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(tm) ProtoCAD 3D ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Version 2.0 USER'S MANUAL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TRIUS, Inc. P.O. Box 249 N. Andover, MA 01845-0249 Tel. (508) 794-9377 Fax. (508) 688-6312 BBS: (508) 794-0762 CIS: 71333,103 [PCVENF, Sec 16] Copyright 1992, TRIUS, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide +-------------------------------------------------------------+ | This document is made available to the new user for the | | purpose of evaluating the Shareware copy of ProtoCAD 3D | | ------------------------------------------------------- | |Use of the software package and this document beyond a 30-day| | evaluation period REQUIRES registration & Payment! | | -------------------------------------------------- | |Distribution of printed copies of this manual is Prohibited! | +-------------------------------------------------------------+ ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 1 COPYRIGHT NOTICE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ProtoCAD is a copyrighted software product developed and owned by TRIUS, Inc. located in North Andover, Massachusetts, U.S.A. You may make and keep back-up copies of the software for your personal use, provided that you copy all the copyright, trademark, and other information indicated on the initial screen display, on each backup copy label. The rights to receive any financial or other benefit, and to modify the product or employ its components in any kind of derivative work, are reserved exclusively by TRIUS, Inc. You may not reverse-engineer, disassemble, modify, decompile or create derivative works of the product. You acknowledge that the product includes certain trade secrets and confidential information, all of which is the copyrighted intellectual property of TRIUS, Inc. ProtoCAD is a trademark of TRIUS Inc. and the TRIUS Logo is a trademark of TRIUS, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. The ProtoCAD User's Manual is copyrighted and all rights are reserved. The reproduction of this document, in whole or part, its conversion to electronic medium or its distribution in printed form (hard copy) are prohibited unless prior consent, in writing, has been given by TRIUS, Inc. EPSON is a trademark of Epson America Inc. IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines, Inc. LOTUS 1-2-3 is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation HERCULES is a trademark of Hercules Corporation MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 2 LIMITED WARRANTY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This program is provided on an "as is" basis without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to quality and performance of these programs is with you. Should the program prove defective, you (not TRIUS, Inc.) assume the entire cost of all necessary repair, servicing, or correction. In no event will TRIUS, Inc. be liable to you for any damages, including any lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use these programs, even if TRIUS, Inc. has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state. Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages so the above may not apply to you. You acknowledge that you have read this agreement, understand it, and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions. You further agree that it is the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between us, which supersedes any proposal or prior agreement, oral or written, and any other communications between us. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Page ~~~~ COPYRIGHT NOTICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 LIMITED WARRANTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 WHAT'S ON THE DISKETTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 GRAPHICS BOARDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 MOUSE. (Recommended) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 MATH CO-PROCESSOR (Not Required) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 STARTING THE PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 COMMAND LINE SWITCH OPTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 CURSOR MOVEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 KEYBOARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 PROGRAM INTERFACES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 DROP DOWN MENUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 INPUT WINDOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 DIALOG BOX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 VERTEX MARKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 ENTERING COORDINATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 OBJECT SELECTION METHODS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 LEAVING THE PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 DRAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 3D-COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 EDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 OBJECT SELECTION METHODS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Window Selection Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Pick Selection Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 SURFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 IMAGE COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 OPTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 PLOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 RENDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 LAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 4 WHAT'S ON THE DISKETTE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The READ.ME file, provided on the ProtoCAD 3D program diskette, contains last minute news about the program, important information and a brief description of the files on the ProtoCAD 3D diskettes. To view the READ.ME file on your screen, use your favorite file lister program, or use the DOS 'TYPE' command at the DOS prompt: TYPE READ.ME [ENTER] To print the contents of the READ.ME file, use the command: COPY READ.ME PRN [ENTER] Alternatively, you may view the READ.ME file using your favorite text editor, or word-processor capable of accessing pure ASCII files. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 5 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GRAPHICS BOARDS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ProtoCAD 3D works extremely well with basic PC systems. All you need is an IBM PC or compatible computer with a graphics board from the following list (and the corresponding monitor). MNEMONIC PIXEL RESOLUTION ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EGA 640x350--16 colors VGA 640x480--16 colors SVGA 800x600--16 colors (Rendering only) VESA 640x480--256 colors (Rendering only) MEMORY ~~~~~~ ProtoCAD 3D requires a minimum of 480K free to operate. On a 640K machine operating under DOS 3.0, you should have approximately 100K of memory to use for your drawings. This corresponds approximately to a drawing composed of over 2,000 points. ProtoCAD 3D will automatically use any expanded memory (EMS) that it finds. PC systems with extended memory (XMS) can use an expanded memory emulator which assigns extended memory as expanded memory. For example on a 386 the following statement could be placed in the DOS config.sys file DEVICE=EMM386.SYS 500 which assigns 500K of EMS memory. If you are not using a 386/486 system, or if your operating system is not MS-DOS, consult your system's manual on how to configure some of your system's memory as Expanded memory. MOUSE (Recommended) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you want, you may select to use a mouse or digitizing tablets with ProtoCAD 3D. Most such devices connect to a serial I/O (Input/Output) port (usually COM1, i.e., the first communications port). Before you can use your mouse, you need to install the mouse driver. A mouse driver is a small memory-resident program included with your mouse when it was purchased. There are normally two types of mouse drivers. One is loaded as a device through the CONFIG.SYS file, while the other can be installed at any time from the DOS prompt. ProtoCAD 3D works with both types of mouse drivers. (Refer to your mouse's operating manual for details on how to install each type of driver). MATH CO-PROCESSOR (Not