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Draw Plus — User Guide ====================== Introduction ------------ This document describes DrawPlus, formerly Draw 1½; an alternative to Acorn's Draw with lots of additional features. All of the options are described, although it is assumed that the reader is familiar with the original Acorn version of Draw. DrawPlus offers the following enhancements over and above Acorn Draw: 1. Layers allow drawing information to be structured into different categories. A drawing can have up to 32 named layers, and each object in a drawing resides on a specific layer. Each layer can be shown or made invisible, and objects on them can be selectable or not. Layers allow related information to be kept together, completed parts of the drawing to be made unselectable so that there is no danger of accidentally changing them, and information which is not needed for the moment to be hidden. Layers operate in addition to the background facility in previous versions of DrawPlus. That is still present, for compatibility reasons, but the layer system is far more versatile. 2. Objects can be locked so that they cannot be changed until they are unlocked. This offers a finer level of control than layers, but of course the two facilities can be used together. 3. Frequently used graphics, symbols or clip art can be stored in a library and retrieved from it when required. The library can be saved in a file, independent of any drawings, and the objects in it pasted into any drawing. 4. Ten line patterns are available (in addition to solid lines), which can be edited to give custom dashed lines. 5. Information such as the text and path styles, layer and dash pattern information, grid and zoom options is saved along with the drawing, and is restored when it is reloaded. 6. Lots of other features too numerous to mention. Running ------- The latest versions of the shared C library (CLib), the floating point emulator (FPE) and the colour translation module (Colours) must be available in the system's modules directory. Employees and associates of Computer Concepts (who seem to object to writing applications in high-level languages) may as well stop reading now. Double-click on the application icon, or a saved Draw file or library, in the normal way. If DrawPlus is not yet running, it will be loaded and the drawing will appear in a new window. If it is, the drawing will be loaded into a new window. In both cases, unless the option to not do so has been set, a tool window will also appear for each document window. To create a new blank document, click Select on the icon bar icon once DrawPlus has been loaded. To load a Draw file from the Filer or saved from another application, drag it to the icon bar icon. A settings file is loaded when the application is run up. This contains such information as the display colours, preference settings (see below), default page size and grid settings and default text and path styles. If a message appears complaining that this file is not present, or is too old, use one of the default save options to create the file. Operating systems ----------------- DrawPlus will work with either the original operating system version (RiscOS 2) or updated versions (RiscOS 3 or 3·1). It will not work under Arthur. To get the best out of graphical applications, it is recommended that you have the outline font manager modules (Fonts and Super) available. These modules are not supplied with RiscOS 2, but can be loaded from disc. DrawPlus will work with the original bitmap font manager, but the quality of the text will be not be as good. The outline font manager can be obtained on one of Acorn's font starter packs, or (much cheaper!) on a demo disc from an appropriate software supplier. When running under RiscOS 3·0 or higher, additional facilities are available such as the ability to rotate or flip sprites or text objects. The new desktop facilities (iconising and desktop save) available under that OS are also supported. Merging and Saving ------------------ To merge a drawing with another, load the first and then drag the second into the drawing window; the two drawings will be combined. If the appropriate option has been set, the bottom left corner of the loaded drawing will be placed at the pointer position where the mouse button was released. If it is not set, the bottom left corners of the drawings will be aligned without regard to the pointer position. To create a sprite object, drag a sprite file into a drawing window; the object will appear at the pointer position at its true size. If the sprite file contains more than one sprite, the first one will be used. To create a text area object, drag a text file into a drawing window; the object will be created at the pointer position with the text columns set to standard sizes. If the file does not have a standard header, one will be supplied. If an existing text area object is selected when a text file is loaded, the text in that area will be replaced by the contents of the file without changing its size or position. The number of columns cannot be changed. To allow the extended information to be saved, the files saved by DrawPlus are not compatible with the original format. In this form, they can only be used by DrawPlus. For use with other packages, the option to save in the original format — without the extended information — is included. The following options appear on the "Save" menu. Most of them lead to "Save as" windows which are used in the normal way: Drawing Saves the complete drawing as a Draw file. Selection Saves the selected objects as a Draw file, plus the drawing header and font information if required. Only available in Select mode when at least one object is selected. Sprites Saves the selected