface presented by AutoCAD in the "ZOOM DYNAMIC" command, and should be intuitive. Pressing the pick button on your mouse or digitizer (left button with most any mouse) allows you to toggle between zoom and pan modes in the bird's eye window. You may move the pointing device around inside the new view. Pressing the selection button on your digitizer causes the selected view to be used in the currently active viewport. Pressing the pick button on your mouse or digitizer while simultaneously pressing the "Shift" key on your keyboard will toggle the birds-eye between static and dynamic zoom modes. When in Dynamic zoom mode, Aquila Plus will instantly update the current viewport as you move the mouse. Moving the cursor outside the bird's eye window cancels the function, and does not affect the current view. Icons ----- Lock Icon This Icon locks the Birds-Eye on to the screen. When selected, this Icon will be replaced by the UnLock Icon and the Birds-Eye will remain on the screen. When the Birds-Eye is locked you can freely move backing and forth between AutoCAD and the Birds-Eye. UnLock Icon Depressing this Icon unlocks the Birds-Eye on screen. With the Birds-Eye unlocked, it is automatically removed from the screen when you leave the Birds-Eye or execute a command. Dynamic Mode On Icon By depressing this Icon you enable Dynamic PAN & ZOOM. As you move the cursor around the Birds-Eye, the contents of the cursor are zoomed into your current viewport. Dynamic Mode can also be toggled on and off by pressing the pick button on the mouse while holding down either SHIFT key. Dynamic Mode Off Icon Depressing this Icon will disable the Dynamic Pan & Zoom modes. Spy Glass Icon Depressing this Icon will enable Spy Glass mode. When Spy Glass is enabled, the Birds-Eye Window turns into a Spy Glass when you move the cursor outside the boundary of the window. An area immediately around the AutoCAD cursor is zoomed up and displayed in the Spy Glass. Moving the AutoCAD cursor back into the Birds-Eye will restore the Bird's-Eye view. The magnification may be changed while moving your cursor around the screen. This is done by clicking the pick button while holding down the Ctrl (zoom in) or Alt (zoom out) key on your keyboard. Bird's-Eye Icon You can cancel the Spy Glass mode by pressing the Birds-Eye Icon. Zoom All Icon The Zoom All Icon is provided to allow you to zoom to the extents of the local display list. Unlike AutoCAD's Zoom All or Zoom Extents commands, this command will not force a regen. It is very useful when zooming back out to the extents of the drawing. Sync Icon The Sync Icon allows for the synchronization of the Birds-Eye with the current viewport. Occasionally it is useful to have the Birds-Eye match the current viewport. Executing this Icon will force AutoCAD to perform a regen on the Viewport followed by the Bird's-Eye resetting itself to match the viewport. Repaint Icon Depressing the Repaint Icon allows the Birds-Eye to be brought up to date. The Birds-Eye will get out of sync with the viewport when blocks are moved or deleted. Multi-Stage Birds-Eye --------------------- The Multi-Stage Birds-Eye feature allows for easy Birds-Eye management when working with 32 bit display lists under Release 12. AutoCAD allows you to zoom in hundreds of times when using 32 bit display list. When zoomed deep into the drawing, the Bird's-Eye view can be too small to be of any use. To adjust the Bird's-Eye to cover the area you are working on; AQUILA Plus provides Multi-Stage Bird's-Eye control. This allows you to zoom in around the Birds-Eye window much as you would your viewport. You set the Bird's-Eye to contain the area in the drawing you are working on. Then using the Birds-Eye, you can zoom around your working area. You can zoom out to the extents of the Birds-Eye at any time and reposition it to a new location. Zoom In Birds-Eye Zooming into the Birds-Eye is performed by pressing the Shift key and pressing the return button on the mouse or digitizer. Zoom Out Birds-Eye You can zoom back out to the extents of the Birds-Eye by pressing the Shift key when picking the Zoom All Icon in the Title Bar. Icon Menu System ---------------- Aquila Plus Icon menus provide powerful tools to automate your use of AutoCAD. Aquila Plus contains a number of features: * Icon Library Manager allows you to create and maintain Icon libraries without leaving AutoCAD. * Icon Menu Manager allows for the building of individual menus. These menus may be linked. * Chained Menus - Icon menus maybe chained up to three levels deep. * Icons maybe created using either AutoCAD .SLD files or using Windows .BMP files. * You can link Icon libraries to create an unlimited number of menus. * Aquila Lite comes with a simple pre-configured menu. This allows you to properly avaluate the Aquila Plus menu system. Icon Tablet ----------- Invoking Icon Tablet SHORTCUT: Press either shift key while clicking the pick button on your mouse or tablet. The Icon tablet is initiated using the AQICON command. Executing this command will display the first menu found in the Icon file. A specific menu within the Icon file can be executed by attaching a menu name to the AQICON command (that is, AQICON=Display). When moving the cursor around the tablet, the current icon will be depressed and the command help will be displayed in the upper left corner of the screen. Some Icons may invoke other Icon tablets. To cancel out of an Icon Pop-up tablet, simply move the cursor out of the Icon window. You may exit the main Icon tablet window by depressing the "close" Icon in the Title Bar. Creating New Icons & Libraries New Icons may be added to an existing library or a new Icon library may be created. Adding Icons to a library is a three step process. 