Required) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 6 You don't need a math coprocessor (8087, 80287, 80387) to run ProtoCAD 3D. ProtoCAD 3D has been optimized and avoids floating point calculations wherever possible. However use of a math coprocessor will result in approximately a 10-50% speedup of a drawing update. INSTALLATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before using ProtoCAD 3D, you need to install the program either on your hard or on floppy diskettes. An installation program provided on the diskette makes the process simple. It will transfer the necessary files from the original diskette to your working disk/directory. There are no copy protection schemes or hidden files to wrestle with. If you are installing on 360K diskettes, first format two blank diskettes and label them ProtoCAD 3D 1 & 2. To make a working copy of the program: 1. Place the ProtoCAD 3D program disk in drive A: 2 At the DOS prompt, type A: and press [ENTER] 3. Type INSTALL and press [ENTER]. Next, follow the simple on-screen instructions to specify where to install the program. When the operation is complete, the DOS prompt will reappear on your screen. Place the original diskette in a safe place. If your working diskette later becomes damaged, repeat the above process to make a new working disk. The following files are absolutely required to run ProtoCAD 3D: PC3D.EXE PC3D.FNT The rest of the files do not need to be present in your working disk/directory, though PC3D.HLP is required if you want to access the program's help facilities. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 7 STARTING THE PROGRAM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Go to the drive and/or subdirectory where ProtoCAD 3D is stored. At the DOS prompt type DC followed by any command line switches (see next section), and press [ENTER]. This starts the program. COMMAND LINE SWITCH OPTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ProtoCAD 3D attempts to identify your hardware and choose an appropriate video mode. However, to take advantage of the higher resolutions and alternate startup options the program may be started with one or more command line switches. ProtoCAD 3D /Switch1/Switch2.../Switchn [ENTER] The following command line option Switches are available in ProtoCAD 3D: /BM - Overrides the equipment autodetection and is used in combination with /EM or /EMV. (Bypass Mono Detection). /DEL=NNN - Plotter Buffer Delay Specify the delay, in milliseconds, after each block of data sent to a serial plotter/printer and avoid losing some of the information. The default is set to 200 milliseconds. Three digit number is required /E - Using an EGA Monitor/Card combination (640x350) /EM - Enable the EGA MONO mode (640x350) /EMV - Enable VGA MONO mode (640x480) /EV - Enable the VGA Card mode (640x480) /MONO - Use only two color B&W mode. /NE - Don't use Expanded Memory even if it is detected! /NT - Disable the Turbo Cursor Feature Cursor movement using the keyboard cursor keys defaults to a "turbo" mode. While this feature speeds up cursor movement (in lieu of a mouse), it may not be compatible with some types of computers. The turbo feature may be disabled by use of the "non-turbo" /NT switch. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 8 CURSOR MOVEMENT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ KEYBOARD ~~~~~~~~ The keyboard cursor keys can be used to easily move the pointing cursor around the screen. Choose a menu or command by pressing the first letter of the command or by moving the pointer on top of the command and pressing the [ENTER] key. The following keys may be used to manipulate the cursor. UP Move the cursor one step upwards DOWN Move the cursor one step downwards LEFT Move the cursor one step to the left RIGHT Move the cursor one step to the right PGUP Increase the step size by 10 pixels PGDN Restore the step size to 1 pixel of movement ENTER Select a command, or indicate a reference point ESC Cancel a command, or exit the selection mode Keeping the [UP], [DOWN], [LEFT], or [RIGHT] cursor keys depressed will cause the cursor to accelerate in the desired direction (Turbo mode only). Tapping the keys will move the cursor one step at a time. MOUSE ~~~~~ Some mice have three buttons. ProtoCAD 3D, however, only uses two buttons on the mouse. They are the LEFT button which is functionally equivalent to the [ENTER] key on the keyboard (see above key explanation) and the MIDDLE or RIGHT mouse buttons which both represent the [ESC] key (see above). You can use either the keyboard or the mouse equivalents interchangeably. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 9 PROGRAM INTERFACES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DROP DOWN MENUS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When a menu item has been selected, from the top menu line, a drop- down menu appears. You will notice that the first option in the drop-down menu is highlighted. Any option in the menu can be selected by typing the highlight letter of that option, or by selecting it using the mouse or cursor keys and pressing [ENTER]. For example, to begin drawing a BOX which is one option in the DRAW menu, press "D" to select the DRAW menu, and then press "B" to select BOX. NOTE: Menu items which display a right pointing triangle indicate the presence of a sub-menu. It is possible to return back through any menu or option by pressing the [ESC] key. INPUT WINDOW ~~~~~~~~~~~~ An input window presents a prompt for a single piece of information, i.e. a name, dimension or typed coordinate. Note that the current contents of an input window can be erased by pressing either the [ESC] key or the right button on your mouse. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 10 DIALOG BOX ~~~~~~~~~~ A dialog box is a window which presents multiple choices which can be selected or modified. For example, let's look at the dialog box found under the OPTION GRID command selection. To select a choice with the keyboard, just type the highlighted letter of the choice, i.e. to turn on the GRID press the letter G. The highlight will move to the choice with matching letter and execute the choice. Alternatively, you may use the cursor keys to highlight the choice, and press [ENTER] to execute the choice. To select a choice with the mouse, move the mouse pointer. As the pointer passes over a choice the choice will be highlighted. To select that choice press the left mouse button or [ENTER] key. VERTEX MARKS ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The VERTEX, or end points or points of intersection of drawn objects are represented by a small box on the screen. This feature is used by editing commands to aid in selection of an object for copying, moving or other manipulations. The reference mark will not be plotted or printed on your hard copy. The display of Vertices on the screen can be toggled on or off by selecting the command OPTION, TOGGLE, VERTEX. A check mark next to the word VERTEX in the dialog box indicates the vertex marks will be displayed the next time the screen is updated. When disabled, vertex marks will not be removed until after the next screen update. ENTERING COORDINATES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Drawings produced on ProtoCAD 3D use a floating point cartesian coordinate system with the following limits of accuracy (X is measured horizontal distance, Y measures vertical distance, and Z measures depth). DRAW with coordinates to create objects with exact dimensions. 