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APRIL 1, 1990 Revised January 1, 1991 CC-PLOT Version 2 Copyright 1987-1991 by Richard Wadsworth, CIVILcomp 320 Eureka Canyon Road Watsonville, CA 95076 No part of this software or manual may be copied without permission, except for installation of the software on the registered user's hard disk, and copies made for backup purposes. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 I. INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION . . . . . . . . . 4 II. CC-PLOT MENUS AND DIALOG BOXES . . . . . . . . . 5 III. SCREEN PLOTTING, LAYERS, AND ALMOST "WYSIWYG". . 6 IV. USING CC-PLOT A. Short-Cut to your First Pen Plot . . . . . 8 B. MORE Configuration and Plotting Options . . 9 V. DATA ENTRY A. Error Checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 B. Default Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 C. The Mini Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 VI. FILES A. File Types, Filenames, Storage Location . . 11 B. CIVILcomp COGO (.CCC) File . . . . . . . . 12 C. Layer Assignment (.LAY) File . . . . . . . 13 D. Interpolation Net (.NET) File . . . . . . . 14 E. Contour Tic (.TIC) File . . . . . . . . . . 14 F. Plot Settings (.SET) File . . . . . . . . . 14 VII. COMMAND REFERENCE A. FILE Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 B. EDIT Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 C. PLOT Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 D. UTILITY Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 E. MODULES Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 F. SETTINGS Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 VIII.ERROR MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 IX. UPGRADE HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 X. REGISTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 DISCLAIMER, CREDITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 INDEX CC-PLOT Page 2 INTRODUCTION When CC-SURVeyor was first conceived, linking it to a CAD program was intended to prevent the need to "reinvent the wheel" regarding screen plotting, pen plotting, and printer plotting. Initially, Generic CADD was seen as an affordable way of turning a coordinate file into a quick hard copy plot, so the Generic CADD batch file was used to transfer data from CC-SURVeyor to CADD. Later, the DXF file format was added to allow users of AutoCAD and other CAD software to transfer their coordinate data into CAD. Also, utilities were provided for Generic CADD and AutoCAD users to help them in working within CAD to create finished drawings. CAD seems to have tremendous potential for all the engineering fields. The promised ability to automate repetitious calculations and drawing by using the computer attracts our attention like the lode stone attracts the compass needle. However, many of the features of CAD are oriented toward drawing of repetitive elements, such as parallel lines, orthographic lines, and circular arrays. Also, the dimensioning routines in CAD programs are oriented towards mechanical and architectural traditions rather than civil engineering/land surveying. Throw in the problems created when we don't want to orient north straight up, or when we want a different horizontal scale than vertical scale, or when we want to plot something already drawn at a different scale than originally planned (resulting in very large or very small text), and it becomes obvious that a CAD program for our profession has to be a unique package to be helpful in creating finished drawings. And then, the power necessary for creation of finished drawings seems to make creation of hard copy plots more difficult than it should be. One can invest a lot of time and money into exploring all the software available that promises to automate the drafting and design process for us. In the meantime, we need something that can give us fast, accurate hard copy plots. Something that doesn't have ten times as many commands as we are interested in using. Something that runs at a reasonable speed on reasonably priced hardware. Something that doesn't take a night class in CAD to understand. Something that takes the best features of the best CAD software and strips them down to the essentials needed for plotting hard copies. CC-PLOT is that something. Rotate your view without rotating your coordinates, in seconds instead of minutes. Pick the text size when you plot, not when the text is created. User-named layers for organizing your points for plotting. Mouse supported pull-down menus that you can literally fly through. Fast screen graphics to preview your plot. Configuration INSIDE the program, instead of separately. CC-PLOT Page 3 I. INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION CC-PLOT requires a hard disk, 640K RAM, DOS 2.11 or later, and EGA or VGA graphics. 524K free RAM is required after DOS and any RAM-resident software is loaded, to use CC-PLOT's full data capacity. Please read the "capacity" section of this manual for a more complete discussion of capacity and memory requirements. A math coprocessor is NOT required, although screen plotting is faster if one is present. The mouse is supported for manipulation of the menu and dialog box system, but is not required. The two plotter types supported by CC-PLOT are Houston Instrument (HI) and Hewlett-Packard (HP). CC-PLOT is compatible with the HI DMP-50 and DMP-60 series plotters, and with any other brand of plotter that uses the DM/PL language and is compatible with those models. CC-PLOT is also compatible with the HP 7580B, 7585B, 7586B, DraftPro, and DraftMaster plotters, and any other brand of plotter that uses the HP-GL language and is compatible with those models. For printer plotting, Epson and IBM compatible dot matrix printers are supported. Both narrow (80 column) and wide (132 column), and both 9 pin and 24 pin printers are supported. Printers that have been found to be compatible with CC-PLOT are: Epson FX, LQ and MX-80, Fujitsu, IBM ProPrinter, NEC, Panasonic, Star LV1615 and Star NX-15. Printers that have been found to be incompatible are: Gemini 10X, HP ThinkJet and Okidata. The following files are furnished on the CC-PLOT diskette: README.PLT Information that may not be included in the printed manual. To read it, use the DOS "type" command, or print it by typing copy a:readme.plt prn <Enter> with the diskette in the A drive. PLOT.EXE The CC-PLOT program file. Copy PLOT.EXE to the same subdirectory on your hard disk that the rest of CC-SURVeyor is installed in. Type PLOT and press <Enter> to start it. CC-PLOT will sense the graphics card, and will use the highest graphics resolution possible, which is 640x350 for EGA and 640x480 for VGA. If you wish to force CC-PLOT to assume that you have an EGA or VGA card, start the program using the /E or /V parameter; i.e. enter PLOT /E at the DOS prompt for EGA. A file named PLOT.INI will be created in that subdirectory the first time CC-PLOT is run. PLOT.INI is an ASCII file that stores configuration data from the various settings that may change while CC-PLOT is used. The first INI file is created using the default settings. More detailed explanations of the settings are given in the section of this manual entitled "SETTINGS Submenu". The "Short-Cut" section in this manual will help you with enough settings to get your first plot. CC-PLOT Page 4 II. CC-PLOT MENUS AND DIALOG BOXES CC-PLOT uses the type of pull-down menus that are becoming the industry standard, and are similar to "Windows" applications and the new OS/2 PM interface. To remove all pull-down menus from the screen, press <Esc> until the menu bar is all that remains of it. Then, you will see right below it a 17 line calculation window with a space for the current open file name at the top center. Below the window is the prompt area, where command prompts will appear. It should say "Select Function" at this time. At the very bottom of the screen is a status bar that occasionally has messages at the left end. These messages may be an error message (red with a beep), or may be a message telling what a particular function key will do at the time. At the right end of the message bar is the current routine or function being executed ("mode"), the current occupied point (in the color of the layer it is assigned to) and the name of the current layer. The arrow keys may be used to move from one submenu to another. If no submenu is pulled down, the first letter of the submenu will pull it down. Once a submenu is pulled down, the letter keys move the bar to the routine within that submenu that has an uppercase letter matching the key entered. <Enter> will execute whatever routine is highlighted by the moving bar. <Esc> will remove the current submenu and activate the menu bar so another submenu may be picked; for example, <Esc><F> will back up and pull down the