Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/art&graf.ix/art-0026/2_readme.jil

Text File | 1997-04-16 | 13KB | 256 lines

PLEASE READ THIS FILE IN IT'S ENTIRETY BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO USE JIL2D!

JIL2D(tm) copyright 1987, JIL Corporation
-----------------------------------------
      Shareware Drafting Package

This product is NOT in the public domain, although it may be freely copied and
distributed so long as the following conditions are met:
    1) no charge may be made for it's use (commercial or otherwise
    2) no file, sector, or binary editor may be used to inspect or modify
       this program or any related data (including binary data or drawing
       files)
    3) JIL 2D(tm) may not be included or distributed, in whole or in part,
       as part of any commercial product or service without the express
       written permission of JIL Corporation.

THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED 'AS IS' WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED
OR IMPLIED.  THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU.
JIL Corp. is not liable for any damages, including any lost profits, lost
savings or any other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use
of this program.

In exchange for the $50 (U.S.) shareware registration fee, you will receive
user documentation and an update (if required).  Your registration fee will
also give you 2 (two) $25 credits, which you may use on any future purchase of
JIL products (no more than 1 credit can be used on any given JIL product).

System requirements: a monochrome monitor ONLY, a blank double-sided floppy
disk (or at least 700K of free space on a hard drive), at least 1 Mb of ram,
TOS in rom, no big .ACCs, and no ramdisks installed.

>>>>>>>>>>>>  NOW THAT THAT'S OUT OF THE WAY!  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

JIL2D is intended to be a trainer for the rest of the JIL product line.  As
much as possible, we've tried to make it like it's big brother: JILCOMP(tm).
Some significant features that are available in JILCOMP are simply referenced
in JIL2D... to use those features you will need to purchase JILCOMP.

CAD systems are like word processors and graphic art programs in some ways,
but to the uninitiated they seem to be much more complex (as indeed they are).
Consequently, you will find that JIL2D cannot be totally learned in 5 minutes;
or even 5 days.  If you are not a professional engineer you may never gain a
full comprehension of some of it's features.  CAD is a tool that makes
engineering tasks easier and more efficient, but doesn't automate the process
any more than a word processor automatically writes a book.  Any CAD package
that can be learned in a few minutes is bound to have numerous limitations that
limit its overall productivity.

Like a word processor, you will need to learn how to move your "type in point"
around in the database.  In the JIL products, the "current point" (analogous
to the type in point in a word processor) is represented by a diamond.  The
diamond is positioned automatically whenever a new point is added.  The simplest
way to add a new point is to click the left mouse button.  A diamond will appear
indicating the current point.

When created with a single click (called "dropping" a point) the current point
will automatically snap to the nearest database item or the intersection of two
database items.  If no points or intersections are near the cursor, the point
jumps to the nearest grid point.  The grid size may be controlled using the
menus.

If several points are created in succession, you will see a "polyline", which
we generally refer to as, simply, a "LINE".  You may end the line in several
ways, but the easiest may be to use the LINE menu to start a new line.  To
do this: click on the "next" entry in the SYSTEM1 menu... this puts up a
SYSTEM2 menu.  When you click on "LINES" in the system menu, a new menu is
created, called "LINES".  On that menu you will find, among other things, an
entry to "start ln" (ie. end the current line and start a new one).  After you
do this you may continue by making points on a new line.

When you have several points on the line, you'll find that you have the ability
to move the current point "forward" and "backward" on the current line, much
the way that you can move the "type in point" forward and backward on a line
in a word processor.  You'll also find that you can move to the "next" and
"previous" lines.  You may use the LINE menu, keyboard, and/or icons to do this.

The whole keyboard works as a set of function keys.  Further, the keys: 's',
'SHIFT-s', 'CONTROL-s', and 'ALTERNATE-s' (for example) all have different
meanings.  The meaning of a simple 's' is the same as the "end" entry in the
LINE menu.  An 'x' means "advance the current point forward to the next point
on the current line", whereas a 'SHIFT-x' means "retreat along the current
line".  In the same vein, a 'n' keypress means "advance to the next line",
wheras a 'SHIFT-n' means "retreat to the previous line".

The icons are simple to use, but will definitely require a bit (20 minutes or
so) of practice.  To use them, DO NOT MOVE YOUR CURSOR INTO THE ICON REGION!
When you do (and I'm sure you will) you will see an error message that tells
you to USE THE RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON FOR ICONS.  This is JIL's (somewhat stern)
way of telling you how to use your mouse.  The right button instantly access
an icon.  Which icon is access is controlled in the following manner:
    1) Position the graphic cursor (a thin cross) as required
    2) Press and HOLD the right mouse button.  The graphic cursor will
       freeze, and the icon cursor will become visible, which you may move
       around in the icon region.  This will give you the feeling of
       "dragging" the icon cursor to where you want it.
    3) While you are dragging the icon cursor around, you will see a line
       of italicized text in the scrolling area.  This text will change
       to briefly explain to you what the highlit icon does.
    4) When you have highlighed the appropriate icon... let go of the
       right button.

Some icons (as well as dropdowns and other methods of command entry) will
require you to input information.  When this is the case, several things will
happen:
    1) The cursor will change to indicate that you must type in a response.
    2) A prompt will be issued in the scrolling text area.
    3) A default value will be issued in the scrolling area, which may
       be chosen (by pressing the right mouse button or by pressing the
       RETURN key), edited (using the right and left arrows), overwritten
       (by simply typing in the value), or aborted (by pressing the DELETE
       key).

