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bCAD 2D ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Version 1.1 USER'S MANUAL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ProPro Group, Ltd. P.O. Box 350 Novosibirsk, Russia 630117 Internet: brd@isi.itfs.nsk.su leo@isi.itfs.nsk.su Copyright 1992,93, ProPro Group, Ltd. All Rights Reserved COPYRIGHT NOTICE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of ProPro Group, Ltd. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement, and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of that agreement. No part of this document may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in any retrieval system, or translated into any language by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose other than the purchaser's personal use without the express written permission of ProPro Group, Co. IBM is a trademark of International Business Machine, Inc. MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. DXF is a trademark of Autodesk, Inc. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 3 LIMITED WARRANTY This program is provided on an "as is" basis without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied. The entire risk as to quality and performance of these programs is with you. In no event will ProPro Group, Ltd. be liable to you for any damages. You acknowledge that you have read this agreement, understand it, and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Page ~~~~ COPYRIGHT NOTICE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 LIMITED WARRANTY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.0 MAJOR FEATURES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2.0 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 COMPUTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 GRAPHICS ADAPTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 MEMORY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 MOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 MATH CO-PROCESSOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.0 INSTALLATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 FILE CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 INSTALLATION PROCESS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4.0 HOW TO RUN bCAD 2D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 STARTING THE PROGRAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 COMMAND LINE OPTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5.0 USER INTERFACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 5.1 MAIN MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 5.2 EDITOR WINDOWS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 6.0 EDITOR MENUS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 6.1 DRAWING MENU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 6.2 TOOLS MENU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 6.3 EDITOR CONTROL MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 6.4 FILES MENU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 6.5 DIMENSIONS MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 6.6 PRINT DRAWING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 7.0 CALCULATOR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 8.0 ON-LINE HELP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 9.0 HOT KEYS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 10.0 PRINTER SET UP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 5 1.0 MAJOR FEATURES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bCAD is a simple drawing (drafts, sketches) editor with a user-friendly multiple windows interface. bCAD is a good introductory package for a wide range of applications. It allows the user to create libraries and use them according to users' requirements. The easy to learn and use facilities combined with "look and feel" user interface make bCAD unbeatable in CAD education areas. The major bCAD features: MULTIPLE WINDOWS INTERFACE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bCAD supports editing of a number of drawings simultaneously. Each draft might be observed in multiple windows with convenient scale and smooth mouse driven scrolling. SMOOTH SCROLLING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To scroll picture in a window you just have to move the mouse cursor in the appropriate direction. (Standard scroll bars are available) GROUPS OF OBJECTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is possible to collect various objects into a groups and apply any operation to any group of objects. SCALABLE FONTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All fonts are scalable. Text can have any layout, size, angle and direction. DIMENSIONS ~~~~~~~~~~ Special support for setting up drawn object dimensions and up and down derivation on the technical drafts. STANDARD DRAWING FACILITIES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bCAD offers a fair range of precision design and drawing facilities. There are standard geometric shapes, many line's and arrow types, wide selection of colours and layers for drawing. SPLINE FACILITY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spline technique gives users wonderful opportunities to draw quite complicated smooth curves. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 6 DXF IMPORT/EXPORT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is possible to write and read files in Drawing Interchange File (DXF) format. This facility allows transfer of drawings from bCAD to other CAD/CAM systems or vice versa. PCX EXPORT ~~~~~~~~~~ Exporting drawings in standard PCX file in colour or black and white mode allows interchange with other popular drawing packages and most word processing programs. Users can combine drafts and sketches with reports and charts in different ways. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 7 2.0 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COMPUTER ~~~~~~~~ IBM PC/AT or compatible. bCAD 2D does not work on 8086 computers. GRAPHICS ADAPTER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At least VGA or compatible graphics adapter required. VGA 640x480 and SVGA 800x600 modes are supported. MEMORY ~~~~~~ bCAD 2D requires a computer with minimum 1Mb of memory. On a computer with 1 Mb of memory and MS-DOS 3.0 you should have approximately 300KB of memory free for your drawings. bCAD 2D will automatically use extended memory (XMS) if it is available. MOUSE ~~~~~ bCAD 2D user interface requires mouse. MSDOS mouse driver should be installed. MATH-COPROCESSOR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bCAD 2D does not require a math coprocessor (80287,80386). However a coprocessor will speed up the drawing update. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 8 3.0 INSTALLATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FILE CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Archive BCAD11.ZIP or BCAD11.LZH should contain following files: bcad.exe main program bcad.man this text vendor.txt information about ProPro Ltd. and bCAD invoice.txt how to register bCAD register.txt *.bdf drawings files *.mcr macro files *.plf font files INSTALLATION PROCESS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To install bCAD, just copy all bCAD's files (from floppy disk or from BCAD11.ZIP archive) to directory you want to use as working. Only BCAD.EXE file is essential to run bCAD 2D. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 9 4.0 HOW TO RUN bCAD 2D ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ STARTING THE PROGRAM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Go to the drive and/or subdirectory where bCAD 2D is stored. At the DOS prompt type bcad followed by any command line switches and press [ENTER]. This will start bCAD 2D. COMMAND LINE OPTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can control some of bCAD 2D running options from the command line. Syntax: bcad -Option0 -Option1 .... -OptionN -v - Use a standard VGA 640x480x16 mode -s - Use a standard SVGA 800x600x16 mode -m - Use only two colours (B&W mode) -b - Black Drawing Windows Background -f - Use FPP for drawing update -h - Print Short Help bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 10 5.0 USER INTERFACE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bCAD 2D is a windows based, icon menus driven program. ICONS MENUS ~~~~~~~~~~~ A typical icon menu is a collection of icons. To activate a menu option you should move mouse pointer into the icon location and click (press and release) the left mouse button or press the [ENTER] key. It is always possible to return back from any menu or option by pressing the [ESC] key or right mouse button. ON-LINE HELP ~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is possible to get help about an appropriate icon by pressing [F1] key while keeping the mouse pointer on the icon image. 5.1. MAIN MENU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Main menu is a first menu which you will see after the program has been run. Main menu contains following options: STOP ~~~~ Click this icon to close all windows and cancel bCAD. Program will try to write all changed but not yet saved drawings. Confirmation will be asked for each such drawing. SAVE ALL DRAWINGS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click this icon to write drawings from all windows to the disk into appropriate files. Two modes of save operation are available. 1. Save all drawings currently loaded to bCAD 2. Save all modified drawings You will be prompted about mode of save operation. LOAD DRAWING FROM THE DISK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click this icon to open file with drawings or create a new one. To create a new drawing choose last(empty) line in the file names menu. You will be prompted for name of a new drawing. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 11 CREATE NEW DRAWING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click this icon to create new (unnamed) drawing. CASCADE WINDOWS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click this icon to cascade all windows on the screen. This is useful when there are a lot of windows on the screen and they run out of control. Cascade feature makes all of them visible at the same time. This is a major feature because bCAD provides you with the ability to observe and edit drawings in multiple windows as well as create groups of objects and move them between windows and drawings. To bring main menu window to the top of all other windows and make it visible press [TAB] key. CALCULATOR ~~~~~~~~~~ Click this icon (or press [F9] key) to open the calculator window. (See also "Calculator") HELP ~~~~ Click this icon (or press [F1] key) to get information about using icon menus, keyboard hot keys and other functions. You may press [F1] key at any time to get help about appropriate icon, action or whatever else. PRINTER SETUP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click this icon to select printer-specific options, paper size, printer type etc. (See "Printer Setup") PHONE ~~~~~ Provides short information about bCAD version. SYSTEM INFORMATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Provides information about current bCAD configuration and free memory. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 12 5.2 EDITOR WINDOWS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Whenever you load a file with a drawing from a disk, or creat a new one, the editor window appears on the screen. Its' frame appears at screen centre and you can move this frame to put the window at the convenient location. Press left mouse button to fix window position on the screen and open it. At the left upper corner of each window placed switch-icon. Press to activate window control menu. Window control menu is attached to every window on the screen. It can be used to tidy up window layout, close, sink or bring the window to the top of other windows. On the window title bar and window angles the cursor gets the shape of cross arrows or resize arrows. In this case pressing and holding the left mouse button (dragging the mouse pointer) will change window location or size. Dragging the mouse cursor, while holding the left button on the window title bar, allows movement of the window on the screen. Clicking left mouse button on any place on the window frame moves the window to the top of windows hierarchy. Clicking right mouse button on the window frame sinks window below all other windows. Vertical and horizontal scroll bars help to scroll window contents without entering into this window. Triangle arrows on the ends of scroll bars are buttons for discrete scrolling. There are six icons attached to the left board of each editor window. To activate any one of them move the cursor to the icon and click the left mouse button, a sub menu for this icon will appear on the screen. You are allowed to choose any action mentioned in sub menu to execute it. To get help information about any action, move the cursor onto the appropriate icon and press [F1] key. The right mouse button or [ESC] key will always cancel current action and close sub menu. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 13 ENTERING COORDINATES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Drawing and amending of drafts and sketches are concerned with entering point coordinates. Drawings produced on bCAD use a floating point decart coordinate system. 7 significant digits are provided. The are two different ways to let the editor know (X Y) coordinates of a point. Coordinates mode (polar/decart) can be changed "on-fly" by pressing [F6] key. USING MOUSE ~~~~~~~~~~~ Move the mouse cursor to the location you wish to enter and click (press and release) left mouse button. You can see current coordinates on the title bar of the coordinates window while moving the mouse. USING KEYBOARD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you know the precise coordinates of the point, you can just type them in. Start typing digits, plus + or minus - sign and dialogue box for coordinates input will appear automatically. Enter X and Y coordinates separating them by a space and press [ENTER] key. If the mouse is moved during coordinate entering, the dialogue box will be automatically close. There are two modes of coordinates entering: First mode allows entry of absolute decart coordinates with respect to the origin at coordinate 0,0. The second mode allows entry of relative polar coordinates in length and angle with respect to the last X,Y coordinates entered. NOTE that for the first point entered in polar coordinates 0,0 origin will be used. NOTE that angle expressed in degrees or radians and X and Y coordinates and length in inches or millimetres according to bCAD setup. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 14 6.0 EDITOR MENUS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6.1 DRAWING MENU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Drawings menu provides the user with basic tools for creating sketches. User have to remember that a sketch consist of multiple layers and each geometry figure attached to the appropriate layer. The complicate pictures usually are made as combination of simple polylines, lines, circles and other 2-D shapes. Each shape has its' own colour. Inner region inside figures can be filled with set of hatched lines or solid colour. 2-D shapes can be combined into the groups and moved/resized/rotated afterwards. The layer to which particular shape is attached may be changed later as well. During drawing following hot keys can be used: F1 context sensitive help F2 change current colour F3 change current line type F4 change current layer or change layer's attributes F5 alter grid parameters F6 switch X,Y coordinates between polar/decart coordinates F7 alter snap step parameters F8 alter point binding method F9 invoke the Calculator F10 choose method of drawing/select vertex LINE DRAWING (icon with line) ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Technique for line drawing differ according to the chosen method: LINE BY TWO POINTS (default) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Type in the coordinates or click left mouse button to anchor first point of the line. Then drag the cursor. A flexible line stretches from the anchor point to the mouse position. When you are satisfied with line position and size, click left mouse button again. If you know precisely coordinates of one or both line ends you can type them in as described in "ENTERING COORDINATES". PARALLEL LINES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Move the cursor to the line parallel to which you want to draw. Click left mouse button to mark it (see 2.1 MARK). Type in the coordinates or click left mouse button to anchor one end of the line. Then drag the cursor. A flexible line stretches from the anchor point to the mouse position. When you are satisfied with the line, click left mouse button again. If you know precisely coordinates of one or both line ends you can type them in as described in "ENTERING