objects as a sprite file. Select mode must again be active, and all the selected objects must be sprites. Text area Saves the text contained in the selected area as a text file. A single text area object must be selected. If the text did not have the standard header when it was loaded, it will be saved with it. Ascii Saves the selected objects in dump format. This may not be available in released versions; it is intended for possible future interfacing with other programs. Defaults Saves the current preference settings, and the current drawing's settings and default styles, as the permanent default. This default will be used for any new drawings created, and will be saved on disc so that it can be used next time DrawPlus is run up. New format Normally on; when this option is ticked, the drawing will be saved in the extended format. If it is not ticked then no layer or locking information, or the current styles and settings, will be saved. Because a lot of information could be lost by re-saving a file in the old format, confirmation is requested when this option is turned off. When this option is off, files created are completely compatible with Acorn Draw and other applications which use Draw files. Files saved with this option turned on can be loaded into Vector, and will retain their extended information. With settings Only available if "New format" is set; normally on in that case. Causes the current styles, layer settings, dash patterns, grid and paper options and zoom settings to be saved in the drawing file, so that they will be restored next time that drawing is loaded. Some of these settings are understood by Vector. Preferences ----------- Selecting the "Preferences" option from the icon bar menu opens the setting window. The display colours for various items are shown; to change them, step through the palette colours by clicking on the colour blocks. The other options available are: Auto paper size When set, the paper size is automatically set (based on the drawing dimensions) whenever a drawing is loaded. If this is not set, the paper size will be taken from the default settings. Show menu keys¹ When set, keystroke equivalents will be shown on the menus. Merge at pointer When set, and a Draw file is dragged into an existing drawing window to merge the two drawings, place the loaded drawing at the pointer position. If this is not set, the bottom left corners of the drawings will be aligned. Quit after printing¹ Set this if it is required to unload DrawPlus after it has been loaded at the printer driver's request, when a Draw file is dragged onto the printer icon. If this option is not set, it will remain loaded after printing has finished. If this option is set, the application will unload itself after one copy has been printed. Confirm delete many If this is set, a confirm box will pop up every time more than one object, or a group, is to be deleted. The objects will only be deleted if "Yes" is chosen. Interactive help¹ If this is set, interactive help will be enabled (if the !Help application is also running). If this option is not set, interactive help is not available but loading time and memory usage will be reduced. To implement the settings, click "OK"; these will persist until the application is quit. If any colours have been changed, the display will be redrawn. To save the options permanently, click "Save"; the default drawing style will remain as before. To save a drawing style as the default along with the preferences, use "Save/Settings" from the document menu as described above. The settings marked with a ¹ above only have an effect when they are saved as the permanent default. The toolbox ----------- The toolbox contains various icons to select the drawing mode, display controls and status displays. From left to right, the tool icons are: Create line/curve These four tools create paths of that type, in the same way as the original Draw did. They can be clicked when idle, to set the type of the initial segment, or while drawing to change the cur rent segment to that type. The two 'closed' tools insert extra line segments, of the same type as that last placed, when a path or subpath is completed. Move Inserts an invisible move into a path, starting a new subpath. Can only be used when path entry is already in progress, and the previous segment was not a move. Ellipse Creates an ellipse. Click Select to mark the centre, then Select again to define the size and eccentricity. Orthogonal restriction will create a circle. Box Creates a rectangle. Click Select to mark one corner, then Select again to mark the diagonally opposite corner. Orthogonal restriction will create a square. Polygon Creates a regular polygon. Click Select to define the centre, then drag out the circle on which the corners will be placed (the circumcircle for those of you who like big words). Click Select again to define the size. The number of sides is set by the option on the "Create" menu. Text Creates a text object. Click Select to position the caret, then type. The text can be edited during entry, using the same keys as for text editing. Press Return to terminate entry; unless the font being used is the system font, the caret will be moved down ready for the next line of text. The line spacing can be set using the "Text Style/Line spacing" menu option. Edit Enters edit mode, for changing existing paths or text. Select Enters select mode. Library Enters library (retrieve) mode. Abandon Abandons an operation in progress. Orthogonal When selected, pointer movement is restricted to 90° or 45° movement (rectangular grid) or 30° movement (isometric grid) while dragging. This can be used, for example, to force the ellipse or box tools to create a square or circle. It will also force the path create modes