FILE Submenu, then <Esc><E> will back up and pull down the EDIT Submenu, then <Esc><P> will back up and pull down the PLOT Submenu, and so forth. A mouse will also work with the menu system. Button one is used for picking menu items. One click on a routine will start the routine. A button may be pressed down and held down while the menu is swept through, and when it is released, the last routine highlighted is executed. Clicking button one outside a menu box is equivalent to pressing <Esc>. Button two is equivalent to the <Enter> key. Many of the routines cannot be used until a .CCC file has been opened. These routines will not be accessible with the arrow keys or the mouse. Their names are shown in a lighter color on the pull-down menus until they are accessible. Dialog boxes are menus that allow several items to be toggled on/off, edited, or otherwise picked, while the box stays on the screen. Examples are the "Layer display" box and the "reName layers" box. To "pick" an item in a dialog box, you must click on it with the mouse, or put the bar on it with the arrow keys and press <Enter>. In some cases you must <esc> when you are done (a prompt will tell you), and in other cases one of the selections is <OK>, which you may select with the mouse or arrow keys. CC-PLOT Page 5 III. SCREEN PLOTTING, LAYERS, AND ALMOST "WYSIWYG" Screen plotting is used to preview the proposed plot. "View plot" in the EDIT or PLOT Submenus can be used to screen plot. To screen plot during data entry, or while choosing items from a dialog box, use <F10>. There are three types of layers in CC-PLOT. The first is called "point attribute", the second is "user-named" layers, and the third is "digital terrain model" (DTM). The "point attribute" layers refer to "attributes" associated with points, such as cross, point number, elevation, description, or line/curve. Any of these "attribute" layers may be on or off, which controls what attributes will plot. Note that the only attributes that do not screen plot are elevations and descriptions, and attributes that do not printer plot are lines and curves. The "attribute" layers all screen plot in the color of the "user-named" layer they are assigned to. The "user-named" layers allow you to separate your points into logical groups, for better control of plotting data. The default layer names are CONTROL, TOPO, BOUNDARY, BUILDING, STREET, EASEMENT, and UTILITY. You may define different layer names for each file if you wish, or different default layer names for all future files, using the "reName layers" routine in the SETTINGS Submenu. Use the "change Layer" routine in the SETTINGS Submenu to assign groups of points to different layers. To turn layers on/off, use "Layer display" in the PLOT Submenu. Each "user-named" layer screen plots in a different color. The "Pen plot" routine will pick a different pen for each layer if the "Multi-pen option" has been used. The "current" layer controls what layer new points are placed on. Lines and curves are automatically placed on the layers that the points were assigned to. If the layer assignment of points are later changed, the lines also change to the new layer. The line or curve will always be on the same layer as the beginning point of the line or the BC of the curve. Linetypes may be changed for each of the user-named layers and for two of the DTM layers. The "linetYpe" routine in the SETTINGS Submenu accomplishes that. The default linetype is "continuous" for the user-named layers, "dot" for the Net, and "dashed" for the Contours. The available linetypes are further explained elsewhere in this manual. CC-PLOT Page 6 Note that there are 7 user-named layers. There are 16 colors available to the EGA: black, 7 low intensity, 7 high intensity, and grey. CC-PLOT uses the 7 low intensity colors for the lines/curves on the 7 user-named layers. The 7 corresponding high-intensity colors are used for the point crosses and point numbers. For example, the first layer (default name: CONTROL) is color 1, which is blue. Points and point crosses on this layer will screen plot in high intensity blue, and lines/curves will screen plot in low intensity blue. Layer 2 data (default name: TOPO) will plot in high intensity and low intensity green, and so forth. The default layer colors are shown in the "Layer display" dialog box. The sequence of colors cannot be changed, although the order of the layer names can be. The "DTM" layers consist of the interpolation net, contour tics, and contour lines. This data is created in CC-CONTour and is brought into CC-PLOT by .NET and .TIC files, if they are present and have the same name as the .CCC file that is opened. These names may not be changed, neither can the colors, which are: Net - yellow, Tic - green, Contour - green. The only DTM layers that will plot on your printer are the contour tics, which will plot as asterisks. WYSIWYG means "What You See Is What You Get", and is commonly used in describing word processors and desktop publishing programs that show graphics previews of what printed output will look like. Of course, CAD is by definition WYSIWYG. CC-PLOT is not, however, a CAD program, but does attempt to use WYSIWYG principles to help in setting up your proposed plot. Keep in mind the following exceptions to the WYSIWYG rule: Screen plotting is intended to be fairly fast, and displays point numbers and crosses to help you identify the points you want to display. Elevations and descriptions do not screen plot, even when their layers are ON. The "Dot plot" routine is also intended to be fast, and uses the "text" mode of the printer rather than the "graphics" mode to accomplish that. An 8"x11" graphics mode plot could take 10 to 30 minutes. CC-PLOT will plot the same size in less than a minute, by using text mode. Graphics mode is required to draw lines and curves. So even if the Lines/Curves layer or Net layer or Contour layer is ON, "Dot plot" will not draw them. Also, turning OFF the Crosses layer will NOT stop "Dot plot" from plotting crosses. The Crosses layer option was intended to speed up screen plotting, and allow pen plotting without crosses, where lines and curves are plotted to help identify point locations. Since there are no lines or curves in "Dot Plot", point numbers without crosses would not be very useful. Linetypes are "schematic" and may not be proportioned the same on different plotters, or when comparing the screen plot with plotter output. The pattern is what is important, to help distinguish between different lines on hard copy plots. Also, curves do not screen plot with other than a continuous linetype at this time, although pen plotter output will correctly use the assigned linetype. CC-PLOT Page 7 IV. USING CC-PLOT A. Short-Cut to your First Pen Plot Enter "PLOT" to start the program. CC-PLOT can be configured while it is running, which allows changing the configuration without having to quit and start over. Use the arrow keys to get to the SETTINGS Submenu, or type <Esc><S>, or pick SETTINGS with your mouse. If your CC-SURVeyor files are not in the current directory, but are in \CC-SURV\FILES, pick "set ccc Path" and enter "\CC-SURV\FILES". You could also enter "a:" or any drive or pathname. You could load a file from \CC-SURV\FILES, then change the path to A: and save the file to the A drive. <Esc><S><C> will get you the "Config plotter" routine in the SETTINGS Submenu. Choose Houston Instrument or Hewlett-Packard. If you have neither brand, pick the brand that your manual claims it is compatible with. Next, pick the COM port you are using, then enter the baud, etc. that you have the plotter configured for. The options shown include all HI and HP options for both Generic CADD and AutoCAD, so you won't have to reconfigure your plotter every time you use CC-PLOT. Finally, pick "None" for "Multi-pen options", as you may not have more than one layer for this first plot anyway. Layers are explained in another section of the manual. You might as well configure your printer now, so press <Esc><S><C><C> to get there. Notice how pressing <C> over and over toggles back and forth between Config plotter and Config printer. Pick your printer type, then enter the width (usually 8 or 13.5 inches). Now view your configuration using the "View/save settings" command, and if it looks right, press "y" or <Enter> to save it. You won't have to do this again, even in future sessions, unless you change something. Now go to the FILE Submenu and open the desired file ("open" means "load"). Go to the PLOT Submenu and pick "Scale". The default scale is 1"=20'. Change it if you want. The scale affects the Origin routine as well as the plotted scale. Pick "Origin/plot size". Pick the sheet size you plan to plot on. This controls (together with the scale entered above) a box that you use to orient your plot in relation to the origin of the plot. The "USER DEFINED" is intended for users that know the maximum size their plotter will plot to, and want to use it, or for those odd size plots. The standard sheet sizes shown allow a 1" margin. When you see your plot preview, a box is anchored at the lower left hand corner of the screen. Zoom down (using <PgDn>) if necessary until you see the whole box, then use the arrow keys to move the points around in the box. This box CC-PLOT Page 8 excludes the 1" margin mentioned above, or if "USER DEFINED" was picked, is plotted at the exact dimensions, enlarged by the scale being used. ONCE THE ORIGIN IS SELECTED WITH THIS ROUTINE, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE SET AGAIN DURING THE CURRENT SESSION UNLESS THE SCALE IS CHANGED. Press <Spacebar> when you are satisfied, or <Esc> to go back to choose another sheet size. Now pick "Pen plot". If the settings look right, make sure your plotter has picked up a pen and press "y" or <Enter>. It should plot the drawing now. If it doesn't work, make sure you picked the right COM port before trying anything else. B. MORE Configuration and Plotting Options TEXT HEIGHT: The default text height (which you can change for the current session) is 0.10". All text and point crosses plot this high. Contour tics plot as "X", 2/3 the height of the text height. Located in PLOT Submenu. ROTATE VIEW: This routine is in the PLOT Submenu, and lets you rotate the view without having to rotate the coordinates. The screen plot is rotated, and so are the pen and printer plots. A north arrow in the upper left corner of the screen reminds you of the rotation. MULTI-PEN OPTIONS: These options will allow you to use the multi-pen features of your plotter, or will pause for a manual pen change at each layer with a single pen plotter, or will plot with only one pen. Located in PLOT Submenu. LAYER DISPLAY: All layers are "on" by default, and will plot unless turned off. This routine, located in the PLOT Submenu, controls the layers. See "Screen Plotting, Layers, and almost WYSIWYG" in this manual for more details. CC-PLOT Page 9 V. DATA ENTRY A. Error Checking Depending on the data being entered, some keyboard characters will not be accepted for data. For example, when entering a filename, characters that are not acceptable to DOS cannot be entered. Or, when numeric data is expected, alpha characters will not be accepted. In some cases, data must be entered, a blank field is not acceptable. If you cannot enter valid data, you must <Esc> out of the routine. B. Default Values When there is a logical default value for data, it will already be placed in the highlighted field. To choose it, press <Enter>. To clear it and replace it with a new value, enter the new value. To start "edit mode", press an arrow key or <Home> or <End>, and read about the mini editor below. C. The Mini Editor The highlighted data entry field is a mini editor. <Alt-C> will clear the value out of the field. <Alt-R> will restore the original value in the field, if you have erased it or edited it beyond repair. The left and right arrow keys will move the cursor back and forth within the field. <Home> and <End> will move to the first and last position. The <Insert> key will toggle back and forth between overtype mode (the default) and insert mode. <BackSpace> will erase to the left. <Delete> will erase the current position. CC-PLOT Page 10 VI. FILES A. File Types, Filenames, and Storage Location There are several types of files that users of CC-COGO, CC-CONTour and CC-PLOT should become familiar with. The most important of these is the .CCC file (the filename extension is ".CCC"), which stands for "Civil Comp COGO". This file is the standard file for storage of point numbers, coordinates, elevations, descriptions, and (if the user chooses) lines and curves, and is used by all the Modules (CC-COGO, CC-BALance, CC-CONTour, and CC-PLOT). These files may be located in any drive or subdirectory, and will be accessible to CC-PLOT according to its configuration, or if the "set ccc Path" command has been properly used. The .CCC file may be edited and saved by CC-PLOT. Another file that is created by CC-COGO or CC-PLOT is the layer file, with a filename extension of ".LAY". This file stores the user-named layer names, the linetypes of layers, and the layer assignments of points within the .CCC file. This file is created or updated at the time a .CCC file is saved from CC-COGO, CC-BALance, or CC-PLOT. It will be saved to the same drive or subdirectory as the .CCC file. A file type that is created in CC-CONTour is the net file, with a filename extension of ".NET". The .NET file is used to store interpolation net lines, which can also be plotted from CC-PLOT. It is automatically loaded into memory when a .CCC file is opened, if it has the same name as the .CCC file, and is located in the same subdirectory as the .CCC file. Another file type that is created in CC-CONTour is the contour tic file, with a filename extension of ".TIC". The .TIC file is used to store contour tics and contour lines, which can be plotted from CC-PLOT. It is automatically loaded into memory when a .CCC file is opened, if it has the same name as the .CCC file, and is located in the same subdirectory as the .CCC file. IMPORTANT - READ THIS ABOUT FILENAMES: The net, tics and contours that are saved in a .NET and .TIC file will be automatically loaded by CC-PLOT or CC-CONTour when a .CCC file of the same name is opened. There is no other way of separately loading the net, tics or contours into CC-PLOT, which is why it is recommended to use the same filename as the .CCC file. Other filenames are allowed with CC-CONTour to allow experimenting with different nets and contour intervals, and even different contour lines, but once one is desired for plotting, they should be saved with the same "surname" as the .CCC file. AS LONG AS YOU ALWAYS USE THE SAME FILENAME FOR THE .NET AND .TIC FILE AS YOU USED FOR THE .CCC FILE, YOU WILL HAVE AUTOMATIC LOADING OF THOSE FILES AND EASIER TRANSFER BETWEEN MODULES. DXF files may also be saved from CC-PLOT. DXF files may be used to transfer data into CAD programs for further editing. Since your CAD program is probably located in a CC-PLOT Page 11 different subdirectory than CC-PLOT, you may set your DXF path separately from the path of the other data files, using the "set dxf Path" routine. Controlling the data to be transferred is discussed in detail in the Command Reference Section of this manual, under "FILE Submenu", "Save dxf file". B. CIVIL COMP COGO (.CCC) File CIVILcomp coordinate files have the file name extension ".CCC" (Civil Comp COGO). This is the default file type that stores all points, coordinates, elevations, descriptions, and lines and curves. "Open ccc file" in the FILE Submenu loads it into memory. .CCC files are saved in ASCII format. The first line in a file created with CC-SURVeyor 4 is "4,0,0". Folowing lines have one point number and coordinate pair per line, with eight decimal places, in point number sequence. The line following coordinates is "0 0 0". If elevations and/or descriptions are present, they follow. To reduce file size, only points with an elevation or description are listed in the second group. A zero in either the second or third position indicates no elevation, or no description, respectively, for the point number in the first position of each line. Following the lines that store elevations and descriptions is the line "0 -1 0" followed by codes identifying lines that have been created. Lines are created sequentially according to the point numbers listed, with "-1" indicating a break in the line, and ending with "-999". The last section of the file consists of stored curves, one curve per line, with BC, RP, and EC point numbers listed. Sample File (portion): Comments: 4,0,0 (CC-SURVeyor 4 header) 1 1000.00000000 1000.00000000 (pt #, N coor, E coor) 2 1216.14183000 874.37074000 (ditto) 4 1276.44387000 978.11881000 (ditto) 0 0 0 (elev and desc next) 1 100.200 CorSub (elev=100.2, desc=CorSub) 2 101.200 0 (no description) 4 0.000 EC (no elevation) 0 -1 0 (lines next) 1 (line from 1 2 to 2) -1 (end of line) 3 (line from 3 4 to 4) -1 (end of line) -999 (curves next) 26 27 28 (BC, RP, and EC) 21 20 19 (ditto) Editing a .CCC file is fairly simple. Examine one with the DOS "Type" command or with your text editor. Use your word processor in unformatted or ASCII mode if you need to edit the file. CC-PLOT Page 12 C. Layer Assignment (.LAY) File A file with the same name as the .CCC file, but with an extension of ".LAY" is created when the .CCC file is created, that stores the layer names, linetypes, and point/layer assignments. CC-PLOT allows the "View plot" command to selectively screen plot data, if the "Layer display" command has been used to turn layers on or off. The .LAY file created by CC-COGO and CC-PLOT 2 is