1. Create the Icon. 2. Add the Icon to the library using the Icon Library Manager. 3. Associate an Icon with a menu using the Icon Menu Manager. Creating Icons Icons maybe created with AutoCAD. In AutoCAD, draw the Icon you want. Then zoom in to the full size of the Viewport. Create a slide file of the view using the MSLIDE function. This slide can be added to the Icon library. For best results create your Icons using a square Viewport on the screen. Slides created in a square viewport will not appear distorted when drawn as a square Icon. If you wish to have Black vectors on the Gray Icon, draw your Icons using Color 255. This color will be translated to Black when drawn as an Icon. Icons may also be created using Windows image editors that create .BMP files. The Icon Library Manager recognizes .BMP files with the following format: * Sixteen or 256 colors -- The Icon Library Manager remaps the colors, to avoid problems with AutoCAD color map. All colors above 10 are remapped into the first 10 colors in AutoCAD. * 32 x 32 Pixel format. * Uncompressed pixel data. These files may be created using Window Paint or one of a number of Icon editors. Icon Library Manager The Icon Library Manager can be invoked with the command AQLIB. This function allows you to add, modify or delete Icons in an Icon library. You are provided with a menu that allows you to change the icon image, commands used, and help menu prompt to use for each icon in the library. Selecting an Icon Upon entry into the window you are presented with the first icon in the Library. You may scroll through the library using the icon bar. The left and right buttons page you trough the Icon library. To activate an Icon to edit, simply select an Icon on the bar. You can create a new Icon by selecting an empty Icon. You can insert a new icon into a specific location or delete Icons from the library. These operations are performed using the Insert or Delete buttons. Modifying an Icon An Icon is composed of three pieces of information, the Icon data, Help, and Command strings. Click on the File field to enter the name of the .SLD or .BMP file that defines the Icon. Once you have defined the Icon, you attach a Help message and a command string to it. The Help string provides up to 40 characters of help to clarify the meaning of the Icon. This is useful when creating new Icon menus and passing them around to others. It also makes a helpful reminder of the icon's function when creating a new icon library. Icon Command The Icon Command is a string of up to 200 characters that is sent to AutoCAD when the Icon is pressed. AutoCAD does not process the command using the Menu processor. As a result you can not use the same strings as used in an AutoCAD menu file. For example the "\" (backslash) character is not supported for collecting user input in the middle of a command. Aquila does provide several special characters or strings to control processing of the command's strings. ^ The caret character is a signal that the next character is interpreted as a control character. ; The Semicolon is translated to a space character. This is necessary at the end of command strings. All blank characters are stripped from the end of the command string. $P=menuname This command string allows you to execute pop-up menus. The menuname must be a valid menu within the current Icon Library. Popup tablets may be nested up to a maximum of three levels. $S= This command string signals the command processor to buffer up commands. When executed, the tablet menu will remain on the screen and the command placed in a buffer. The maximum buffer size is 200 characters. $E= This string removes the tablet menu from the screen and sends the contents of the buffer to AutoCAD. Chaining Icon Libraries Icon Libraries can be chained together by placing pointer Icons in each Library that point to the other library. The command string for the icon pointing to another library would contain: "aqiconload=libraryname;aqicon;" This command would load in the new library and bring up the first menu in the file. Icon libraries are specifically designed to load quickly to allow the easy movement between libraries. Icon Menu Manager Once you have entered all the Icons you want, use the Icon Menu Manager to organize your icons into menus. An individual Icon Menu may be composed of up to 50 Icons. To Create a new menu: Tab through the menus to a blank menu. Click on the menu name field to give the menu a name. Click on an Icon in the Icon selection and drag it down to the menu area. Click on the menu and the Icon will fall into place. Removing Icons from Menus You can remove an icon from the menu by selecting the icon, moving off the menu and dropping the icon. The selected icon will be removed and the menu will collapse. Moving Icons In Menus You can move an Icon from one position to another in a menu. Click on the Icon to move. Move to the new location and drop the Icon. Performance