to draw horizontal or vertical lines, and Select mode dragging to be similarly constrained. Zoom When selected, displays at the preset zoom setting; when not, at actual size. Click Adjust to pop up the zoom setting box (this is also available from the "Settings/Zoom" menu). Grid lock When selected, this constrains pointer move ment to the preset lock grid. Click Adjust to pop up the grid setting box (this is also avail able from the "Settings/Grid" menu). The message display gives various (hopefully) helpful messages. The current layer name is shown to the right of the message display. Select mode ----------- Select mode is fairly similar to the original. Click Select over an object to select it; double-click Select over a selected object to find a deeper one. Click Adjust to add an object to, or remove it from, the selection. Click Select over a blank area of the diagram to clear the selection. Starting over a blank area, drag Select to enclose a box of objects and select them all; drag Adjust to enclose a box of objects and add them to the selection. Each selected object will appear with four 'handles', one on each corner: to move that corner, drag the handle with Select. Drag any handle with Adjust to rotate the object about its centre; drag with Select over the body of an object to move it. A locked object can be selected, but will have no handles. Locked objects cannot be moved, resized or rotated; if the selection includes locked objects, they are deselected if this is attempted. Text columns belonging to locked text areas cannot be selected. Note that the sensitive area of an object extends a distance on each side equivalent to the size of a 'handle'. This avoids a problem with the original where it was very difficult to select or move objects consisting of a horizontal or vertical thin line. See the later sections for "Select" and "Arrange" menu options. Edit mode --------- Edit mode is used to change existing paths or text. Enter Edit mode by clicking on the toolbox icon, then select an object by clicking Select on it. To start editing, click Adjust over the object, or over an unselected object to select and then edit that. Double-click Select to find a deeper object. Locked objects may not be selected for editing. If the object over which Adjust is clicked is a text object, the caret will appear. Text can now be typed and amended; the fol lowing control keys can be used: Left, Right Move the caret. Ctrl-Left Move to the beginning of the text. Ctrl-Right Move to the end of the text. Backspace or Delete Delete the character to the left of the caret. Copy Delete the character to the right of the caret. Return Finish editing and update the text object with the changes made. Escape Abandon text editing and do not change the text. Note that 'System Font' text cannot be edited on screen; it will be shown in a dialogue box. The standard Wimp editing keys can be used. If the object over which Adjust was clicked is a path, it will be redrawn in thin lines with a marker over each point and a different coloured marker over curve control points. The starting position for a new subpath is shown as an open circle, other points as a filled square. To select a point, click Adjust over it; it and its associated segment (if there is one) will be highlighted. The "Edit" menu options apply to this point and segment. Drag Adjust over the point, or over a curve control point, to change its position. To finish path editing and update the original object, click Select. To restore the original object without changing it, click the "Abandon" tool. When in path edit mode, clicking Menu will bring up the "Edit" menu alone which has the following options (they act on the current — highlighted — point or segment, where applicable). If other menu options are required (e.g. to change grid settings) while path editing is in progress, press Shift while clicking Menu to bring the full menu up. Move Changes the current segment to a move. This is only possible if the segment is not the first or last in the subpath, and the subpath is not closed. Line Changes the current segment to a line. Curve Changes the current segment to a (initially straight) curve. Closed When ticked, the current subpath is closed. To open or close the subpath, select this option; the last point is moved to coincide with the first point, or away from it, as appropriate. Insert point The current segment is replaced with two, each of the same type (line or curve) as the original. Delete point The current segment is deleted, and the two adjacent segments moved to close the gap. Segment Leads to a dialogue box showing information about the current segment, and allowing the coordinates of the current point to be changed. Snap point Aligns the selected point to the lock grid. Snap all points Aligns all the points in the path to the lock grid. Note that this option can distort regular shapes, if the grid is coarse; it is usually safer to use the "Arrange/Snap to grid" menu option. Straighten Straightens the current curve segment (but does not change it into a line). Smooth joins Aligns the control points of the current curve segment so that the transitions at the start and end points are smooth. Horizontal Moves the end point of the current segment so that the line becomes horizontal. For a curve, this moves the end point but leaves the curve control points in the same relation to the curve as they were originally. Vertical Moves the end point of the current segment so that the line becomes vertical. Finish Completes path editing. Create Path mode ---------------- Select a toolbox icon to start path creation, then click Select to place the initial point. Move the line or curve as required, and click Select to place points. The segment type (line, curve or