different that the one created by CC-PLOT 1, and cannot be read by Ver. 1. Ver. 1's .LAY files may be read by Ver. 2. The differences have to do with the new DTM layers and the addition of user-selected linetypes to the file. The first two lines of the .LAY file contain the linetype numbers for the NET layer and the CONTOUR layer. The next seven lines consist of the user-named layer names and their linetype numbers. Linetypes and their numbers (used internally by CC-COGO and CC-PLOT) are defined more completely in the "linetYpe" section of this manual, under "EDIT Submenu". The first user-named layer is considered to be layer "1", the second one is layer "2", and so forth. This numbering becomes meaningful when the rest of the file is examined. The lines following the names identify a point range and the layer number they are assigned to. For example, the line "1 , 99 , 5" means that points 1 through 99 are assigned to user-named layer 5. Sample File (portion): Comments: NET, 6 (Net layer is linetype 6) CONTOUR, 2 (Contours are linetype 2) CONTROL , 1 (first user-named layer is "CONTROL" and is linetype 1) TOPO , 1 (second user-named layer is "TOPO" and is linetype 1) BOUNDARY , 1 (third user-named layer etc.) EASEMENT , 1 (etc.) STREET , 1 (etc.) BUILDING , 1 (etc.) UTILITY , 1 (seventh user-named layer is "UTILITY" and is linetype 1) 1 , 99 , 1 (points 1 through 99 are on layer 1 "CONTROL") 100, 199, 2 (points 100 through 199 are on layer 2 "TOPO") Note that their are no "blank" lines in the file; those shown above are caused by the long "comments". It isn't a good idea to edit the .LAY file with your text editor, it is better to use the "reName layers", "linetYpes" and "change Layer" routines in CC-PLOT and CC-COGO. CC-PLOT Page 13 D. Interpolation Net (.NET) File The .NET file stores the interpolation net data defined in CC-CONTour. Each net line is stored on one line in the file, consisting of the point numbers at each end of the net line, separated by a comma. Sample File (portion): Comments: 1 , 2 (net line between points 1 and 2) 7 , 10 (net line between points 7 and 10) 10 , 1 (net line between points 10 and 1) E. Contour Tic (.TIC) File Contour tics and contour lines are created by CC-CONTour and are saved in a file with the filename extension ".TIC". The data is stored with the first part storing the tics as three numeric fields per line: Easting, Northing, and Elevation, separated by commas. The second part stores the contour lines as two integer fields per line: the "tic number" the line is "from" and the "tic number" the line is "to". The tics are read in first and are assigned sequential numbers in memory starting with "1" for the first one in the file. The line "-1,-1,-1" separates the tics from the contour line data. Sample File (portion): Comments: 1067.036,1346.914,98.0 (easting, northing, elevation of tic "1") 1135.499,1296.661,98.0 (easting, northing, elevation of tic "2") 847.579,1096.072,98.0 (easting, northing, elevation of tic "3") -1,-1,-1 (end of tics) 1,2 (contour from tic "1" to tic "2") 2,3 (contour from tic "2" to tic "3") F. Plot Settings (.SET) File Most of your plot settings will be saved when you plot, in a file with the same filename as your .CCC file, with an extension of ".SET". This file will be read and the settings restored the next time you open the same .CCC file with CC-PLOT. The settings saved are: status of all layers (on/off), pen settings, multi-pen option, scale, pen text height, plot size (A through E or User), and printer text height (tiny or normal). The "Pen plot", "Plot to file", and "Dot plot" routines will create this file. CC-PLOT Page 14 VII. COMMAND REFERENCE A. FILE Submenu Open ccc file: This routine will load a previously created .CCC file from disk into memory. A .LAY file, .NET FILE, and .TIC file by the same name will also be loaded if present. All points created before running this routine will be lost and a warning message to that effect is given if any points exist in memory at the time. The program will be reset as if it had just been loaded. Existing .CCC files are presented in a dialog box. If you have more files than will fit in the vertical listing, you can scroll down the box with arrow keys, or by using your mouse on the scroll bar on the right side of the box. Save ccc file: This routine will save a .CCC file and a .LAY file at the same time. It should be used regularly during editing. If you decide to rename your file when you save it, a new .LAY file will be created also. Your .NET file and .TIC file, if present, will NOT be renamed or copied, however. If you later want to load them into CC-PLOT with the new .CCC filename, you must first rename them to the new name using DOS. set ccc Path: This routine may be used to configure CC-PLOT to permanently use a particular drive or subdirectory, or to temporarily change the path to load or save a file to a diskette drive or different subdirectory than the previously configured one. The path chosen with this routine affects all CC-SURVeyor files, including .CCC, .LAY, .NET, and .TIC files, but does not include DXF files. To make the new path permanent, go to the SETTINGS Submenu and use "View/save settings". Save dxf file: This routine will create a DXF file for use with CAD programs such as AutoCAD or Generic CADD (which requires AutoConvert to read DXF files). All the data that CC-PLOT can plot may be sent to a CAD program via this file. You may selectively send data by using the "Layer display" routine in the PLOT Submenu. The DXF file will then have the same data within it that you would plot with CC-PLOT. Turning a layer off will prevent that data from being included in the DXF file. There are two options for linetype and color control in the DXF file: "by layer" and "by object". If you are sending data to AutoCAD and usually set your colors and linetypes "bylayer", use the same option here. Then within AutoCAD you may set the layers of the file to be whatever colors and linetypes you want. If you use Generic CADD , which does not have a bylayer option, you should use the "by object" option, which will CC-PLOT Page 15 give each entity the same linetype and color that it has in CC-PLOT, subject to AutoConvert's translation abilities. Note that the default translation for the DXF file colors and linetypes are as defined by AutoCAD. If you use the "by object" option, the color numbers used will result in the same color in AutoCAD as in CC-PLOT. To translate to the CC-PLOT color using AutoConvert for Generic CADD, you should use the "PRESERVE SCREEN COLORS" option within AutoConvert. Also, following are the AutoCAD linetype names associated with the CC-PLOT linetypes: ___________ Continuous _____ _____ Dashed _ _ _ _ _ _ Hidden ____ _ ____ Center ___ _ _ ___ Phantom ........... Dot For some reason, AutoConvert Ver. 3.5 and earlier converts "Phantom" and "Center" to the wrong Generic CADD linetype, even though there are equivalent linetypes in CADD. AutoConvert ver. 4 will let you set up your own conversion table. In AutoCAD, you will find that Net Lines and Contour Lines will become 3D lines, which will be able to be viewed from various angles by AutoCAD's 3D features. Layer names used in the DXF file will be as defined in CC-PLOT, with the following difference: The user-named layer name will be used for data stored on those layers, with the "attribute" name appended to it. For example, assuming that points are on layer "CONTROL", they will be sent on layer "CONTROL-PT" in the DXF file. Following is a table showing how each type of data is sent: Points sent as points to "(user-named layer)-PT" Point #'s sent as text to "(user-named layer)-PTNO" Elevations sent as text to "(user-named layer)-ELEV" Descriptions sent as text to "(user-named layer)-DESC" Lines/curves sent as lines/arcs to "(user-named layer)-LINE" Net lines sent as 3D lines to "CONTNET" Contour Tics sent as 3D points to "CONTIC" Contours sent as 3D lines to "CONTOUR" Index contours (every fifth one) sent as 3D lines to "CONTINDEX" If the elevation layer is on when you start this routine, you will prompted for the precision of elevations to be used in the DXF file. You may choose 1 or 2 decimals. NOTE REGARDING TEXT SIZE: The "Scale" and "Text height" settings picked from the PLOT Submenu determine the height of text sent within DXF files. In other words, if you want your text to be .08" high in the final plot, which will be at a scale of 1"=50', you should select those values using those routines before saving the .DXF file. CC-PLOT Page 16 set dxf Path: This routine may be used to configure CC-PLOT to permanently use a particular drive or subdirectory, or to temporarily change the path to load or save a file to a diskette drive or different subdirectory than the previously configured one. The path chosen with this routine only affects DXF files. To