Tuning ------------------ CPU choice ---------- If you are considering a new machine to go with this high performance graphics card, please consider the following: * A 586 will be faster than a 486 will be faster than a 386 of identical speed. (Got that?) * Faster clock speeds are better. * DX2 (or OverDrive) parts are faster than DX parts, but not twice as fast. They do provide a significant boost, though. * SX parts (either 486SX or 386SX) are slower than comparable DX parts, and require separate math coprocessors, making them more expensive in CAD systems. Memory ------ AutoCAD Release 11 and 12 have a ravenous appetite for memory. In order for AutoCAD to run at it's best, you should have a large amount of DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) in your system. Both AutoCAD and Aquila Plus are designed to work at their best when a large amount of memory is available. There is no fixed rule, but the following general formula is a good guideline: Anything less than 4 megabytes is trouble, and 4 MB is barely usable. The time spent waiting will be good for your social life. For the user who spends less than 2 hours a day using AutoCAD, 8 MB is probably sufficient. If you are impatient, have large drawings, use AME or 3rd party software, or spend most of your workday using AutoCAD, 12 to 16 MB is more reasonable, and 32 megabytes is ideal. The increase in productivity will quickly offset the cost. Disk optimization. ------------------ A disk drive will operate at its' fastest when all files are located in physically contiguous areas on the drive. Over the course of time these files become "fragmented", which means that different parts of the file may be in physically different locations on the drive. The act of "seeking" to all these different locations increases the time it takes for the machine to load these files. Files can become fragmented by being written to and saved again. To correct this problem, there are a number of 3rd party hard drive utility packages that are capable of "de-fragging" your hard drive or drives. Used on a regular basis, they will keep your filesystem operating at peak efficiency. The process of installing AutoCAD causes the entire "\ACAD" subdirectory structure to become very fragmented. The first thing that should be done after an AutoCAD installation or update is to de-frag the disk drive. Due to the large amount of data that will need to be moved, this may take some time. Disk cache ---------- AutoCAD systems with more memory (10 MB and up) should use reserve some of that memory for use by a disk caching utility, such as SMARTDRV. This will speed up drawing file access, as well as the amount of time it takes AutoCAD to load. Finding the right amount of memory to set aside for disk cache will take some experimentation, but it should be at least 512Kb to be effective. If too much memory is taken away from AutoCAD for use by the caching software, AutoCAD will slow down considerably. DOS extender ------------ Release 11 uses Phar Laps' DOS extender version 2.2b as default, but can be upgraded to version 2.6 by using the NEWDX utility provided on the "Dxfix / Newdx / B1step" utility disk. Follow the directions, and install the updated DOS extender. This will allow AutoCAD to use more memory, and will make AutoCAD compatible with Microsoft Windows' HIMEM.SYS memory manager. This step is essential if you're are planning to use Windows on the same machine as AutoCAD. Then use the "CFIGPHAR" program to set the "DEMANDLOAD" option to "ON". Release 12 uses Phar Laps' latest (4.0) DOS extender, and is has the "demandload" option turned on as a default. Troubleshooting --------------- These questions are taken from the most commonly asked technical support questions. AutoCAD has a white square in the top left corner of the screen. This indicates the current drawing color, and is not a bug. This is not present on many VGA drivers (such as Autodesk's), but it is OK for it to be there. It will change color to whatever the current drawing color is. The display list is enabled in the configuration, but no status window is present, and redraws are not as fast as they should be. The Paging Alarm may have been tripped. If the logo in the menu area is normal, then this is the case. To reset the Paging Alarm and enable display list capabilities again, you must exit and re-enter AutoCAD. Using a digitizer tablet causes my drawing to scroll off the screen. This is caused by the Edge-Pan feature. To keep this from happening, you must re-configure the driver. As a default the Edge-Pan is disabled, but you may have enabled this feature. To disable it, use the command "AQEPAN". Release 12 does not have an option to use Aquila Lite. You must set the "ACADDRV" environment variable before using Release 12 all the time. It must contain a path string that includes the Aquila Lite installation directory. Toggling to the flip screen always uses the text screen, instead of the text window in the middle of the AutoCAD screen. This feature will not work with Release 11, but will with Release 12. In order for this feature to work, there must be enough room on the screen for a text window that is a full 80 characters wide and 24 lines tall, plus a border area. If this is not the case, you will be forced to use the alpha mode text screen. To make this work, please configure for a smaller font and rerun AutoCAD. 