PsL Monthly 1994 February/psl_9403.zip/psl_9403/DOS/HOME/MSAPCD.ZIP/MSAPCMAN.UAL

Text File | 1993-11-03 | 46KB | 1,040 lines

.     ********************** MSAPCD ON-DISC MANUAL **********************

.            Topic                     To select topic press:
.            ---------------------     ---------------------

.            Introduction              F, capital I, >, then Enter

.            Autos and auto files      F, capital A, >, then Enter
.            Colours                   F, capital C, >, then Enter
.            Deleting and copying      F, capital D, >, then Enter
.            Keys used                 F, capital K, >, then Enter
.            Loading files             F, capital L, >, then Enter
.            Mouse in use              F, capital M, >, then Enter
.            New designs               F, capital N, >, then Enter
.            Other view                F, capital O, >, then Enter
.            Printing designs          F, capital P, >, then Enter
.            Quitting a session        F, capital Q, >, then Enter
.            Repeating key strokes     F, capital R, >, then Enter
.            Saving files              F, capital S, >, then Enter
.            Top/end markers           F, capital T, >, then Enter
.            X extra options           F, capital X, >, then Enter

.     *******************************************************************



.<I> INTRODUCTION

MSAPCD is a design tool for use by machine knitters, or any other
designer who uses stitches to build up a design.  A maximum of 16
different colours is available for use, so even designs for cross
stitch purposes are possible.

One of the problems that face machine knitters is that ordinary
computer 'paint' programs are based on - at best - a square shape
unit of colour, which is not ideal for knitting designs because
each stitch is wider than it is long.  The only realistic way to
overcome this problem is to have a program that measures its units
of colour as closely as possible to true stitch dimensions.  MSAPCD
uses this principle to make the designing process easier.

Instead of emulating a sophisticated paint program, MSAPCD provides
features that will help to produce simple though pleasant designs,
rather than great works of art produced with oils and canvas.


.The Grid
.--------

When you set out to create a design for knitting, the usual method
is to use graph paper, and pencil.  Unfortunately using graph paper
brings us back to the problem mentioned earlier, the dimensions are
wrong.  MSAPCD though, gives you a grid for reference with realistic
stitch proportions, plus the convenience of being able to easily
erase any mistakes.

The grid is the default on-screen view, showing an enlarged area of
the design - 30 stitches by 30 rows.


.The Design
.----------

Working with a maximum design size of 180 stitches/columns by 180 rows
will be found to be more than adequate for most situations.  Certainly
the maximum width of 180 stitches probably won't need to be exceeded
because knitting machines are limited widthwise anyway.  However, the
length can be continued on a design so that it is greater than 180 rows
by saving it as two, or even more design files.

By switching the design view you can see, and work on, the whole design
rather than being confined to just a section of it.


.Colours, Building Blocks, and Tools
.-----------------------------------

Perhaps for many designs only TWO COLOURS will be sufficient, therefore
you will need to select your design colours only once per design.  In
fact MSAPCD has two main 'yarns', the foreground colour and the background
colour.  The foreground colour is represented on a mylar sheet as a
darkened rectangle, or as a large hole on a punched card.  If you need to
incorporate more colours into a design then simply change the foreground
colour when you come to using a different colour.

MSAPCD offers a COLOUR SWAP FACILITY, so for instance if you thought a
dark green foreground on a light green background looked better the other
way round you would not have to go through the time consuming task of
changing the colours yourself.

Once you have created a small design, you can repeat it across the
whole design area, by marking the top lefthand and bottom righthand
corners of the design and selecting the Insert option.  Alternatively you
may want to save it as an AUTO FILE, which can then be loaded and
'attached' to a key on the keyboard or mouse button, enabling you to
position the stitch cursor where you want the design to start, then
pressing the appropriate key/button for the design to be automatically
drawn for you.

ERASING A WHOLE DESIGN simply makes all the stitches have the currently
selected background colour.  This is useful when you want to start a new
design that will have different colours from the default ones.

DELETING A MARKED AREA of the design also changes the stitches within
the boundaries of the markers to the current background colour.  Apart
from the obvious advantage of being able to erase large mistakes very
quickly, another benefit is that you can create large rectangles or
squares without having to fill them in stitch by stitch.

The REPEAT FUNCTION in MSAPCD is most useful for such tasks as drawing
long lines.  Make sure the colour for the line is the foreground colour,
press F to make the forecolour the default automatic drawing colour, set
the automatic drawing mode to on by switching Hand-mode to OFF (no high-
lighting), select the Repeat option, press the appropriate direction
key and give the number of times to repeat (ie the length of the line),
then watch as the program draws the line for you.

OTHER DESIGN PROGRAMS may have file format conversion utilities that can
make MCGA format PCX files out of existing designs/pictures.  MSAPCD will
read and load the first 180 columns by 180 rows of the picture in such
PCX files, AS LONG AS THE PICTURE USES THE FIRST 16 DEFAULT COLOURS OF
THE COMPUTER - to ensure this is the case, the design should have been
created in a colour mode not exceeding 16 colours.



.<A> AUTOS AND AUTO FILES

Each time MSAPCD is started it looks for a special file (MSAPCD20.DAT)
which contains instructions - this is an example of an auto file,
although it does not contain the otherwise compulsory file name extension
of .AUT.   Also, if MSAPCD had been given DOS command line parameters,
these will be treated as key strokes, being considered before any other
real key strokes.  So, if you started MSAPCD with a line like:

.     C:\MSAPCD>MSAPCD20 LA\bKEYS\r

MSAPCD would obey the command to L(oad)A(uto)\bKEYS\r.  Therefore,
KEYS.AUT would be loaded before control was passed to you - special
symbols are used to simulate the pressing of the backspace (\b) and
return (\r) keys (please refer to Special Key Stroke Simulations).

An auto file is somewhat like a MACRO file that other types of programs
feature to allow you to group together a number of commands that can
be fed to the computer at the touch of a single key.  For example, suppose
that all the designs you are ever likely to create would be less than
60 stitches wide and would always be transfered to mylar sheets, you could
set up an auto key to generate the key combination needed to tell the
program to print the design accordingly:

.     !AUTO-F01 Print design for mylar sheet
.     PM1
.     !AUTO-END

The !AUTO-F01 tells MSAPCD that what follows on succeeding lines - until
an !AUTO-END command is reached - is to be 'attached' to the F1 key.  So
when F1 is pressed the Print option is select, then Mylar sheet type, then
design section 1, or PM1.  Empty lines and spaces in an auto definition
are ignored.  You can add a descriptive comment to each auto key defined
by including it on the same line as the !AUTO-F?? command.

As well as being able to include ordinary key strokes in each auto, there
are some special characters and character combinations which act like
extra commands to MSAPCD.


.How To Make An Auto File
.------------------------

Any text editor or word processing software capable of producing plain
ASCII (unformatted)