make the new path permanent, go to the SETTINGS Submenu and use "View/save settings". DOS command: This routine temporarily "shells" to DOS, where the user may execute DOS commands like DIR, COPY or TYPE. CC-PLOT HAS NOT QUIT!! Type "exit" to return to CC-PLOT. None of the data entered into CC-PLOT is lost. NOTE: It has been documented that a bug in versions of DOS prior to version 3.0 causes problems when this command is used, so use it at your own risk unless you have DOS 3.0 or later. Also, if you change directories while using DOS COMMAND, be sure to change back to the correct directory before returning to CC-PLOT. Capacity: Use this to determine your maximum file size based on the free RAM in your machine. CC-PLOT will keep enough free RAM available so you may use the "DOS command" routine, and will allow the remainder to be used for point storage and DTM data storage. If you are using a lot of RAM-resident software ("Terminate and Stay Resident" or TSR), and/or have many drivers in your CONFIG.SYS file, you may be limited to less than 100% of the capacity, which is 4000 points, 3000 net lines, and 6000 contour tics and contour line segments. To use full capacity, you need 524K (537000 bytes) free RAM. To find out how much free RAM you have, use the DOS CHKDSK command before starting CC-PLOT. The "free RAM" message you get when you run this "Capacity" routine is AFTER allocation of storage for points and DTM data. Quit: Use this to quit CC-PLOT. You will see a "QUITTING, ARE YOU SURE?" message. Press "Y" to quit, or "N" or <Esc> to return to CC-PLOT. CC-PLOT Page 17 B. EDIT Submenu View plot: Use this routine to preview your current plot. You may zoom up or down using the <PgUp> or <PgDn> keys and you may pan using the arrow keys. Press <Esc> or <Spacebar> to exit. All points and layers shown in this view will plot if you choose "Dot plot" (except lines) or "Pen plot". This view does not, however, show the sheet size or orientation of the Pen plot. The "Origin/plot size" routine should be used to set that. Zooming and panning in this routine will NOT affect the origin set in the other routine. It WILL, however, affect the points that will plot. Since only the points shown in this view will plot, this routine may be used to "trim" the data to a smaller area than you see in the "Origin/plot size" routine, which shows the entire sheet that will plot. This routine accomplishes the same thing whether it is accessed from the pull-down menu, or with the <F10> key. This is identical to the routine in the PLOT Submenu. Draw lines: This routine draws lines or curves between existing points. The first prompt is for a point number at the beginning of a line, the next prompt is for the end of the line. After entering the end of the line, that point automatically becomes the beginning of the next line, so the user only has to continue to enter the next point to draw a line through a series of points. Entering a negative radius point number at the "To Point:" prompt will result in a prompt for the EC, so a curve may be drawn. The "+" key may be used for the next point number if the points are sequential. The end of the line or curve becomes the currently occupied point. To use the numeric keypad for point number entry, <NumLock> must be on. To zoom and pan using the keys described under "View plot", you must either use the separate keypad on an enhanced keyboard, or temporarily turn <NumLock> off. You may jump to the "Erase lines" routine directly, by pressing the "E" key from inside this routine. Press "D" to return to "Draw lines". Erase lines: This routine works identically to the "Draw lines" routine, but deletes lines and curves rather than drawing them. CC-PLOT Page 18 edit/enter Points: This routine will let you enter or edit the coordinates and/or elevation and/or description of a point. The point will become the currently occupied point. To make it more convenient to edit data without having to reenter unchanging data, the existing data is shown within the prompt. Press <Enter> to accept that data. New points entered will be assigned to the current layer. Delete points: This routine is used to delete a group of points that were temporary or represented an erroneous group of calculations. The prompts are self-explanatory. Does not affect disk files until the file is saved. reNumber points: If the user wishes to duplicate a group of points with different point numbers so that, for example, they may be placed on another layer without losing the original points, this is the routine to use. The option to "move" points rather than simply "copy" is given by a prompt to "Delete old points?". Lines and curves move to the new point numbers. Does not affect disk files until the file is saved. list Avail points: This routine lists points that are available for creation; that is, those that do not yet have coordinates. You will be prompted for the first and last point to be listed. Use <Ctl-NumLock> or <Pause> to temporarily halt scrolling. Use <Esc> to quit scrolling and exit the routine. Use the "printer toggle" routine in the SETTINGS Submenu to list points on your printer. list Used points: This routine lists existing points on your screen, and on your printer if the "printer toggle" is on. You may list by range of point numbers, by description (or portion thereof), or by layer. Your first prompt will be for the first point or option (Description or Layer). Entering a point number will result in a prompt for the last point to be listed, and the listing will take place. Entering "D" will result in a prompt for a description search criteria. Press <F1> for help in entering the search syntax. After entering the search criteria, all matching points will be listed. Entering "L" will result in a dialog box of layer names to choose from. After picking one, all points on that layer will be listed. To turn the "printer toggle" on, use the routine in the SETTINGS Submenu. When the printer toggle is off, the screen listing will pause with each screen full, but when it is on it is assumed that you want a continuous dump and will not pause. CC-PLOT Page 19 C. PLOT Submenu: This submenu is divided into four sections. The first is the screen plot command "View plot". The second section has the plot settings that are common to both pen plotting and printer plotting. The third section contains the settings unique to pen plotting, and the "Pen plot" command. The last section contains the settings unique to printer plotting, and the "Dot plot" command. View plot: Use this routine to preview your current plot. You may zoom up or down using the <PgUp> or <PgDn> keys and you may pan using the arrow keys. Press <Esc> or <Spacebar> to exit. All points and layers shown in this view will plot if you choose "Dot plot" or "Pen plot". This view does not, however, show the sheet size or orientation of the Pen plot. The "Origin/plot size" routine should be used to set that. Zooming and panning in this routine will NOT affect the origin set in the other routine. It WILL, however, affect the points that will plot. Since only the points shown in this view will plot, this routine may be used to "trim" the data to a smaller area than you see in the "Origin/plot size" routine, which shows the entire sheet that will plot. This routine accomplishes the same thing whether it is accessed from the pull-down menu, or with the <F10> key. This is identical to the routine in the EDIT Submenu. Layer display: This routine controls which layers will plot. The upper part of the dialog box shows the "point attribute" layers, the middle part shows the "user-named" layers and their colors, and the bottom part shows the "digital terrain model" layers. A more detailed explanation of the layer capabilities of CC-PLOT is given in the "SCREEN PLOTTING, LAYERS, AND ALMOST WYSIWYG" section of this manual. All layers plot by default. Note that the first time this routine is used, a "check mark" is at the left of the layer names, indicating the layers are "on". If <Enter> is pressed on a highlighted name or the mouse is clicked on a name, the "check mark" will come and go, indicating that the layer is being toggled on and off. You may press <F10> at any time to see how the current layer arrangement will look. Pick <OK> or press <Esc> when you are satisfied with the layers. REMEMBER THAT ELEVATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS WILL DOT PLOT AND PEN PLOT IF THEIR LAYERS ARE ON, EVEN IF THEY DO NOT SCREEN PLOT (THEY NEVER SCREEN PLOT). These layer settings will be saved in a .SET file when you plot. Rotate view: Sometimes a rotation is necessary to better orient a drawing to a standard sheet size. This routine may be used to rotate your view. It does not rotate the coordinates of the file. The rotation should be entered as a clockwise angle, in DD.MMSS format. A negative angle may be