Not all icons are visible at the same time.  Use the 9 icons at the top to
choose other icon pads.

Practice using the "horizontal", "vertical", "angular construction", and
"offset" icons.  These will allow you to easily create construction lines,
which are similar in purpose to the type used in manual drafting methods.  After
creating the construction lines, they may be traced with a current line and
thrown away by using the appropriate entry in the DELETE dropdown menu.  When
you create horizontal, vertical, or angular construction lines, they are
automatically snapped to the point or intersection nearest the cursor.

Another method of command entry are "mouse strokes".  For those adept at
professional drawing, this is probably the easiest and fastest way to tell
JIL2D what you want to do.  For example: if you want to zoom in on an area in
your drawing, you simply draw a circle around it!  To do this, you press and
hold the LEFT mouse button and draw the appropriate symbol, then release the
mouse button when the stroke is done.  The "zoom" stroke must be drawn starting
and ending in the middle of the top of the circle.  The stroke needn't be
precise, but must start and end at the middle and top of the circle (an
equilateral triangle starting and ending at the top also works).  Take note,
however, that you should draw the stroke fairly quickly.  To zoom out and fit
the entire drawing, stroke a 'Z' (start at the top left).  Try to keep the
'Z' looking like a 'Z' though (squared up).  There are approximately 35 strokes
defined in JIL2D, but they don't all need to be learned at once.



>>>>>>>>>>>>    A QUICK NOTE ABOUT MARKETING   <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

JIL2D is, essentially, an evaluation version of JILCOMP.  We believe that if
you are a professional engineer or draftsman, you will find the limitations
(that we intentionally placed in JIL2D) an adequate incentive to purchase
JILCOMP after you've seen just how comprehensive this product is.

Even with its intentional limitations, you'll find JIL2D to be a valuable tool:
you can create, measure, dimension, save, and restore drawings using JIL's
unique interface.  You can also make and use screen dumps, figure libraries, and
paramatric macros, just to name a few applications.

No customer support is offered with JIL2D, but we are considering regional
seminars.  Training is offered on a contract basis for businesses and user
groups (rates and schedules are negotiable).

The development and documentation of the JIL products cost us a great deal of
time, money, and determination.  We've found that no matter how much work you
do, someone out there would like to get the benefit of your labors without
earning it.  If everyone who uses this program pays for it (and gives it to
someone who will) we will continue to develop products for the Atari ST line.
We are not in the business of producing high quality software just to have it
stolen!

For you aspiring developers, a word of caution from someone who has run the
gamut of Atari marketing / production companies: THEY WANT YOUR PRODUCT (and
your children... and your blood).  They (no names) may offer you a lot of
things, but remember that these offers are their promise, and their promise is
only as good as business and their ethics allow!  Don't be weaseled into giving
"exclusive rights"... if it's your product, nobody else should be allowed to
control it.  You wouldn't just hand them tens of thousands of dollars of
development budget (or hundreds of thousands in our case) because of a
promise, would you?  Well that's what the term "exclusive rights" means; THEY
control YOUR assets.  We paid our attorney good money to find our way out of a
situation like that so that we could offer you JIL2D.

We are a software engineering company, but now we are marketing our own product
in our own way... COMPETITIVELY!  To order any of the JIL products, or for more
information about them, send GEnie mail to L.T.HALL or write JIL Corp.:

        JIL Corporation
        6600 Sylvania Ave.
        Sylvania, Ohio  43560

        attn: GEnie Announcement

Or phone JIL Corp. at [phone] ext. 27 on weekdays between 8am - 6pm EST.






   JIL Order Form (GE1287A):

    Please fill out and mail to:    JIL Corporation
                    6600 Sylvania Ave.
                    Sylvania, Ohio  43560

    Name: ______________________________________________________________

    Company: ___________________________________________________________

    Street: ____________________________________________________________

    City: ______________________  State/Prov: ______  ZIP: _____________

    Country: _________  Timezone: ______  Phone: _______________________

    Type of Business: __________________________________________________

    Intended use of product: ___________________________________________

    Other products needed: _____________________________________________

    Primary uses of your computer: _____________________________________

    ____________________________________________________________________


    Dear JIL Corp.,

    Please send me the following *products and information (check as many as
    required):

    Order      Info             Product            Prices (US) @

     __       __        JILMOD 3D Modeller        $499.00

         __       __        JILCOMP 2D Drawing Composer    $399.00

     __       __        XLATE File translator        $199.00

     __       __        JIL Developer's Kit (includes    $399.00
                 Interface Definition Files for
                 JILMOD and JILCOMP, as well as
                 EDITICON) royalty agreement
                 and limited license.

     __       __        JILMOD Int. Def. File only    $199.00

     __       __        JILCOMP Int. Def. File only    $199.00

     __       __        EDITICON only            $ 99.00

           __        Maintenance Agreement        (Request)

           __        Training            (Request)


    * Please send check or money order.  Do NOT send cash through the mail.
     Prices are subject to change without notice.  If the price has changed
     we will contact you for adjustments.  Allow 4 to 6 weeks for mailing.