COORDINATES". bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 15 PERPENDICULAR LINES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Move the cursor to the line perpendicular to which you wish to draw. Click left mouse button to mark it (see 2.1 MARK). Type in the coordinates or click left mouse button to anchor one end of the line. Then drag the cursor. A flexible line stretches from the anchor point to the mouse position. When you are satisfied with the line, click left mouse button again. THE CROSS AT THE CENTRE OF THE CIRCLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Move the cursor to the circle you want to cross. Mark the circle by clicking left mouse button. Then drag the cursor. A flexible cross stretches from the circle centre to the mouse position. When you are satisfied with the cross, click left mouse button again. If you know precisely size of the cross you can type it in from keyboard as described in "ENTERING COORDINATES". CIRCLE DRAWING (icon with circle) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Technique for circle drawing differ according to chosen method: CENTRE AND RADIUS OF THE CIRCLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click left mouse button to anchor centre of a circle. Drag the cursor. The circle stretches from the anchor point to the mouse position. When you are satisfied with the circle, click left mouse button. If you know precisely the radius you can type it in. Until you click second point, you can click using the right button or press [ESC] key to start over. CENTRE AND A POINT ON THE CIRCLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click left mouse button to anchor centre of a circle. Move the cursor to the point you wish to be on the circle and click left button again. If you know precisely the coordinates you can type them in. Until you click second point, you can click using the right button or press [ESC] key to start over. POINT ON THE CIRCLE AND A CENTRE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The same as previous method but another way around of entering circle centre and point on the circle. Point on the circle goes first and centre second. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 16 START AND END POINTS OF THE DIAMETER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click left mouse button to anchor one end of a circle diameter. Move the cursor to the point you wish to be another end of a circle diameter and click left button again. If you know precisely the coordinates you can type them in. Until you click second point, you can click using the right button or press [ESC] key to start over. THREE POINTS ON THE CIRCLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click left mouse button to anchor first and second point on a circle. A flexible circle stretches from the anchor points to the mouse position. When you are satisfied with the circle, click left mouse button. If you know precisely the coordinates you can type them in. Until you set up second point, you can click right mouse button or press [ESC] key to cancel operation. ARC DRAWING ~~~~~~~~~~~ Technique for arc drawing differ according to the chosen method: START POINT, END POINT AND A POINT ON THE ARC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click left mouse button to anchor start and end points on an arc. A flexible arc stretches from the anchor points to the mouse position. When you are satisfied with the arc, click left mouse button. If you know precisely the coordinates you can type them in. Until you click second point, you can click using the right button or press [ESC] key to cancel operation. START POINT, POINT ON THE ARC AND THE END POINT ON THE ARC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Similar to first method but with another order of points. CENTRE OF THE ARC, START POINT AND THE ANGLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click left mouse button to anchor centre and start points on an arc. A flexible arc stretches from the anchor points to the mouse position. When you are satisfied with the arc, click left mouse button. If you know precisely the coordinates of arc centre, start point and angle you can type them in. Note: Angle is in radians or degrees according to selected option and always anti-clockwise. Until you set up second point, you can click right mouse button or press [ESC] key to cancel operation. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 17 POLYLINE DRAWING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click left mouse button to anchor first vertex of a polyline. A flexible line stretches from the anchor vertex to the mouse position. When you are satisfied with the first polyline segment, click left mouse button to fix the segment. Continue to enter segments until whole polyline will be ready. Click right mouse button or press [ESC] key after last segment to finish polyline. If you know precisely the coordinates you can type them in. You can spline and decurve polyline using Polyline editor from Tools menu. See also: [POLYLINE EDITOR]. DRAW RECTANGULAR BOX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click left mouse button to anchor one corner points of a box. A flexible box stretches from the anchor points to the mouse position. When you are satisfied with the box, click left mouse button. If you know precisely the coordinates you can type them in. Until you set up second corner of the box, you can click using the right button or press [ESC] key to cancel operation. DRAW TEXT ~~~~~~~~~ You can simply enter text by keyboard and move string by mouse. When you are satisfied with position of the text, click left mouse button. Move cursor and click left mouse button to anchor the base point of the text. By click middle mouse button or pressing [F10] key will appear icons menu with followed features: LOAD FONT FROM THE DISK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Usually fonts have file extension *.PLF and you can find them on the directory PLF. Font editor is available for new font creation or customising of a font. CHANGE CHARACTER SIZE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A flexible box stretches from the anchor point to the mouse position. The size of this box shows you the size of CAPITAL letters in the selected font. When you are satisfied with font size, click left mouse button. If you know precisely the size you can type it in. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 18 CHANGE STRING ANGLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Change the angle between a string and the horizon. A flexible line stretches from the anchor point to the mouse position. The angle of this line shows you the angle between text and the horizon. When you are satisfied with text angle, click left mouse button. Until you click left button, you can click using the right button or press [ESC] to cancel operation. CHANGE ITALIC TYPEFACE ANGLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Similar to previous action but the angle will be between Italic letter and text base line. DRAW HATCH ~~~~~~~~~~ Draws hatched polygon. Click the left mouse button to anchor first vertex of a polyline. A flexible line stretches from the anchor vertex to the mouse position. When you are satisfied with the first polygon segment, click left mouse button to fix the segment. Continue to enter segments until whole polygon will be ready. Click the right mouse button or press [ESC] key after last segment to finish polygon. If you know precisely the coordinates you can type them in. Click the middle mouse button or press key [F10] to select hatch pattern and angle. HATCH EXISTING OBJECT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is possible to hatch existing polyline, circle or arc. To do this you have to select one point on the object (polyline/circle/arc) you want to hatch and than press the right mouse button or [ESC] key. INCLUDE SEGMENT OF A CIRCLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is possible to include segment of existing circle to the hatch contour. First you have to select start point of the segment on the circle. The second selected point will specify the direction of the segment cutting (clockwise or unticlockwise). The third selected point will specify the end of the segment. After third point has been selected, the appropriate segment of the circle will be added to the hatch contour. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 19 INCLUDE SEGMENT OF A POLYLINE/ARC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is possible to include segment of existing polyline or arc to the hatch contour. You have to select the start and the end point point of the segment on the polyline or arc. After second (end) point has been selected, the appropriate segment of the polyline or arc will be added to the hatch contour. DRAW A HEXAGON ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Draws a hexagon. Similar to circle drawn through a centre and radius. See: "DRAW CIRCLE". 6.2 TOOLS MENU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Tools features form most powerful part of bCAD. You can operate with single object like line, circle, polyline, polygon, arc etc. as well as any combination of these objects collected into a "group". User have to select an object or make a group to apply most of the tools. Special polyline editor allows to transform ordinary contours in to a smooth lines (splines). MARKING AN OBJECT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To mark a single object move the cursor to the object position and click the left button. Use zoom in scale to simplify this job. To mark all objects within rectangular area choose another method of marking. To change the mark method click middle mouse button or press [F10]: mark single object mark objects in rectangular area unmark single object Define a box (see RECTANGULAR BOX 1.5) - all objects inside the box will be marked and form a group. Marked objects have another colour on the screen (usually light grey). The special kind of "marking" cursor (small square box) shows that bCAD is in the marking mode. This cursor can appear in some actions other then marking itself, when operation needs an object to be marked. UNMARK ALL OBJECTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unmarks all marked objects in the window. While marking process, clicking right mouse button will work as unmark as well. DELETE Deletes all marked objects. ~~~~~~ bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 20 MOVE ~~~~ Moves marked object or group of marked objects to another location. Moving cursor and clicking two points show which direction and on which distance you want to move group of objects. If you know precise coordinates you can type them in. COPY ~~~~ Similar to "MOVE" but does not delete original objects. COPY FROM ANOTHER WINDOW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Move X-cross cursor to the editor window with source objects and click left mouse button, then move cursor into destination window at appropriate location and click left mouse button. As usual you can reject this action on a half way clicking right mouse button or pressing [ESC] key. MIRRORING ~~~~~~~~~ Select the start and the end points of the mirror line (same way as for "LINE"). All selected objects will be mirrored over this line. ROTATION ~~~~~~~~ Select the origin (rotation centre), then a