entered to rotate counter-clockwise. The angles are not CC-PLOT Page 20 cumulative; that is, if you enter 30 degrees and decide it needs another 7 degrees rotation, you should enter 37 degrees. Enter 0 degrees to "unrotate" the view. "Dot plot" and "Pen plot" will plot the rotated view. A north arrow in the upper left corner during the screen plot will remind you of the rotation. If you forget the exact rotation you last used, starting the routine again will show you the current rotation as a default value. Scale: This routine allows you to pick the plot scale. The default scale is 1"=20'. The value entered in this routine affects the "box" drawn on screen in the "Origin/plot size" routine, which allows a preview of how the data will fit on the selected sheet size. Affects both printer plotting and pen plotting. Also affects text size in DXF files. The scale will be saved in a .SET file when you plot. Text height: This allows text height to be entered for "Pen plot". All text will be plotted to the height entered. Point crosses (if on) will also plot to the height entered. Contour tics (if present and on) will plot to 2/3 of the height entered. The default text height is 0.10". Also affects text size in DXF files, when drawing scale is taken into consideration. The text height will be saved in a .SET file when you plot. Origin/plot size: Five standard sheet sizes (A through E), and a "user-defined" option, are presented in a dialog box. CC-PLOT will use the size selected and the current scale to draw a "box" within the screen plot, which will allow you to preview and change the orientation of the plot relative to the sheet. The sizes shown allow a 1" margin around the standard sheet size. Recognizing that "standard" sheet sizes may vary (is D size 22"x36" or 24"x36"?), and that different plotters vary in their "margin" area, a "user- defined" option is offered. User-defined values are saved with the settings, if desired, with the "View/save settings" routine in the SETTINGS Submenu. When you see your plot preview, the box is anchored at the lower left hand corner of the screen. Zoom down if necessary until you see the whole box, then use the arrow keys to move the points around in the box. This box excludes the 1" margin mentioned above, or if "USER DEFINED" was picked, is plotted at the exact dimensions, enlarged by the scale being used. ONCE THE ORIGIN IS SELECTED WITH THIS ROUTINE, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE SET AGAIN DURING THE CURRENT SESSION UNLESS THE SCALE IS CHANGED. If you can make everything fit in the box, press <Spacebar>, or if you need to try a different sheet size, press <Esc> to go back to that prompt. CC-PLOT Page 21 Multi-pen options: There are three options: Pause for pen change, multi-pen plotter, or plot with one pen. The "Pause" option will pause for pen insertion before each user-named layer and the DTM layers, so you may insert pens of different colors or widths. The "Multi-pen" option will bring up another prompt for pen assignments. The default pen assignments are pens 1 through 7 for the "user-named" layers and pen 8 for the "DTM" layers. The default pen used for the "attribute" layers is 0 (zero), which is "by layer", meaning they plot with the same pen as the "user-named" layer that the point is on. Setting the pen for an "attribute" to a non-zero pen number will override the pen setting of the "user- named" layer for that "attribute". For example, choosing pen 1 for the "point number" attribute will force all point numbers to use pen 1, regardless of the "user-named" layer they are on. If you select the one pen option, you will have to manually place the pen in the pen-holder before starting the plot. The multi-pen option will be saved in a .SET file when you plot. Config plotter: With this routine you select your plotter type, the serial port you are using, and the communication parameters you have set your plotter to expect. The two plotter types supported by CC-PLOT are Houston Instrument (HI) and Hewlett-Packard (HP). Communication between CC-PLOT and the plotter takes place in what is called "plotter language". The HI plotter language is called "DM/PL", and when CC-PLOT is configured for HI, the commands used are compatible with the HI DMP-50 and DMP-60 series plotters, and with any other brand of plotter that uses the DM/PL language and is compatible with those models. The HP plotter language is called "HP-GL", and when CC-PLOT is configured for an HP plotter, the commands used are compatible with the HP 7580B, 7585B, 7586B, DraftPro, and DraftMaster plotters, and any other brand of plotter that uses the HP-GL language and is compatible with those models. Pick your plotter type. If your computer only has one serial port, select COM1 when prompted. If it has two, then take your best guess as to which you are using, as many times they aren't labeled. After you have configured your plotter, and try to plot something, the first thing to check if it doesn't work is the COM port. Either switch the cable at the back of the computer or go through this routine again and pick the other COM port. You must configure your plotter for a particular baud rate, odd or even parity, number of data bits, number of stop bits, and handshaking protocol (CC-PLOT uses XON/XOFF). The method of doing that is explained in your plotter CC-PLOT Page 22 manual. It may require setting dip switches, turning rotary switches, or running software furnished with the plotter. If you already have a CAD program and are using the plotter, it is already configured. If you have not been plotting, and this is your initial setup, the following settings are recommended: 9600 baud, even parity, 7 data bits, 1 stop bit, XON/XOFF protocol If your plotter does not support these settings, check the ones available in the "Config plotter" routine, and use one of those. Once your plotter is configured, choose the proper settings with this routine so that CC-PLOT knows what parameters the plotter is expecting. If your plotter's configuration is not supported by CC-PLOT, let us know. If it is feasible, it will be added to the menu at no charge and a new diskette will be sent to you. Pen plot: Finally, you pick this command to start plotting! First you will be shown the parameters you have selected for your plot and your plotter configuration. If they look right, make sure your plotter has picked up a pen and press <Enter> or "y". Otherwise, press "n" or <Esc> so you can fix the parameters, and come back again to plot. While plotting, CC-PLOT keeps you informed as to which layer it is working on. You may press <Esc> to terminate the plot prematurely. Note that even though you terminate the plot, the plotter may keep drawing, because it may have quite a large buffer full of data at the time you <Esc>. The following plot settings will be saved in a .SET file, and will be restored the next time you open the current file with CC-PLOT: Status of all layers (on/off), pen settings, multi-pen option, scale, pen text height, plot size (A through E or User). plot to File: Sometimes you may wish to plot to a file, so you can take the plot file to a service bureau, or to use with a plot spooler, or even to plot from a computer in the next room. This routine will save a file to your hard disk with the same filename as your .CCC file, with an extension of ".PLF" (PLotFile). The file will contain plot commands in the language of the plotter you selected when you configured CC-PLOT. The plot from this file will be identical to one from CC-PLOT, with the exception of manual pausing for pen changes for different layers. The file will be saved to the same subdirectory on your hard disk that CC-PLOT is installed within. Plot settings will be saved as in "Pen plot". Text height: This text height command is for the "Dot plot" routine. There are only two choices: normal or tiny (which is superscript). This setting will be saved in a .SET file when you plot. CC-PLOT Page 23 paper Width: CC-PLOT needs to know what the width of your printer paper is so it knows how wide to plot each pass. Rather than have an "origin/plot size" routine for printer plotting, it is assumed that you will many times want to plot something too big for your paper, and will want to cut and paste sheets together. Rather than make you manually figure out all the match lines, CC-PLOT orients the plot at the left edge of the paper and plots every point that will fit on the paper width selected, and plots repeat passes, replotting the right-most previous point as a match point. In between passes, you have a chance to quit. The point numbers remaining for future passes are printed at the bottom of each pass. Note that if point numbers, elevations, and descriptions are ON, a point will not be plotted in a given pass unless all that data will also fit on the paper, but will be saved