1.0 E-37 <= | X, Y, or Z | <= 1.0 E+37 NOTE: Although the magnitude of representable numbers is very large, only 11 significant digits of precision are provided. Realistically, if you try to draw a map of a city, and you want accuracy down to 1/1000 inch, the maximum range would be: +/- 99,999,999.999 inches (or 1,578 miles) ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 11 IMPORTANT! In addition to using the crosshair cursor when drawing, coordinates can be entered accurately from the keyboard using the Absolute or Relative methods. The first letter of each method identifies the type of coordinate. ABSOLUTE Coordinate with respect to origin at a coordinate of 0,0,0. The first value represents X units, the second Y units, and the third Z units. The coordinate A50,50,50 represents the point X=50, Y=50, and Z=50. NOTE: This is the default coordinate type if a letter is not specified, i.e., 50,50,50 is the same as typing A50,50,50. For example, if your last point was at 100,50,25, typing A250,200,100 (or 250,200,100) would result in the new coordinate being located at 250 units X, 200 Units Y, and 100 units Z. RELATIVE Similar to ABSOLUTE, but measured with respect to the last X, Y, and Z coordinate entered. R60,70,- 20 will result in the new coordinate being located 60 units in the positive X direction, 70 units in the positive Y direction, and 20 units in the negative Z direction from the current coordinate location. Continuing with the ABSOLUTE example, if your last point was at 100,50,25, typing R250,200,100 would result in the new coordinate being located at 350 units X, 250 Units Y, and 125 units Z. POLAR Only needs two arguments. The first is the vector magnitude (from 0,0) and the second is the angle in the current plane, measured counter clockwise. BEARING Only needs two arguments. The first is the vector magnitude (from the last point) and the second is the angle in the current plane, measured counter clockwise. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 12 OBJECT SELECTION METHODS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two methods are available for selecting an object(s). They are the Window method and the Pick method. A status button on the right side of the screen indicates which mode is active, and may be used to change modes. WINDOW Select objects by enclosing the Vertex mark associated with the object in a window. You will be prompted to establish one corner of the window. Move the cursor near the Vertex mark(s) of the object(s) you wish to edit and hit [ENTER]. Move the cursor diagonally creating a window which captures the Vertex mark(s) and hit [ENTER] again. Press ESC to indicate you have completed your selection. PICK The PICK mode is preferred if Vertex marks are clustered and you wish to edit only one object. To select the PICK mode, press the [F4] function key. A small box will appear on the screen in place of the cursor. Position the box over a line associated with the object to be edited and hit [ENTER]. If found, the object is added to the list of object(s) selected. To halt the selection mode, press [ESC], otherwise continue selecting objects. NOTE: Switch between WIND and PICK modes by pressing [F4] at any time or by clicking on the PICK status button with the mouse. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 13 LEAVING THE PROGRAM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You just completed your first masterpiece and are ready to quit for the day. MAKE SURE THAT YOU SAVE THE LATEST VERSION OF YOUR DRAWING. Select the FILE option from the main menu, then the SAVE option. When SAVE is selected, the file will be saved into the current data drive and subdirectory. Access the QUIT command by again selecting the FILE option, then press Q on the keyboard or highlight the QUIT command with your cursor keys or mouse. Once QUIT is selected, you will be given a second chance to change your mind when ProtoCAD 3D asks you to confirm your selection. If you performed the above by accident, or changed your mind about quitting the program, select the CANCEL response and press [ENTER]. You will be returned to the ProtoCAD 3D work screen with your drawing intact. To exit completely, select the YES response and press [ENTER]. The program will now return you to DOS. Once the QUIT command is confirmed, all drawing information not saved will be lost. Remember to save your drawing before you QUIT! ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 14 COMMANDS ~~~~~~~~ This section describes the powerful commands that are available within ProtoCAD 3D through the drop-down menus. FILE ~~~~ This menu allows you to access your drawings, perform file interchange between ProtoCAD 3D and other file formats and set the system defaults. NEW This command clears the memory of the previous drawing and prepares ProtoCAD 3D for a new drawing. You may also specify the units of measurement and set the number of decimal places to be used. Unit types available are millimeter (mm), meter (m), inch (in), and feet (ft). LOAD This command prompts for a file name by presenting a dialog window which lists drawing files, subdirectories, and drive names in the current directory. To select a name from the name list, move the cursor to highlight that name and press [ENTER]. The name will be transferred into the FILE box at the top of the dialog window. Pressing [ENTER] a second time will automatically load the selected file. If a mouse is used, double clicking on a file name will automatically load the highlighted file. The UP and DN indicators may be used to scroll the list of file names up or down. You could also directly type a different filename into the FILE box. To load the file, select LOAD or to return to the file menu without loading, select CANCEL. The current path is displayed in the PATH box. To change the subdirectory (used to indicate where your drawing files are located), select PATH and then type in the new path. When [ENTER] is pressed, the subdirectory will be read and a new list of names will be displayed. Subdirectory names and destination drives will also appear in the file list box and when selected, just like a file, will be transferred to the PATH input box. Once LOAD has been selected, the drawing currently in RAM is cleared and the specified file is retrieved ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 15 and placed in memory. The current file name will be displayed in the top of the window frame. NOTE: If you want to retrieve a drawing file without erasing the current drawing from memory, use the FILE, IMPORT command. SAVE This command prompts for a file name to be assigned to the current drawing in memory. A dialog window is displayed and the same general options are available. If you loaded a file from disk, that file name and subdirectory will appear as the default FILE and PATH. You may select PATH and change the subdirectory, highlight one of the displayed files and press [ENTER]. Pressing [ENTER] a second time, or double clicking on the file name will store the highlighted file. You may also select FILE and manually enter the name. Then, select SAVE to store the data onto your disk. If the file already exists, you will be given a chance to overwrite it, or CANCEL the SAVE operation. Note that once you select to overwrite the file, any data stored on your disk will be replaced with the data currently in RAM. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 16 IMPORT Retrieve a file into the current cursor location without erasing the current drawing. The following four types of files can be imported: PCF - Standard ProtoCAD format, ext .PCF VALUE - Numerical VALUE format which has XYZ absolute coordinate pairs separated by commas, one point coordinate per line. HPGL - Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language format DXF - Universal format for exchanging CAD data. It was originally developed for transferring AutoCAD file information. 3DV - Specialize file formatidentified by the number of vertices followed by the polyline definitions. WAVE - Used by a number of Ray Tracing programs. Defined by two files: one containing the diffuse and specular color information and the other that contains the vertex, polygon and material information. XPORT EXTRACT portion of the current drawing in one of the following file formats: PCF - ProtoCAD format HPGL - Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language format PCX - Paintbrush type binary format. The registered version can produce series of TGA files suitable for animation, using an external script file. DXF - Universal format for exchanging CAD data. It was originally developed for transferring AutoCAD file information. POV - Text format file used by "Persistence of Vision" (POV) ray tracing package. POV is a shareware package available on Compuserve and other BBS libraries. TGA - Binary TGA true color format using 24 bits of color (320x200 resolution). Successive TGA files can be compiled into flic (.FLI) animation files. The registered version can produce series of TGA files suitable for animation, using an external script file. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 17 NOTE: Extracting your drawing to an HP Graphics Language (HPGL) file is not achieved through the XPORT command. It is done by following these steps: 1. Set FILE, CONFIG, PRINTER to HP7470 2. Set FILE, CONFIG, OUTPUT to FILE and enter a filename. 