point on a base line and drag the cursor until you will be satisfied with an angle of the rotation. Then click left mouse button or press [F10] key. As usual you can reject this action on a half way clicking right mouse button or pressing [ESC] key. RESIZE ~~~~~~ Resizes marked object or group of marked objects to another size. Moving cursor and clicking two points. Vector between them will show which direction and with which scale you want to move group of objects. If you know precise scale you can type it in. POLYLINE EDITOR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First select polyline you want to edit. Then select operation from the appeared icon menu: bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 21 MOVE A VERTEX OF THE POLYLINE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To move a vertex of the polyline: move the cursor to any vertex of the chosen polyline by clicking middle mouse button,[SPACE] or [F10] key. Then click the left mouse button, drag selected vertex and click the left mouse button again. JOIN A NEW VERTEX TO THE POLYLINE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To join a new vertex to the polyline: move the cursor to any vertex of the chosen polyline by clicking middle mouse button, [SPACE] or [F10] key. Then click left mouse button, move cursor to the joining vertex position and click the left button again. DELETE VERTEX FROM THE POLYLINE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To delete a vertex from the polyline: move the cursor to any vertex of the chosen polyline and click middle mouse button, [SPACE] or [F10] key. Then click left mouse button. CALCULATE SPLINE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To spline the polyline: choose spline icon for selected polyline, and be patient. It'll took a while but you would like result. The best way to curve your signature on the bottom of the drawing. DECURVE POLYLINE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Decurve polyline is a reverse action for the spline. It makes smoothed polyline back into original decurved chain of lines. MAKE A GROUP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a major feature of bCAD. Any number of various objects can be tied together to form one complex object called a "group". This tool makes a new group from all selected objects. All operations like move, copy, mirroring etc. can be applied to the group. Group can be saved on disk as a macro and loaded further. This is the easiest way to produce application libraries. SPLIT A GROUP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Splits all selected group back into the separate objects. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 22 CHANGE A COLOUR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Move cursor to an icon with a colour you want and click left button. It becomes a current colour for all selected objects. It changes the colour for selected group of objects, but current colour for drawings remains the same. CHANGE LINE TYPE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Move cursor to an icon with a line hatch you want and click left button. It becomes a current line type for all selected objects. It changes the line type for selected group of objects, but current line type for drawings remains the same. CHANGE A LAYER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All objects in bCAD's drawings are connected to the layer. By default only one layer exist ("default layer") and this layer is visible. You can change visibility attribute of any layer to hide objects drown on it. To create a new layer select the last (empty) option in the layers list. To change the layer name or status select a layer you want to change. Layer can be: CURRENT ~~~~~~~ All newly created objects will be tied to this layer VISIBLE ~~~~~~~ All objects from this layer are visible on the screen. INVISIBLE ~~~~~~~~~ All objects from this layer are hidden but not lost. The layers model can be illustrated by multiple floor flat drawing: each floor can be drawn as separated layer and you can see any one or any combination in a time. CHANGE LAYER ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Change layer option provides the possibility to reattach selected objects to another layer. It can change or don't change the work layer where all consent drawing will be attached. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 23 6.3 EDITOR CONTROL MENU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZOOMING ~~~~~~~ Moving the cursor and clicking left mouse button the same way as in RECTANGULAR BOX define rectangle that you wish to observe. The contents of this rectangular area will be scaled to fit whole window. OBSERVE WHOLE DRAWING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feet whole sheet of drawings into the window. RETURN TO PREVIOUS VIEW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ bCAD remember previous scale factor and window offset for any window. This icon allows fast switching to the previous view. CHOSE A CURRENT COLOUR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Move cursor to an icon with a colour you want and click left button. It becomes a current colour for this window. CHOSE CURRENT LINE TYPE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Move cursor to an icon with a line hatch you want and click left button. It becomes a current line type for this window. CHOSE A LAYER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This command is similar to "CHANGE A LAYER" but it doesn't change the layer attachment for selected objects. It just provide the possibility to select the another default layer for consequent drawings, or create new one. Layers' visibility and other attributes control can be done from both this and "CHANGE A LAYER" menus. CUSTOMISE GRID PARAMETERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This panel controls visibility of the grid (ON/OFF), mode of the grid (bars or dots), its' horizontal and vertical granularity. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 24 SHAPE GRANULARITY (SNAP) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Parameters of this menu affects all shapes that will be drawn when granularity is switched ON. The end points of all drawings will be aligned according the Step factor. Note that this alignment may differ from grid granularity, POINT BINDING METHOD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If binding is on then when new point is to be tied to the drawing, object search will be performed. If object has been found then new point will be set at the appropriate point on the found object. There are several different methods of binding new points to the existing objects. NO BINDING ~~~~~~~~~~ Set a point at cursor position. Note that the coordinates of the point will be aligned if SNAP is switched ON. BIND TO THE END POINT OF THE LINE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Set a point at the the nearest end of the found line. BIND TO THE MIDDLE POINT OF THE LINE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Set a point at the middle point of the found line. BIND TO THE CENTRE OF THE CIRCLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Set a point at the centre of the found circle. BIND TO THE END POINT OF THE ARC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Set a point at the nearest end point of the found arc. BIND TO THE CENTRE OF THE ARC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Set a point at the centre of the found arc bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 25 OPEN ANOTHER WINDOW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Create a new view-port window for the same drawing. You can create as many view-port windows for any drawing as you wish. All created view-ports and original one are the same. You can edit drawings in any view-port. As well you can have different scroll locations and scale factor in any view-port. This feature allows you to observe tiny details of drawing and general views in the same time in multiple windows on the screen. CUSTOMISE MEASUREMENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This feature allows to change measurements system. Distance can be expressed in millimetres or inches, angles in degrees or radians. 6.4 FILES MENU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This menu contains all available in bCAD file operations. SAVE A DRAWING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saves drawing from the current window into selected file. You could choose last (empty) line from file choice list to create a new file. You will be prompted about new file name if you have chosen empty name. REMOVE A DRAWING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Removes current window drawings from memory and closes this window and all other view-ports associated with it, if any. SAVE A MACRO ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saves all marked objects and groups from current window to the selected file. To save the macro mark all objects you want to save (see "MARK"), then move the cursor to the base point which will be (0,0) coordinates of a macro object and click the left mouse button. READ A MACRO ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Select the file containing macro object definition, then move the cursor to the point where you want to tie macro's (0,0) and click the left mouse button. To rotate or scale the macro click middle mouse button or press [F10] key before fixing the place for the macro. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 26 SAVE IN DXF FORMAT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saves drawing from the current window into selected file in DXF format. You could choose last (empty) line from file choice list to create a new file. You will be prompted about new file name if you have chosen empty name. LOAD DXF FILE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Loads DXF file and appends all drawing from it to the current drawings in the window. If you want to load DXF into an empty window, create a new empty window (See: "MAIN MENU"). WRITE PCX FILE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Write picture from the window to a PCX file. This picture in popular PCX format can be used as graphic illustration in most of the graphic design programs and some of text processing programs. User will be prompted about colour or black and white mode of the PCX writing. Note that only the part visible inside the window at the moment will be written into PCX file. WRITE EPS FILE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Write drawing from the window to a EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) file. This file can be used as graphic illustration in most of the graphic design programs. 6.5 DIMENSIONS MENU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HORIZONTAL & VERTICAL SIZES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To setup horizontal or vertical size move the cursor and click left mouse button at two points between which the dimension is set, then type in the dimension, up and down derivation, then move the cursor to the dimension text position and click the left mouse button. ARROWS ~~~~~~ To draw arrow move the cursor and click left mouse button at start and the end points of arrow line. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 27 ANGLE BETWEEN ARROWS/LINES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To setup angle between arrows choose this action, draw first and second arrows. The angles between them will be written automatically on the sketch. DISTANCE BETWEEN POINTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To setup distance between two points move the cursor and click left mouse button at two points between which the dimension is set, then type in the dimension, up and down derivation, then move the cursor to the dimension text position and click the left mouse button. RADIUS/DIAMETER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To setup radius or diameter of a circle, choose appropriate icon, select a circle or arc, move dimension box to the place where you wish to setup dimensions and click left mouse button. 6.6 PRINT DRAWING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PRINT WHOLE DRAWING ON A SINGLE PAPER SHEET ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Whole drawing will be printed on a single sheet of paper. PRINT WITH A WANTED SCALE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Print sketch in wanted scale, user will be prompted about it. If the sketch doesn't fit into one page it will be split on to appropriate number of pages. PRINT PART OF THE DRAWING ON THE ONE SHEET OF PAPER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Print part of the sketch (user will be allowed to mark a rectangle) on a single sheet of paper. PRINT PART OF THE DRAWING WITH A WANTED SCALE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Print part of the sketch in wanted scale. If printing rectangle of the sketch doesn't fit into one page it will be split on to appropriate number of pages. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 28 7.0 CALCULATOR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can use Calculator to perform simple calculations or to solve scientific mathematical problems. Calculator can be activated by pressing [F9] key. You can use the mouse to click calculator "buttons", if you call calculator from the editor window you can press the corresponding keys on keyboard. Given calculator operates in a way you can expect from the usual pocket calculator. To perform a calculation: 1. Enter the first number 2. Choose the operator 3. Enter next number 4. Press [ENTER] or [=] key or press (=) button on the calculator. If you made a mistake, press [BACKSPACE] key to delete incorrect digits. [ESC] key or (C) button on a calculator will clear entire calculation. To use the standard calculator functions, click the following buttons or press the keyboard equivalent. Button Key Function + + Adds. - - Subtracts. * * Multiplies. / / Divides. +/- Changes the sign of the displayed number. . . Inserts a decimal point in the displayed number. sqrt Calculates the square root of the displayed value. = = Performs any operation on the previous two numbers. 1/x Calculates the reciprocal of the displayed number. 8.0 ON-LINE HELP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Help window can be activated by [F1] key or by pressing help icon (big question mark) in MAIN MENU. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 29 Help offers a quick way to find out information, such as how to perform a particular task. Within a Help topic, it may be one or more links to subtopics and one link to the previous topic. You can move, resize, maximise, or minimise the Help window, just like any other window. Current subtopic will be highlighted. You can move current subtopic by pressing [UP],[DOWN] and [TAB] keys. To choose new Help topic click on the topic you want to view. If [ENTER] key will pressed then current topic will be chosen. To return to the previous level of Help, choose the PREVIOUS box. If the information in a Help topic doesn't fit in the window, use the scroll bar. 9.0 HOT KEYS ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some hot keys can be used in the work area to provide quick access to the editor options: F1 context sensitive help F2 choose colour F3 choose line type F4 choose layer or change layer's attributes F5 alter grid parameters; F6 switch X,Y coordinates between polar/decart coordinates F7 alter snap step parameters F8 alter point binding method F9 invoke the Calculator F10 choose method of drawing/select vertex +,-,0..9 type in (X Y) coordinates 10.0 PRINTER SETUP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This menu allow to choose printer type, printer port and printing parameters. PRINTER TYPE ~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can choose printer type in this menu. bCAD 2D V1.1 (c) 1993, ProPro Group, Ltd. [Unregistered 4/93] Pg 30 PRINTER PORT ~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can assign a port which will be used during printing operation. Or you can choose printing to file. PRINTER RESOLUTION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can specify the resolution (typically measured in dots per inch, or DPI) at which you want to print graphic images. To specify the printing resolution: In the printer setup dialogue box, open the Resolution list and select the resolution you want to use. PAPER SIZE ~~~~~~~~~~ You can specify the size of paper you want to print on by either selecting from a list of paper sizes, or, if the printer you are using supports it, by defining your own paper size. To specify the paper size: In the printer setup dialogue box, open the Paper Size list and select the size you want. FORM FEED OPTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To specify form feed options: In the printer setup dialogue box, open the Form Feed list and select the form feeds sequence you want.