for the next pass. You can quit a plot prematurely by pressing <Esc> at any time. To save this setting as a default for future plots, use the "View/save settings" routine in the SETTINGS submenu. To review how your selected scale and rotation will plot, you may use the "Origin/plot size" routine, entering in the width of your printer and an arbitrary height for the "user-defined" size. Then use the arrow keys to situate your left-most point along the left border of the box. This will not affect the plot origin, but will give an idea of how the plot will fit on the paper. Config printer: CC-PLOT needs to know one basic thing about your model of printer: how many pins in the print head. The Epson FX has 9 pins and the Epson LQ has 24 pins. The vertical spacing of each printer type is different, and affects the vertical scale of the plot. If you are not sure which print head you have, and the vertical scale of your plot is off by a ratio of 5/6 or 6/5, try changing the setting. There are minor differences between the Epson MX80, Epson FX, and IBM ProPrinter 9 pin printers. Most Epson compatibles work with the "Other Epson 9 pin" (Epson FX compatible) setting. If your 9 pin printer doesn't, try the MX80 or ProPrinter setting. There are also minor differences between the Epson LQ 24 pin printers and the IBM 24 pin printers. If you have a 24 pin printer that is not either, try the Epson LQ first, and if you have problems, switch to the IBM 24 pin. Dot plot: "Dot plot" will only plot points that were displayed in the last screen plot, so that "View plot" may be used to select points for plotting. If you use this routine and have not yet screen plotted during a session, a screen plot will occur so you may preview your plot. You will next be shown the parameters you have selected for your plot and your printer configuration. If they look CC-PLOT Page 24 right, make sure your printer is on and has paper and press <Enter> or "y". Otherwise, press "n" or <Esc> so you can fix the parameters, and come back again to plot. While plotting, CC-PLOT lets you know if some points didn't fit on the pass. See "paper Width" above for more details about plotting in passes. You may press <Esc> to terminate the plot prematurely. Note that even though you terminate the plot, the printer may keep plotting, because it may have quite a large buffer full of data when you <Esc>. "Dot plot" doesn't plot any form of line, including lines, curves, net lines, or contour lines. Also, point crosses are always plotted, whether the CROSS layer is on or not, since there would be no line nodes to identify the location of points. The following plot settings will be saved in a .SET file, and will be restored the next time you open the current file with CC-PLOT: Status of all layers (on/off), scale, printer text height (normal/tiny). CC-PLOT Page 25 D. UTILITY Submenu: Line feed: This will cause the calc window on the screen to scroll up one line, to separate groups of calcs if you wish. If the Printer Toggle is on, the printed output will insert a blank line (line feed) at the same time. print Note: This will allow you to enter a note that will print on the screen, and if the Printer Toggle is on, to also print on the printed output. page Up: This will scroll the screen up one page (effectively clearing the calc window), and if the Printer Toggle is on, will form feed one page and print a new page heading. E. MODULES Submenu: Transfer between the CC-SURVeyor 4 family of programs is somewhat automated by these menu choices. To transfer program control to another CIVILcomp program that is listed, pick it off the menu. Otherwise you must Quit CC-PLOT, then start the other program, then re-open the file. When you transfer program control using this Submenu, you will be given a chance to save your .CCC file if you haven't done so, and when the new program loads, it will automatically open the same-named file for you. You may return to CC-PLOT by using the MODULES Submenu in the other program. To speed up the transfer, if you have already saved your .CCC file, press <Esc> at the "Save ... File" prompt, and the transfer will skip that process. The programs available to transfer to will be those that are present on your hard disk, that are listed in the Submenu. In other words, if you have not purchased CC-BALance or CC-CONTour, you will not be able to pick them on the Submenu. NOTE: Program transfer using this submenu will only work properly if you have started CC-PLOT from the DOS command line, or transfered to it from another module, or started it from a .BAT file in which PLOT is the last line. If CC-PLOT is started from a menu program or shell program, when you try to transfer to another module using this submenu, you will most likely end up in some part of your menu program or shell program, as those types of programs always try to return control to themselves when an application is terminated. CC-PLOT Page 26 F. SETTINGS Submenu: set ccc Path: This routine may be used to configure CC-PLOT to permanently use a particular drive or subdirectory, or to temporarily change the path to load or save a file to a diskette drive or different subdirectory than the previously configured one. The path chosen with this routine affects all CC-SURVeyor files, including .CCC, .LAY, .NET, .TIC and .SET files, but does not include DXF files. If no path is set, the default is to use the same subdirectory that CC-PLOT is installed in for file storage. To make the new path permanent, use "View/save settings". set dxf Path: This routine may be used to configure CC-PLOT to permanently use a particular drive or subdirectory, or to temporarily change the path to load or save a DXF file to a diskette drive or different subdirectory than the previously configured one. The path chosen with this routine only affects DXF files. If no path is set, the default is to use the same subdirectory that CC-PLOT is installed in for file storage. To make the new path permanent, use "View/save settings". Layer display: This routine controls which layers will plot. The upper part of the dialog box shows the "point attribute" layers, the middle part shows the "user-named" layers and their colors, and the bottom part shows the "digital terrain model" layers. A more detailed explanation of the layer capabilities of CC-PLOT is given in the "SCREEN PLOTTING, LAYERS, AND ALMOST WYSIWYG" section of this manual. All layers plot by default. Note that the first time this routine is used, a "check mark" is at the left of the layer names, indicating the layers are "on". If <Enter> is pressed on a highlighted name or the mouse is clicked on a name, the "check mark" will come and go, indicating that the layer is being toggled on and off. You may press <F10> at any time to see how the current layer arrangement will look. Pick <OK> or press <Esc> when you are satisfied with the layers. REMEMBER THAT ELEVATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS WILL DOT PLOT AND PEN PLOT IF THEIR LAYERS ARE ON, EVEN IF THEY DO NOT SCREEN PLOT (THEY NEVER SCREEN PLOT). Change layer: This routine is used to assign or reassign points to a user-named layer. You may change a range of point numbers, or by matching description. Your first prompt will be for a destination layer name (a dialog box shows existing layers). The next prompt will be for the first point, or the Description option. Entering a point number will result in a prompt for the last point to be assigned to that layer. The range will then be reassigned. CC-PLOT Page 27 Entering "D" instead of the first point number will result in a prompt for a description search criteria. Press <F1> for help in entering the search syntax. After entering the search criteria, all matching points will be reassigned. The routine will loop back to select another layer. Set current layer: The "current" layer only affects what user-named layer newly assigned points will be placed on. If points are going to be entered using the "edit/enter Points" routine, and they are to go on the BOUNDARY layer, you should first make the BOUNDARY layer current before entering them. The current layer name is shown in the lower right hand corner of the screen, in the color of the layer. The default current layer is CONTROL. reName layers: The user-named layers may be renamed with this routine. The default layer names are: CONTROL, TOPO, BOUNDARY, BUILDING, STREET, EASEMENT, and UTILITY. A dialog box is used to present the current layer names. By pressing the <Enter> key, or clicking the mouse, the current highlighted layer name is changed to "edit" mode. While in this mode, you can edit or rename the layer. Press <Enter> when done editing, and you can choose another name to edit, or press <Esc> to exit the routine. If you use "View/save settings" to save these names, they will be the default names for all new .CCC files opened in the future. Otherwise, the new names only affect the current file, and only if you save the file. linetYpes: This routine allows you to assign various linetypes to the user-named layers and the DTM layers, for screen plotting, pen plotting, and when saving DXF files. A dialog box showing the layer names and current linetypes is presented. To change one of the layers to a different linetype, pick it, and the available linetypes will be presented. They are schematically shown below, with the number used in the .LAY file and the equivalent AutoCAD linetype name (used in DXF files): ___________ 1 Continuous _____ _____ 2 Dashed _ _ _ _ _ _ 3 Hidden ____ _ ____ 4 Center ___ _ _ ___ 5 Phantom ........... 