move) can be changed by clicking on the appropriate toolbox icon; no more than one successive move can be created at a time, and the path cannot start or end with a move. Double-click Select to place the final point. If one of the closed path tools is chosen, an additional segment will be placed to close the subpath when the path is finished or a new subpath is started (with a move). Click Adjust to remove the last-entered point. When curves are being drawn, their control points will be initially aligned so that the transitions are smooth. Misc menu --------- Options that don't fit in anywhere else. File Opens a dialogue box giving information about the document currently being edited. Print Opens the Print dialogue box, allowing the drawing to be printed via a RiscOS printer driver. Enter the number of copies, ensure that the printer is online and click "OK" to start printing. Dashes Opens the dash pattern edit dialogue box. Select one of the ten patterns available with the up or down arrows. In the enlarged view below, click Select to change a dot from black to white or vice versa. Click Adjust to set the repeat length of the pattern; the area available for editing is that to the left of the red bar and the pattern repeats after this if necessary. An actual size view of the pattern is shown in the white area above. Click "OK" to store the edited patterns. Note that editing a pattern does not change the appearance of any existing objects using that pattern. The current patterns are normally saved with the drawing, unless the settings save has been disabled. Layers Opens the layer settings dialogue box. See the "Using layers" section. Set bgn'd Only available when in Select mode and some objects are selected. Moves the selected objects to the back, and marks them as unselectable background; their position or appearance can not be changed until they are unmarked. None of the selected objects may be locked. If some background objects exist already, the new objects will be added to that background. This feature is intended for such things as sheet borders or drawing grids, which are used as a backdrop to a drawing on top. However, it is now considered obsolete and may be removed in a future version. Layers give a far more versatile way of implementing this. Clear bgn'd Only available when a background is set; unmarks all the background objects and makes them selectable again. Settings menu ------------- These options set operating or display parameters. Many of them are duplicated by toolbox icons. Zoom Selects preset zoom or normal size, and redraws the screen. Equivalent to clicking the button in the toolbox. Enlarge Increases the magnification, immediately redrawing the screen. Reduce Reduces the magnification, immediately redrawing the screen. Set zoom Standard "Magnifier" box for setting the preset magnification that will be used when zoom display is selected (this can also be opened by clicking Adjust over the "Zoom" tool in the toolbox). Orthogonal Selects constrained angle or free movement; equivalent to clicking the button in the toolbox. Units Select "Inches" or "Centimetres" from the menu as required. All user measurements are shown and input in these units. Page size Allows the paper size to be set. Click on the up or down arrows to choose from a range of standard sizes. Choose "Portrait" to orient the paper with the long side vertical, or "Landscape" for the long side horizontal. Select the "As printer" option to take the paper size from the currently loaded printer driver; this option is obviously not available if no driver is loaded. If the printer driver size is being used, choose "Show limits" to show the paper margins on the drawing. The paper dimensions are shown in the currently selected units. Grid Sets the screen and lock grids. The grid that pointer movement and drawing is constrained to can be finer (or coarser!) than the grid that is shown on screen. A grid giving the required drawing resolution can therefore be set without it cluttering up the screen or taking a long time to redraw at low magnifications. The screen grid setting sets the spacing of the visible dots, in user units. The lock grid setting specifies how much finer than the screen grid the lock grid is. For exam ple, if the screen grid is set to '1' (inch) and the lock grid multiplier to '5', then the lock grid will be at 0·2" spacing and all drawing will be confined to this. Choose the "Show screen grid" option to show the screen grid points in the drawing window. If this is set, "Auto adjust" can be chosen to coarsen the grid at low magnifications, so that it does not overwhelm the drawing or take a long time to redraw; note that this affects the screen display only. Choose the "Snap to lock grid" option to constrain all pointer movements to the lock grid. When this is not set, the pointer moves freely. This can also be changed by clicking on the toolbox icon. Select "Rectangular" or "Isometric" to use a grid of that type. This setting also affects the angle that movement is constrained to when Orthogonal is selected. Show tools Choose this to display the toolbox window for that drawing. The option is ticked when the toolbox is open; to remove the toolbox, use its close icon. Show XY Choose this to display the position window for that document, showing the position of the pointer in user coordinates. (0,0) is at the bottom left corner of the paper. To remove the display, use its close icon; the option is ticked when the position display is on. Auto scroll If this is set, when the pointer approaches the edge of the drawing area during dragging (approximately ¼" on a standard monitor) the window will scroll in that direction. If this option is not set, no scrolling will be done. Note that the automatic scrolling