3D Studio ignores the font I have selected. Yes. This is because 3D Studio requires at least 80 columns and 30 lines to run. To accomplish this, the selected font may be disabled and replaced with the standard VGA font. After rendering in AutoShade, the main graphics window is blank. AutoShade has been incorrectly configured. You must tell AutoShade that a redraw is needed when returning from shading and RenderMan screens. The Birds-Eye view refuses to appear, and it is enabled. The Birds-Eye will only appear in zoomable viewports, and is not available in paperspace or perspective viewports. Technical Support ----------------- How to contact Cornus sales Our sales office is open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time. Please feel free to call with your inquiries about our latest products, including; Aquila Win, and Aquila Plus as well as our enhancements for other CAD packages including MicroStation PC. Cornus Inc. P.O. Box 1400 Kingston, WA 98346-1400 (206)297-8101 (206)297-4650 FAX (206)297-8102 BBS The latest updates to Aquila Plus, as well as many utilities, menus, macros, etc. are available on our BBS. These resources are available to all registered users of Aquila Plus. How to contact Cornus technical support Technical support is available for registered users of Cornus products. None of our telephone sales staff are trained to answer your technical support questions. When things go wrong Aquila Lite has been designed and tested to work correctly in all of Autodesk's PADI based products. When considering a possible failure of the driver software, review all the things that could have gone wrong. Did it work until I changed something else? (Updated DOS or AutoCAD release) Was it installed correctly? Reinstallation can eliminate the most bizarre problems. Remember, if all else fails- RTFM* *RTFM- Read The Friendly Manual... Appendix A ---------- Icon Menu System Details The Icon menu system has been designed to provide maximum flexibility for the user, but like every thing in this world, there are some limitations. Once you are aware of the limitations of the Aquila Plus menu system, you will be able to create a wide variety of menus to suit your needs. * 30 menus per menu file. * 50 icons per menu. * 512 icons per file. Please note that if your requirements exceed these limitations, you may chain menus together to achieve the desired effect. Menu Files The following files are involved in the creation and use of icon menus: *.BMP files. These files can be read into the Aquila icon menus. Once loaded into a menu file and saved, the bitmap files are not needed anymore, and may be deleted to conserve disk space. *.SLD files. These files can be read into the Aquila icon menus. Once loaded into a menu file and saved, the slide files are not needed anymore, and may be deleted to conserve disk space. *.ICN files. These are the Icon Menu files that are loaded into Aquila Plus. These files are created with the aid of the Aquila Plus Icon Library Manager and the Aquila Plus Icon Menu Manager. Menu Sizes The size of each menu will vary, according to the number of icons in each menu. The following information is useful in designing your own menu layouts. WIDTH 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ 1│ 1 2 3 4 5 │ H 2│ 6 7,8 10 13 17,18 │ E 3│ 9 11,12 14,15 21 26,27 │ I 4│ 16 19,20 22,-24 28 31,32 36 │ G 5│ 29,30 33-35 37-40 43-45 50│ H 6│ 25 41,42 │ T 7│ 49 │ 8│ 46-48 │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Appendix B ---------- Aquila Files The following files are used by Aquila Lite: *.BMP These files can be read into the Aquila icon menus. Once loaded into a menu file and saved, the bitmap files are not needed anymore, and may be deleted to conserve disk space. *.SLD These files can be read into the Aquila icon menus. Once loaded into a menu file and saved, the slide files are not needed anymore, and may be deleted to conserve disk space. *.ICN These are the Icon Menu files that are loaded into Aquila Plus. These files are created with the aid of the Aquila Plus Icon Library Manager and the Aquila Plus Icon Menu Manager. *.AQZ These files will be created by Aquila Plus the first time used. The files will tell Aquila Plus about the type of graphics card in use, and it's capabilities. *.EXP These are the driver executable files. Final notes ----------- The information contained herein is as accurate as we can make it at the time of publication. For the latest information, please refer to the README file on the release diskette. Autodesk, AutoCAD, and AutoShade are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. Autodesk 3D Studio, Autodesk RenderMan, and Autodesk Device Interface (ADI) are trademarks of Autodesk, Incorporated. RenderMan is a registered trademark of Pixar used by Autodesk, Inc. under license from Pixar. Cornus, the Cornus logo, Aquila, Aquila Plus, Aquila Lite, the Aquila logo, Paging Alarm and Band-Free are trademarks of Cornus Incorporated. Microsoft, BMP, and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1993 by Cornus Incorporated. All rights reserved. This may not be copied in part without the express written permission of Cornus Incorporated. You may however, copy the entire Aquila Lite package and redistribute it, as long as no fee is charged.