6 Dot The default linetype for the user-named layers is "Continuous", for the NET layer is "Dot", and for the CONTOUR layer is "Dashed". The defaults may be permanently changed by using "View/save settings" in the SETTINGS Submenu, or each file may have its own linetypes as well as layer names. CC-PLOT Page 28 Config plotter: With this routine you select your plotter type, the serial port you are using, and the communication parameters you have set your plotter to expect. Please see the more detailed explanation of plotter configuration given for this routine in the PLOT Submenu section. Config printer: CC-PLOT needs to know one basic thing about your model of printer: how many pins in the print head. The Epson FX has 9 pins and the Epson LQ has 24 pins. The vertical spacing of each printer type is different, and affects the vertical scale of the plot. If you are not sure which print head you have, and the vertical scale of your plot is off by a ratio of 5/6 or 6/5, try changing the setting. There are minor differences between the Epson MX80, Epson FX, and IBM ProPrinter 9 pin printers. Most Epson compatibles work with the "Other Epson 9 pin" (Epson FX compatible) setting. If your 9 pin printer doesn't, try the MX80 or ProPrinter setting. There are also minor differences between the Epson LQ 24 pin printers and the IBM 24 pin printers. If you have a 24 pin printer that is not either, try the Epson LQ first, and if you have problems, switch to the IBM 24 pin. printer Toggle: If this toggle is ON, all data displaying in the calc window on your screen will also be printed on your printer. This is useful while listing used points, or while saving files, for a record of filenames and creation dates. This printout works best with continuous feed paper. You should not use your printer's controls for line feed or form feed; you should instead use the "Line feed" and "page Up" routines in the UTILITY submenu. CC-PLOT keeps track of the number of lines printed, and will page up at the wrong line if you have used your printer controls to accomplish those functions. You may use the <Alt-P> hot-key combination to change the "printer toggle" status without having to go to this menu routine. View/save settings: This routine will show the current configuration, and give you a chance to save the settings in the PLOT.INI file if you desire. CC-PLOT Page 29 VIII.ERROR MESSAGES There are several error messages that the BASIC compiler generates that CC-PLOT does not "trap" for. When CC-PLOT "traps" errors, it does not let the error cause the program to "crash", and gives the user a chance to correct the error before continuing. "Trapped" errors are those that beep and print a message below the CC-PLOT prompt. When the following errors are not "trapped", they may cause the program to "crash" to DOS, which causes a loss of all data created since the last Save command. The "non-trapped" errors generally have to do with hardware problems or file format problems. Following is a list of messages that have been reported, and possible causes and fixes. Device fault: Probably a disk read or write error. If you get this message regularly, and if you also get a DOS disk error message, you should have your disk drive checked. This may also be caused by the printer problems described under "Device timeout", below. Device I/O error: Probably caused by trying to plot with nothing plugged into the serial port, or the wrong COM port being used, or a plotter problem. Device timeout: Most of the time this is caused by the printer either being off, or being off-line or out of paper. A loose printer cable may also cause this problem. Also it is difficult to hand feed single sheets without causing this error. Please use continuous form paper. CC-PLOT will trap this error in most cases, with the main exception being during the "Dot plot" routine. If you take the printer off line to formfeed, and don't put it back on line, you may get this error the next time CC-PLOT tries to print. This error will cause CC-PLOT to crash and all work done since the last Save will be lost. Illegal function call: If this occurs when you try to screen plot (using <F10> or "View plot"), your EGA/VGA card is not 100% compatible. If you used the /E or /V command line parameter to force CC-PLOT to assume EGA or VGA, you may get this message. Input past end: Caused by trying to load an improperly formatted file. You may have renamed another COGO program's coordinate file to *.CCC to try to get CC-PLOT to read it, or you may have used your text editor to edit a .CCC file, .INI file, or .LAY file and accidentally created an error in the file format. String space corrupt . . . .: Caused by same file format problems as "Input past end", above, but it may occur some time later rather than within the "Open CCC File" routine. CC-PLOT Page 30 IX. UPGRADE HISTORY Version 1: Initial release Version 2.00: Import and plot net lines and contour lines. Easy transfer between CC-SURVeyor Modules. Line types like dashed, center, etc. Plot to a file. Create DXF file for transfer to CAD. Version 2.07: Increase DTM capacity by 50%. Version 2.09: Add IBM ProPrinter and Epson MX80 support. Version 2.10: Multi-pen support. Save plot setup. Version 2.15: List points by description or by layer. Reassign layer of points by description. Version 2.16: Dynamic memory allocation to allow CC-PLOT to run with less memory. Version 2.17: <Alt-P> hot-key for "printer toggle". /E and /V parameter for video card override. CC-PLOT Page 31 X. REGISTRATION To help us provide proper support, please fill out this registration form and send it to CIVILcomp. ********************** C C - P L O T 2 ************************** Name_________________________________________________________________ Company or Public Agency/Dept._______________________________________ Street address_______________________________________________________ City______________________________State________________Zip___________ Occupation___________________________________________________________ Make and model of IBM PC compatible__________________________________ Version of MS-DOS__________ 8087/80287/80387________ RAM______K bytes Video display: CGA_______EGA_______VGA_______Herc_______Other________ Diskette drives____3.5"____5.25" Size of HD (if present)_________MB Other plotting program used____________________ Version #____________ CAD software used______________________________ Version #____________ Do you use a mouse?_____If yes, make and model_______________________ digitizer?_____If yes, make and size____________________________ plotter?_____ make and size_____________________ multi-pen?_____ graphics printer?_____If yes, make and model____________________ ********************************************************************* Please send to: CIVILcomp 320 Eureka Canyon Road Watsonville, CA 95076 CC-PLOT Page 32 ************************ D I S C L A I M E R ************************ ALTHOUGH THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN TESTED BY ITS DEVELOPER, NO WARRANTY, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, IS MADE BY THE DEVELOPER AS TO THE ACCURACY AND FUNCTIONING OF THE PROGRAM AND RELATED PROGRAM MATERIAL, NOR SHALL THE FACT OF DISTRIBUTION CONSTITUTE ANY SUCH WARRANTY, AND NO RESPONSIBILITY IS ASSUMED BY THE DEVELOPER IN CONNECTION THEREWITH. ********************************************************************* CREDITS: This program was written and compiled with Microsoft BASIC 7.10. AutoCAD and AutoLISP are trademarks of AutoDesk, Inc. CC-BALance, CC-COGO, CC-CONTour, CC-PLOT and CC-SURVeyor are trademarks of CIVILcomp. DM/PL and Houston Instrument are trademarks of AMETEK, Inc. Epson is a trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. Generic CADD and AutoConvert are trademarks of Generic Software, Inc. HP-GL is a trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company. IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines Corp. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. The pull-down menus, dialog boxes and input editor are adapted from routines written by Crescent Software. CC-PLOT Page 33