will stop if the pointer is moved out of the drawing area. Create menu ----------- This menu mostly duplicates the toolbox icons. Line Creates a line segment. Curve Creates a curve segment. Move Starts a new subpath. Closed When ticked, closes subpaths when the path is finished or a new subpath is started. Finish Completes creating the path. Delete Removes the last-placed point. Box Creates a rectangle. Ellipse Creates an ellipse. Text Creates a text object. Polygon Creates a regular polygon. Enter the required number of sides in the entry box leading from this option. Select menu ----------- Apart from the first, these options are available when in Select mode and an appropriate object or combination of objects is selected. All Selects all selectable objects in the drawing, i.e. all those which are on selectable layers and not in background. Clear Unselects the current selection. Copy Makes a copy of the selected objects, slightly offset from the originals. The copied objects remain at the same 'depth' as the source objects, in contrast to the original where they were added at the front of the drawing. Delete Irretrievably deletes the selected objects from the drawing. Confirmation will be requested, if the appropriate option has been set. Front Moves the selected objects all the way to the front of the drawing, obscuring any non-selected objects that they overlap. Locked objects cannot be ordered, but other objects may be moved around them. Back Moves the selected objects all the way to the back of the drawing, going behind any non-selected objects but in front of the background if one is set. Forward Moves the selected objects forwards by one place only. Backward Moves the selected objects backwards by one place only. Group Combines all the selected objects into a group. None of the selected objects may be locked. Objects on more than one layer may be grouped; they remain on their own layers (the group is created on the current layer). However, if the group is moved to a new layer then all the included objects also change. Ungroup Dissolves the selected group. A single, unlocked, group object must be selected; it reverts to individual objects. Lock Locks the selected objects; their handles will disappear. Locked objects cannot be changed in any way, or deleted (except that certain layer operations may move them to layer 0). They may be copied; the new objects will not be locked. Locked objects may also be added to libraries, but will be unlocked when they are retrieved from the library. Unlock Restore the handles on selected locked objects, and allow them to be changed. Arrange menu ------------ These options manipulate the selected objects in Select mode. Rotate/Skew Leads to a three-function dialogue box for entry of the required angle. "Rotate" rotates the objects about the centres of their own bounding boxes. Specify the angle in degrees, and select "Clockwise" or "Anticlockwise" as required. "H Skew" displaces each point of the object horizontally, a distance depending on the height above or below the object's centre (so squares turn into parallelograms, etc.). The limit on the angle in this case is ±85° (think about tangents of large angles if you want to know why): "Clockwise" displaces points above the centre to the right and ones below the centre to the left, while "Anticlockwise" does the reverse. "V Skew" does the same, but in the vertical direction. Reverse L-R Mirrors the objects left-to-right. Reverse T-B Mirrors the objects top-to-bottom. Scaling Leads to a dialogue box allowing the objects to be scaled by a specified amount. For scale factors greater than 1, selecting "Enlarge" makes the objects bigger while "Reduce" makes them smaller (obvious really!). Scale factors between 0 and 1 have the opposite effect. Entering a negative scale factor will reverse as well as scale the objects (for those objects that can be reversed). Transform Similar to "Scaling", but allows the scale factors for horizontal and vertical dimensions, and line widths, to be specified independently. Dimension scaling is applied about the object's centre. Any type of object can be scaled. New layer Moves the objects onto the current layer. Snap to grid Aligns the objects to the lock grid. For sprite or text objects, the bottom left corner is aligned. For path objects, the path's bounding box is aligned to the grid and all its points are scaled and moved to correspond with this; this avoids distortion of paths that happen if each point is individually snapped. This option is available whether or not grid lock is on. Size/Position Allows the size and positioning of a single object to be altered. At most one each of the horizontal and vertical position and sizes can be selected and altered. Changing the left, right, top or bottom position moves the object; changing width or height scales the object about its centre. Align Leads to a dialogue box for specifying the type of alignment. Horizontal or vertical alignment can be selected at the same time if required; the specified point on each object is aligned to the same point on the leftmost (for horizontal alignment) or lowest (for vertical alignment) object. This option corresponds to "Justify" on the original Acorn version of Draw. Distribute Leads to a similar dialogue box, except that only one option can be selected at a time. The objects are moved so that the specified points are spaced evenly between same points on the leftmost and rightmost (for horizontal distribute) or the highest and lowest (for vertical distribute) objects. Space/Pack Leads to a dual-function dialogue box. With "Space out" selected, the objects are moved in a similar way to Distribute, but so that the space between the objects is constant rather than the reference points on the objects