3. Use PLOT, GO to create the file. ERASE This command erases a specified file from your disk. A dialog window will appear and you may select the file to be erased. NOTE: Wild card characters CANNOT be used with ERASE command. CONFIG ProtoCAD 3D contains internal default settings for user-selectable parameters. The user is able to tailor these settings to suit equipment configuration and personal taste. The new settings may be optionally saved for future sessions. The following settings may be saved: - Status of Toggle switches; Vertex, Edge Clip - GRID/SNAP status, GRID and SNAP spacing - Text Options; height, width, and angle - UNIT of measurement - POLYGON sides, Sphere, Hemisphere - ARRAY; type, copies, scale, angle, counter rotate angle, revolve, Xtrude - PLOT; device, output, plotter aspect ratios, orientation - Drawing size, Scale Factors - Colors; Menus, Highlights, Letters, Screen, etc. - Mouse and keyboard sensitivity, video aspect ratio - Default shade half-tones and color mix SAVE CONFIG This command saves ProtoCAD 3D default settings into a file called PC3D.CFG. When ProtoCAD 3D is executed from DOS, the new settings contained in the CONFIG file will be automatically set. PRINTER This is command will display a pick list which allows you to select the print device. The list may vary, but listed below are some common drivers. HP7470 Produces a plot using the Hewlett Packard Graphics Language (HPGL) which is sent to ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 18 the selected port or file. This option can be used with any plotter device that supports HPGL or sent to a plot file. NOTE: WordPerfect 5.0 and 5.1 can import HPGL files directly into documents. If you want to create a file that you can later import to WordPerfect, select HP7470 in this menu and set Output (below) to FILE. EPSON-FX Use Epson FX-series compatible graphics commands to produce an image on a 9-pin Epson or 100% compatible dot matrix printer. LASERJET Use HP LaserJet PCL graphics commands. This driver should also be selected for HP Deskjet printers. P-LQ2500 Use Epson 24-pin graphics commands. CITOH Use C.Itoh, 8-pin printer commands. OKIDATA Use Okidata, 9-pin printer commands including the 182+ series of 9-pin dot matrix printers. COLORS Customize the screen colors. Note that the actual color mapping depends strongly on your monitor/adapter combination. MENU Color of pull-down menu. LETTER Color of first letter in each menu option. HILITE Color of menu highlight bar. PROMPT Color of the input prompt line. SCREEN Color of all objects, text, etc., drawn on the screen. ACTIVE Color of button or choice highlighted in dialog window. INACTIVE Buttons and Toggles not highlighted in dialog windows. BUTTON Highlighted button color ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 19 OUTPUT Select either the parallel port, serial port, or a file name to send the output to when GO is selected: LPT1 Parallel Printer Port #1 LPT2 Parallel Printer Port #2 COM1 Serial Communications Port #1 COM2 Serial Communications Port #2 FILE Specify a file or device name used to store printer/plotter output. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 20 BAUD This command allows you to define serial port communication parameters used by the COM ports. Make sure that parameters selected in this menu correspond to the configuration of your printer/plotter. 110 to 9600 Select baud rate transmission speed through your selected serial port. ODD, EVEN, Select type of Parity. NONE 1-BIT, 2-BIT Number of Stop Bits 7-BIT, 8-BIT Number of Data Bits DELAY An integer representing milliseconds of delay (default = 200 ms). The DELAY variable is used to make sure information sent to your serial plotter/printer does not overflow the data buffer. The DELAY value should be increased if you notice objects in your drawing do not appear correctly in your output (e.g. partial drawings). DEFAULT The following parameters control the response of the screen to keyboard or mouse input and the screen updating process. The DEFAULT dialog window appears. Use the FILE, CONFIG, SAVE_CONFIG command to make these settings permanent. ASPECT - Set the video aspect ratio, so a circle looks correct and does not appear oval. The aspect ratios differ for EGA, VGA and HGA cards and may vary depending on your graphics monitor. MOUSE - Set the mouse sensitivity to movement. The smaller the number, the more sensitive the mouse (default is 12). SPDUP - Set the sensitivity of the keyboard cursor keys when used to navigate the cursor around the screen. Keeping a keyboard cursor key depressed will cause the pointing cursor to accelerate in the ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 21 desired direction. The default value of SPDUP is 2. A value of 0 results in no acceleration and moves the cursor one pixel at a time no matter how long the cursor key is kept depressed. Large values result in greater cursor acceleration. Experiment until you find an acceptable value. NOTE: No matter what the value of SPDUP, tapping the keyboard cursor keys once will result in cursor movement of one pixel at a time. PICK - Modify the size (in pixels) of the pick window used to select objects when editing (default is an 8 pixel square). LEVEL - Sets the degree of curve smoothness for SPLINE, CIRCLE, and ARC objects. See DRAW SPLINE for the effects of various values of LEVEL. SVGA - Enter the Decimal code required by your graphics adapter for SVGA mode (800x600) GET INFO Displays general settings. This includes the ProtoCAD 3D version, printer type, detected video mode, objects, points, DOS and EMS memory, last screen update time (seconds). OSHELL Temporarily shell to the operating system, (DOS). To return to ProtoCAD 3D, type EXIT and press [ENTER] at the DOS prompt. Shelling to DOS is achieved by executing another copy of COMMAND.COM. The user may change the command processor by simply editing the shell prompt when prompted to do so. This ability to edit the shell prompt allows the user to directly execute another DOS application by simply entering its name in place of COMMAND.COM. Please note that once a shell is executed, no error checking is possible by ProtoCAD 3D until the secondary process is completed and control is returned to ProtoCAD 3D. QUIT Exits ProtoCAD 3D and return to DOS. Remember to save any changes to your drawing prior to exiting as they will otherwise be lost. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 22 DRAW ~~~~ This menu contains the primitive drawing types available in ProtoCAD 3D. One or more object types can be associated to form complex shapes through the use of the GROUP command. When drawing, the X, Y, and Z cursor coordinates are displayed on the right side of the screen. Delta X (dX), delta Y (dY), and delta Z (dZ) distances are displayed on the bottom of the screen after a reference point has been entered. LINE Draws a continuous sequence of end point connected straight lines until the mode is exited. Each time the [ENTER] key is pressed (or the left mouse button), a new LINE will be drawn from the last entered point to the current cursor location. The sequence continues until [ESC] key or the right mouse button has been pressed. NOTES: 1. You can have SNAP mode active or enter coordinates at any time in order to precisely locate reference points for any object. (See section on Entering Coordinates) 2. Each segment is a single object. BOX A COMPLEX line arranged with four sides to form a rectangular shape. First locate the first point by positioning the cursor and pressing [ENTER]. Next move the cursor to the point defining the opposite corner of the box and press [ENTER]. NOTE: Have SNAP mode active or type coordinates to precisely locate opposite corners of the box. CIRCLE A form of COMPLEX line arranged to form a continuous circular sequence. To draw a circle, specify the center point, press [ENTER], and specify a point on the circumference, and press [ENTER]. TEXT TEXT can be placed anywhere on the screen. TEXT is PLACE sized and oriented with respect to SETUP parameters. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 23 TEXT Specify the height, width, and angle of TEXT. The SETUP unit of measurement is the same as the REAL scale settings (see FILE, NEW). HEIGHT Height of TEXT in current units. (Default = 20) WIDTH Width of TEXT in current units. (Default = 15.0) ANGLE Specify the orientation angle of the TEXT. The angle is specified in degrees, counterclockwise from the horizontal axis. (Default = 0.0) ARC Draw an ARC by indicating the center of the ARC, the starting point on the circumference, and then the ending point on the circumference, clockwise from the first point. POLYGON A POLYGON is a regular-sided closed shape; i.e., all sides and all angles are equal. Regular POLYGONS are centered on the first reference point specified and the location of the first vertex is set by the second point. The number of POLYGON sides may be specified by using one of the predefined settings, THREE through NINE, or by selecting SIDES, and manually entering the number of SIDES. BEZIER Draw a BEZIER curve (a special quadratic curve) using 3 control points. Locate end points 1 and 2 of the curve by pressing the [ENTER] key. Point 3 is dynamically used to flex the shape of the quadratic curve. To fix the BEZIER curve to its final position press the [ENTER] key. Pressing [ESC] cancels the object. The BEZIER curve, has the characteristic that the slope of the curve at the end points (1 and 2) is tangent to imaginary lines drawn to point 3 and that the shape of the curve is always concave to the controlling reference points. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 24 COMPLEX A COMPLEX object is a multi-sided shape composed of straight lines. Control points defining the shape are specified in a manner similar to the LINE command. SPLINE Use control points to create smooth curve tangent with mid-points and tangent to end points. Curve smoothness is controlled by the value specified by LEVEL under the FILE, CONFIG, DEFAULT menus. A LEVEL value of 1 results in the same shape as a COMPLEX line. A LEVEL value of 3 results in a smooth shape. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 25 3D-COMMANDS ~~~~~~~~~~~ The following commands create surface primitives which can be connected to form complex composite objects. (see SURFACE OBJECTS GROUP) MESH Surface mesh generated by linearly interpolating between 4 points defined by the user. Once specified, the control points are discarded. You can specify the number of subdivisions in a dialog menu. N-Div Number of subdivisions of mesh normal to control curves P-Div Number of subdivisions of mesh in parallel to control curves Individual vertices can be modified after the mesh has been created by using the EDIT VERTEX command. NOTES: 1. If you are using a mouse to define the MESH, you are really drawing on a single plane, regardless of the selected view. 2. If you want to draw a true 3-D MESH, use the keyboard to type the offset value for at least one axis. SPHERE Surface object representing a SPHERE. User controls number of longitudinal and latitudinal divisions. X-AXIS Set the aspect ratio in X direction (1 = no scaling) Y-AXIS Set the aspect ratio in Y direction Z-AXIS Set the aspect ratio in Z direction LONG Set the number of horizontal slices through the SPHERE LAT Set the number of vertical slices through the SPHERE After exiting the dialog, a prompt for two points defining the SPHERE center and radius will be made. HEMISPHERE Half of a SPHERE. User controls number of longitudinal and latitudinal divisions. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 26 X-AXIS Set the aspect ratio in X direction (1 = no scaling) Y-AXIS Set the aspect ratio in Y direction Z-AXIS Set the aspect ratio in Z direction LONG Set the number of horizontal slices through the HEMISPHERE LAT Set the number of vertical slices through the HEMISPHERE The following toggles control the end treatment of the HEMISPHERE. CAP Close in the bottom of the HEMISPHERE OPEN Leave the bottom open After exiting the dialog, a prompt for two points defining the HEMISPHERE center and radius will be made. CONE Solid with a taper. User may specify number of sides. X-AXIS Set the aspect ratio in X direction (1 = no scaling) Y-AXIS Set the aspect ratio in Y direction TAPER Set the end diameter reduction as a fraction of the base diameter. A value of 1 creates a cylinder with parallel sides. A value of 0 creates a CONE which meets at a point. A value of 0.5 should create a tapered cylinder with a top radius 50% of the base. SIDES Set the number of polygonal facets defining the CONE. The following toggles control the end treatment of the CONE. CAP Close in the ends of the CONE OPEN Leave the end open To create a CONE, you must first specify a point at the center of the base. Next, specify as point 2, ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 27 the radius and finally specify point 3 to indicate the length of the CONE. PRISM Solid with parallel sides. User may specify number of faces. X-AXIS Set the aspect ratio in X direction ( 1 = no scaling) Y-AXIS Set the aspect ratio in Y direction THICK Set the wall thickness of the PRISM. If the WALL option is on, a value greater than 0 creates an inner prism with a radius equal to the outer radius minus the THICK value. SIDES Set the number of facets defining the sides of the PRISM NOTE: XYZ mode only permits the dynamic definition of the PRISM length. For the XY, XZ, and ZY drawing planes, the length must be specified as a Z, Y, or X coordinate respectively, using the keyboard. The following toggles control the end treatment of the PRISM. CAP Close in the ends of the PRISM OPEN Leave the ends open WALL Creates a PRISM with a wall thickness based on the THICK parameter. BLOCK Solid contained by 6 rectangular faces. User must define starting location of BLOCK and then a diagonal representing the height, width and depth of the BLOCK. If a BLOCK is created without a depth, the object defaults to a BOX object. POLYHEDRON This type of surface object belongs to a special class of shapes with all facets being equal in size and having a closed interior. TETRA Creates a solid with four triangular faces. OCTA Creates a solid with eight triangular faces. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 28 DODECA Creates a solid with twelve pentagonal faces. ICOSA Creates a solid with eighteen triangular faces. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 29 EDIT ~~~~ EDIT commands act upon objects, allowing them to be erased, duplicated, translated, rotated, mirrored, or combinations thereof. NOTE: EDIT commands operate on all unprotected layers. To protect objects from editing operations see LAYER PROTECT. OBJECT SELECTION METHODS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two methods are available for selecting an object(s). They are the WINDOW method and the PICK method. A status button on the right side of the screen indicates which mode is active, and may be used to change modes. Window Selection Mode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Select objects by enclosing the vertex mark associated with the object in a window. You will be prompted to establish one corner of the window. Move the cursor near the vertex mark(s) of the object(s) you wish to edit and hit [ENTER]. Move the cursor diagonally creating a window which captures the vertex mark(s) and hit [ENTER] again. To continue with the editing command, you must press [ESC] to halt the window selection mode. All objects selected by the window will be modified by the selected EDIT command. Pick Selection Mode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Pick mode is preferred if vertex marks are clustered and you wish to edit only one object. To select the Pick mode, press the [F4] function key. A small box will appear on the screen in place of the cursor. Position the box over a line associated with the object to be edited and hit [ENTER]. If found, the object is added to the list of object(s) selected. To halt the selection mode, press [ESC], otherwise continue selecting objects. NOTE: Switch between WIND and PICK modes by pressing [F4] at any time or by clicking on the Pick status button with the mouse. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 30 COPY Selected object(s) will be copied based on two or more points. The first point, or FROM position, is any point at or near the selected object which is used as a reference point. Subsequent TO points indicated are used to determine the translation distance and subsequent direction of the copy. Object copies occur dynamically, i.e., the block of objects moves as the cursor is moved. Pressing [ENTER] places a duplicate of the block onto the drawing at the cursor position. You can continue to move and place a number of duplicates anywhere on the screen. To terminate this mode, press the [ESC] key. MOVE Translate the selected object(s) with reference to a FROM point a distance equal to, and in the same direction as, the TO point. NOTE: Position can be specified by typing coordinates. (See Entering Coordinates in Section 3). POINT Modify individual vertex points defining object. MOVE Each point is selected by positioning the mouse on top of the vertex, and pressing the left button. An audible click reports a successful find of the point and the point is also highlighted with a mark. To terminate the selection mode press [ESC]. Next indicate the new points location by specifying a translation vector. This is done by locating the from position, press [ENTER] and the moving to the TO position and press [ENTER]. All points in the selection list will be relatively translated depending on their original distance and location from the point to the new location. ERASE Erase the selected object(s) from the drawing. SCALE Scale the selected object(s) with reference to an indicated point, according to parameters specified in the dialog window. The current dimensions of the object(s) will be multiplied by the X, Y, and Z scale factors parallel to each principal axis. When Scale is selected a dialog window will appear which allows the following parameters to be modified. X - Set X axis scaling factor Y - Set Y axis scaling factor Z - Set Z axis scaling factor ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 31 HALF - Reduce current scale factors by 1/2. DBLE - Increase current scale factors by 2. UNITY - Resets all scaling factors to 1. ACCEPT - Confirm selections and proceed to next step of scaling. CANCEL - Abort scaling operation. ROTATE Rotates the selected elements by a specified angle about an indicated point of rotation. The user supplies individual angle of rotation about each principal axis. X AXIS Set the X axis angle of rotation in degrees. Y AXIS Set the Y axis angle of rotation in degrees. Z AXIS Set the Z axis angle of rotation in degrees. ACCEPT - Confirm settings and rotate object(s). CANCEL - Exit without rotating object(s). ARRAY This command combines a multiple COPY operation with ROTATION, TRANSLATION, and SCALING. The following action modifiers may be selected from the dialog window. LINEAR Copies will be positioned in a line. You will be prompted to position the first copy. Subsequent copies will be positioned the same distance away from the line established between the original and first copy. Each element can still be rotated on its own axis. CIRCULAR Copies will be rotated about a center point in a circular rotation. You will be prompted to specify the center of rotation. The following value parameters may be modified. TOTAL Specify the number of times the object is copied. Changes to this value will automatically recalculate the ANGLE value based on a 360 degree sweep of the objects (ANGLE = 360/(n+1)). ANGLE Copies can be rotated or revolved about a reference point in a circular fashion. The effective radius of the circle is ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 32 equal to the distance between each object and the reference point. This modifier is used only with Circular Arrays. ANGLE defaults to 360/(number of copies plus 1). SCALE The scale defaults to 1. A scale of less than 1 will result in subsequent copies getting smaller. A scale of greater than 1 will result in subsequent copies getting larger. Scaling factor is calculated as Sn = SCALEN. ROTATE This value may be used to additionally rotate each object. The ROTATE value is added to the ANGLE value to determine the total angle of rotation. If set equal to, but with the opposite sign of the ANGLE value, the object will maintain its original orientation and will only be translated to a new position. Negative ROTATE values are subtracted from the ANGLE value. OK Confirm your selections and perform the ARRAY COPY. ESC Cancel ARRAY COPY. For example, to perform a CIRCULAR ARRAY on a triangle (a 3 sided POLYGON) with 3 copies, the angle of rotation estimated by ProtoCAD 3D will be 360 degrees divided by (3+1) = 90 degrees. TRIM Trim line objects that extend beyond a specified boundary (permitted only in XY construction). First, select the trim boundary. Next position the cursor on a line on the side of the boundary which is to be trimmed. NOTE: Complex objects must be exploded first before they can be trimmed. FLIP Selected objects will be flipped or mirrored about a vertical reflection axis (permitted only in XY construction plane). ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 33 Note that MIRROR creates a new copy of the selected entities, whereas FLIP literally "flips" the original entities. HINT: To flip an object vertically (across the horizontal axis), use the ROTATE command first, perform the FLIP command, and then ROTATE back to the original angle. LAYER MOVE Move selected entities from one layer to another. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 34 SURFACE ~~~~~~~ This powerful menu contains commands that create or act upon surfaces. REVOLVE Creates a mesh object by revolving a profile curve about a vertical axis of revolution. If the selected profile curve is composed of discrete segments an attempt is made to create a connected profile prior to rotating. This permits the creation of end cap surfaces for revolutions of not equal to 360 degrees which of course would normally be end connected. The following control the divisions of the revolved copies: DIVIDE Total divisions of swept arc. ANGLE Subangle calculated by TOTAL/DIVIDE. TOTAL Total swept angle. The following modify the scaling and rotation of the revolved copies: P-SCALE Modify size of swept profile by scaling about central point of revolution. Scaling is performed for each profile before it is revolved into position. ROTATE Rotate each profile in plane prior to sector positioning. The following control treatment of end facets. When enabled, uses the selected profile to create a closed facet to cap/close the revolved shape to create an enclosed volume. Swept ANGLES of 360 degrees disable this feature. BEGIN Create a closed facet at begin profile when active. END Create a closed facet at end profile when active. SECTOR Create wire frame sector lines when beginning/end profile is in horizontal plane. XTRUDE Creates a mesh object by extruding a profile curve multiple times, in the direction specified by the ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 35 user. The profile curve is preprocessed similar to REVOLVE in order to assemble a continuous curve. Each subsequent extrusion can also be rotated about a central point in the XY plane. This permits the creation of spiral extrusions. DIVIDE Total divisions of swept arc. TOTAL Total swept angle. N-SCALE Modify size of swept profile parallel to the axis of extrusion. P-SCALE Modify size of swept profile perpendicular to the axis of extrusion, and on same plane as extruded element(s). ROTATE Rotate each profile in plane prior to sector positioning. BEGIN Create surface facet at Begin profile position when active. END Create surface facet at End profile position when active. SWEEP Creates a mesh object by sweeping a profile curve multiple times, in a path defined by an object. The profile curve is preprocessed similar to REVOLVE in order to assemble a continuous curve. DIVIDE Total divisions of swept arc. TOTAL Total swept angle. N-SCALE Modify size of swept profile parallel to the sweep axis. P-SCALE Modify size of swept profile perpendicular to the sweep axis, and on same plane as sweeping element(s). ROTATE Rotate each profile in plane prior to sector positioning. BEGIN Create surface facet at Begin profile position when active. END Create surface facet at End profile position when active. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 36 EXPLODE This command converts COMPLEX objects such as BEZIER, CURVES and CIRCLES into equivalent objects composed only of straight line segments. SKIN Creates a static surface mesh connecting two or more control profiles. The subdivisions parallel to and orthogonal to the curves are individually controlled. The following control the number of divisions of mesh: P-DIV Number of subdivisions of mesh in parallel to control curves. N-DIV Number of subdivisions of mesh normal to control curves. The following control the positioning constraints of the vertex points: NEAREST When active, forces calculated vertex point of mesh to nearest vertex on control profile. ANYWHERE Use interpolated vertex point on profile exactly as calculated. TOLERANCE If within X% of a vertex, snap to that vertex. Only active when NEAREST is selected. PATCH Create a dynamic surface mesh connecting four curve profiles representing the edges of the patch. Each profile must be end connected to its adjacent profile. Profiles must be selected in a consistent clockwise or counter-clockwise fashion which traverses the perimeter. i.e., the profiles need to be selected one at a time, using the pick (not the window) mode. NOTE: End points of constraining curves must match so there is no ambiguity for the surface interpolation process. INTERSECT Cause a line object to be projected to the surface selected. The closest end point to the plane is modified so that the point of intersection with the surface replaces the end point. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 37 NOTES: 1. The surface selected must be a complex object. 2. Line to line intersections are not supported. A line drawn in the same plane as the surface is considered to be a parallel non-intersecting line. OBJECTS This menu allows you to group a number of drawn objects as a single composite object, or to break a composite object into its component objects. BIND Acts upon a set of lines in the same plane to create a composite shadeable object. Care must be taken to ensure that a closed curve defines the exterior and totally encloses all other objects in the set. GROUP Create a single composite object from a group of selected objects. JOIN Acts upon a set of primitive line or complex object types to create a continuous perimeter. If more than one perimeter are contained within the set the result is grouped together. This permits the creation of holes within plane objects. FRAGMENT Cause the composite object to be broken up into its constituent definition objects. NOTE: Surface objects created by revolve and extrude are collections of mesh objects plus optional end surfaces used for caps. NORMAL Change the vector normal for a given surface element, so that it points towards the light source. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 38 IMAGE COMMANDS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Imagine that you are looking through a magnifying window at a very large and detailed picture. At high magnification, you can only see that portion of the picture which is directly under the viewing window. To see more of the picture (but less detail), you must decrease the image scale factor. To zoom in on a specific detail, you increase the image scale factor (but see less of the picture). When ProtoCAD 3D is started, the default image scale factor is set to 1.00. The image scale factor (ISF) is displayed in the lower left of the screen. You can modify the ISF by using the IMAGE menu commands to adjust the position of the viewing window with respect to the drawing and the overall size of the drawing displayed on the screen. UPDATE Redraw the entire screen at the current image scale and option settings. UPDATE will remove remnants of objects that have been ERASED or MOVED. WINDOW Zoom in on a portion of the current display. You select a portion of the drawing which will be enlarged to fill the screen, by enclosing the area with a flexible window. The size of the window will be used to determine the new image scale factor. PAN Reposition the viewing window on the current display. First select the FROM Point and press [ENTER] (Hint: use a "FROM" point near the center of the screen to permit the greatest range of movement). Next, fix the new location of the viewing window by pressing [ENTER]. Once the new location is fixed, the drawing is redrawn at the specified position. ALL ProtoCAD 3D scans all objects in the drawing to determine the maximum and minimum X-Y-Z coordinates of the drawing. ProtoCAD 3D then determines an image scale factor and a viewing window which will display the entire drawing on the screen at the largest scale possible while still fitting all objects on the screen. HALF Halve the image scale factor and reposition the viewing window about the center of the screen. Objects displayed in the drawing appear smaller by a factor of two. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 39 DOUBLE Double the image scale factor and reposition the viewing window about the center of the screen. Objects displayed in the drawing appear larger by a factor of two. LAST Swap between the last image/scale factor/position displayed and the current image settings. This is very useful when working on a very large drawing. It allows you to zoom in on a small work area, make your changes, and then returns you to the original scale which shows the entire drawing. VIEW Selects the type of view for the current model on your screen. Note that these views may also be selected with a function key combination. ISOMETRIC Present user with isometric view. Y-axis always vertically. PERSPECTIVE Present perspective-rotatable view of the drawing. X,Y,Z axis may be individually rotated (see ROTATE below). FRONT Select the front view (Y-X plane) RIGHT Select the right side view (Y-Z plane) TOP Select the top view (Z-X plane) ISOMETRIC Select the Isometric (3-D) view BACK Select the back view (Y-X plane) LEFT Select the left side view (Y-Z plane) UNDER Select the bottom side view (Z-X plane) CENTER VIEW Place the 0,0,0 coordinate in the middle of the screen. OBSERVER Set the X, Y, Z coordinates for viewer location. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 40 OPTION ~~~~~~ The OPTION menu allows you to change parameters that effect the entire drawing. The changes will remain in effect until the next time a parameter is changed or ProtoCAD 3D is restarted from DOS. To save any changed parameters as new defaults for future sessions, see FILE, CONFIG, SAVE. GRID The GRID dialog menu allows you to select from two options, GRID and SNAP. GRID Create a construction grid at the specified X, Y, and Z grid spacing in the displayed units. The grid is visibly represented by a dot at each XYZ intersection coordinate. The physical grid will not be displayed until the GRID menu has been exited. The grid can be toggled on and off by typing "G" or selecting GRID. From the drawing screen, the grid may be toggled on/off by pressing the [F6] function key or by toggling the GRID button on the right side of the screen with the mouse. X, Y, Z Sets the X, Y, and Z axis GRID spacing. NOTE: Grids are not displayed in ISO or Oblique views. SNAP Constrain movement of the cursor to exactly the spacing of the snap grid. The snap grid is similar to the construction grid, but is not visible. When drawing an object, physical coordinates are forced to the nearest snap point. The snap grid can be toggled on and off by selecting SNAP from the dialog window or toggling the SNAP button on the right side of the screen with the mouse. While drawing press the [F9] Function Key. A change in color of the SNAP button on the screen indicates the snap option is active. I, J, K Sets the X, Y, and Z axis SNAP spacing. TOGGLE Toggle switches are features that can be enabled or disabled. The dialog window appears. A check mark next to each switch indicates the switch is active. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 41 The switches are listed below along with their default settings in brackets: VERTEX Display the object vertex mark (■). This toggle switch is useful when fine editing of entities is desired [OFF]. EDGE CLIP Enables an internal check which eliminates the redraw of overlapping edges [ON]. AUTO CTR Automatically center the image on the screen. ATTACH ProtoCAD 3D has the ability to "attach" an object being drawn with an existing object. ATTACH allows you to specify the attach point as the end point or middle of the existing object when active. ATTACH may be toggled on/off by pressing the [F10] function key, or by clicking the mouse on the ATTACH button on the right side of the screen. VERTEX Attach to the closest vertex of the selected entity. MIDDLE Attach a point to the middle of the object. ACCEPT Select [ENTER] to accept the point. CANCEL Do not accept the point, cancel the operation. NOTE: The cursor must be positioned within a specified number of pixels of the existing object for ATTACH to function. This value is specified by FILE, CONFIG, DEFAULT, PICK. For entities that have no start or middle (e.g. circles), newly drawn objects will attach to the nearest vertex point. AXIS This command is used to specify the location and type of the axis icon (normally displayed at the lower, left corner of the screen). SHOW Permit on-screen display of Axis Icon. HIDE Disable display of Axis Icon. The following commands affect the location of the Axis Icon. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 42 ORIGIN Axis Icon is located on-screen at coordinate 0,0,0. FIXED Axis Icon is placed in lower left corner of screen and is not referenced to origin. The following commands affect the type of Axis Icon displayed. VECTOR Type of Axis Icon is represented by straight lines indicating the principal direction of the X, Y, and Z axis. PLANER Direction of drawing plane is indicated by a flat Axis Icon. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 43 PLOT ~~~~ This menu permits you to print, or plot, your drawing. The default plot settings are for a Epson compatible 9-pin dot matrix printer connected to LPT1. You can change the device and output port to which data is sent (see FILE, CONFIG, PRINTER/OUTPUT). GO Before printing, make sure the printer paper is adjusted to the top of form and then select the command PLOT, GO. The size of drawing sent to the printer is set by the scale factor selected under FILE NEW in combination with the PLOT IMAGE WIDTH setting. Only the visible portion of the drawing displayed on the screen will be printed at the specified width. PRINT Commence printing. The drawing is created in horizontal strips and then sent to the printer. Creating each strip of the drawing results in a short delay before the graphics information is sent to the printer. The higher the selected print density (see PLOT IMAGE) the greater the amount of time required to process and print the drawing because of the increased quantity of graphic data. Plotting progress is displayed as a percent status bar on the screen. When finished, ProtoCAD 3D will give a short beep. See the EJECT command below, if you are using a laserjet printer. CANCEL Do not proceed with printing process. Return to menu. If the selected output is a plotter, an additional dialog window will appear displaying a plot scaling factor and x and y offset values. X,Y, OFFSET Horizontal and vertical offset at which the origin of the drawing (0,0) is to be located on the paper (default is 0,0). X and Y offset values may be used to plot an image somewhere in the middle of a large sheet of paper. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 44 FACTOR Plot scaling adjustment factor for use with non-standard plotting devices. The default value of 1.023 will result in plots being scaled properly according to the pre-selected drawing on HP-7470 and compatible plotters. EJECT The EJECT command issues a form feed to the printer and causes the paper to advance to the top of the next page. The EJECT command does not function when the print device is a plotter. Note that because of the way laserjet printers operate (complete page information is required to process a page), it may be necessary to use the EJECT command to force your printer to print the drawing. IMAGE The IMAGE command will display a dialog window which allows you to modify the resolution and size of of the drawing sent to the print device. An IMAGE dialog window appears. Three print density options are available: High, Medium, and Low. HI-Res Best possible quality drawing, but slowest output speed. MED-Res Mixture of moderate quality and moderate output speed. LOW-Res Fastest output speed, but lowest print quality. FRAME Enclose drawing in a rectangular border. WIDE IN. Width of image (includes FRAME, if selected) REDUCE % Reduces the size of the image so there is clearance between the image and the FRAME. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 45 RENDER ~~~~~~ ProtoCAD 3D has the ability to shade your 3D drawing. The user has control over the shading colors and intensities and the illumination source. SHADE Specify shade rendering of the drawing. The DRAWING user can select the video mode in which to render from the following: EGA/VGA 16 colors VGA 256 colors SVGA 16 colors VESA 256 colors The user may also select whether color or gray scale rendering will take place. FACETS Select the type of rendering to be used for the facets. SOLID Uses primary layer color only as a solid fill BLACK Uses black fill DITHERED Uses dithered color mixes to simulate light intensity HALFTONE Uses a range of half tones to simulate light intensity WIREFRAME No rendering of facets takes place ONE SIDE All Outer surface normals towards the light source (usually results in lighter renditions). EDGES Select the type of edges to be user in the rendering. COLOR Edges are drawn in same color as assigned layer WHITE White color is used to define edges BLACK Black color is used to define edges NONE No edges are plotted LIGHT The following variables permit the user to control the simulated illumination on the shaded object. Illumination is treated as if the light source was an infinite distance away. X, Y, Z - Direction of light source as vector. AMBIENT % - Specify background lighting level which is superimposed on shade intensity calculated at each facet. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 46 LAYER ~~~~~ ProtoCAD permits you to work on up to 32 different LAYERS which can be thought of as transparent overlays. Clicking on LAYER (left top portion of the screen), displays a secondary window that allows you to manipulate the Layer information. The curent layer's ID number and color are displayed in the top left portion of this window. You may enter a new ID number, or simply scroll to the desired layer (from the pick list) and press the left mouse button. The status flags available for each layer are: VISIBLE The currently selected layer will be displayed on the screen at all times. Selecting SET ALL (with this flag ON), will make all layers visible. PROTECT PROTECTS current layer. Alter and Edit commands function on all layers that are NOT protected. Selecting SET ALL (with this flag ON), will make all layers protected. NAME Allows the user to assign personal name selection to each layer. ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 47 TRIUS PRODUCTS ORDER FORM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Name:________________________________ Title:_____________________ Company:__________________________________________________________ Address:____________________________ City:________________________ State:___________ Zip:_____________ Country:___________________ Date:_____/_____/_____ (Fill out form completely) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Product # Price/ea S&H Total ----------------------------------------------------------------- AS-EASY-AS 5.5 (Spreadsheet) ___ _$69.00_ _$6.00_ _______ DRAFT Choice 2 (CAD) ___ _$69.00 _$6.00_ _______ ProtoCAD 3D (Rendering) ___ _$59.00_ _$6.00_ _______ StarFlick (Animation) ___ _$29.00_ _$6.00_ _______ DRAFT Choice PLUS v3.00 ___ _$99.00 _$6.00_ _______ PIVOT (Sideways Printing) ___ _$15.00_ _$6.00_ _______ ALITE /R (Spreadsheet) ___ _$20.00_ _$6.00_ _______ DCLIB1 (Symbol Libraries) ___ _$19.00_ _$6.00_ _______ DCLIB2 (Symbol Libraries) ___ _$19.00_ _$6.00_ _______ XTRAN (File Transfer) ___ _$19.00_ _$6.00_ _______ PRINT-GL (Plotter Util.) ___ _$50.00_ _$6.00_ _______ ODYSSEY 2.0 (COMMUNICATIONS) ___ _$89.00_ _$6.00_ _______ Precision Mapping (CD-ROM) ___ _$79.00_ _$6.00_ _______ ------------- * Canadian Orders, Add $2.50 per copy _______ * International Orders, Add $6.50 per copy _______ * Mass Residents add appropriate sales tax _______ TOTAL ENCLOSED __________ Disk Size: [ ] 5-1/4" [ ] 3-1/2" [ ] Check [ ] Visa [ ] MC Card# __________________________________ Exp. Date __________ Signature ______________________________ How did you hear about our Products? [ ] BBS [ ] Friend [ ] Other _____________________________________________________ Mail Completed form with Payment to: TRIUS, Inc., P.O. BOX 249, N. Andover, MA 01845. Orders ONLY, Call 1-800-GO-TRIUS Prices subject to change without notice [Call After Sep 1994] For latest prices and information you may call: (508) 794-9377 ProtoCAD 3D V2.0 (c) 1994, TRIUS, Inc. [Unregistered 3/94] Pg 48