being spaced equally. There must be enough room between the two extreme objects to fit in all the others without overlapping. This option is not available if only two objects are selected. With "Pack together" selected, the objects are moved so that their bounding boxes fit together without overlapping, starting from the leftmost or lowest as appropriate. See the "Alignment" drawing for a graphical explanation of the various alignment options. Interpolate Leads to an entry box in which the number of intermediate objects can be specified. Inter polation can only be performed between two path objects which have the same numbers and types of segments, except that a line may correspond to a curve or vice versa. A set of intermediate objects are created and selected. Position, line and fill colours, line width and triangle cap size are interpolated. Text Style menu --------------- This menu has two functions. In Select or Edit modes, it sets the style for the selected text objects or areas. In Text Create mode, it sets the default style that will be used for new text objects. Font name Selects the font family to be used for text objects. Unless you have some unusually-named fonts, only the family name (first component of the name) will appear on this menu. See later for more information on fonts. Font style Sets the font enhancement. Only those options for which fonts are available in the current family can be selected. Not available for 'System Font' text. Size/Height Sets the size of the text, in points (1/72 inch). If "As size" is selected, the size chosen will be used for both width and height and can be specified by choosing a preset size or entering it in the box. If this is not selected, the width can be set as above while the height can be set independently by entering that in its box. Text colour Sets the foreground colour to be used for the text; the 'inside' of the characters is normally displayed using this colour. If the current palette allows, the text will be anti-aliased using a number of steps between this colour and the text background colour. Text colour and background colour apply to text areas as well as text objects. Background Sets the text background colour. This is normally white, but can be varied to control the anti-aliasing effect. Line spacing Only available when the default text style is being set; controls the amount of extra space that will be added between text lines when Return is pressed to terminate a text object, ready for the next one. This is set in points. Smart quotes Only available to change the style of existing text objects or areas. Changes simple quotes (as typed from the keyboard) into open and close pairs. The enhanced quote characters may not be available in certain fonts, and definitely not in the system font. Note that drawings containing objects with enhanced quotes (or any other top-bit-set characters) cannot be loaded into some versions of Acorn Draw. Reset quotes Changes open and close quotes back into simple ones. Path Style menu --------------- This menu has two functions. In Select or Edit modes, it sets the style for the selected objects. In Path Create mode, it sets the default style that will be used for new objects. Line colour Sets the colour that will be used to draw path outlines. Fill colour Sets the colour that will be used to fill the insides of paths (what is considered to be 'inside' is controlled by the "Winding rule" option). Line width Sets the width to be used when drawing outlines, measured in points. Select a preset size, or enter the width in the box. If "Thin" is selected, the thinnest line that the screen or printer is capable of displaying will be used. Line pattern Sets the line style to be used for outlines; either solid or one of the ten dash patterns. Caps/Joins Sets the way in which the ends of open paths and line joins are displayed. The join, starting cap and ending cap can all be set independently, and the size of the triangle cap controlled. Winding rule Controls what is considered to be the 'inside' of a path when filling. See the original Draw manual for an explanation. Special menu ------------ These options are available in Select mode, when an appropriate object is selected. Text to path Converts the selected text object into a group of paths (one for each character). Initially, the appearance does not change, but the object can now be manipulated as a path and the path style rather than the text style applies. This may not give very good results for small font sizes, and is only available for fonts which are defined as outlines. Explode text A single text object must be selected, which is converted into a group of text objects each containing a single character from the original and initially occupying the same positions. Useful for effects such as spaced- out (kerned) or vertical text. Resize sprite Resets the bounding box of a sprite object so that the sprite appears at actual size (i.e. the size that it was set to when it was first loaded). Bounding box Creates a rectangular path object, in the current path style, which follows the bound ing box of the original object and is separated from it by the specified distance (in user units). Positive separation makes the box larger than the object; negative separation makes it smaller (and so may overlap the object). Using libraries --------------- The library can be used to store any type of object (except for text columns). It is shared between all drawings being worked on, and objects are stored and accessed by name. The library is saved separately from any drawings so it can be used for storing standard symbols, text fonts or clip art. To store an object in the library, it must be selected (in Select or Edit mode). Open the "Store" dialogue box in the "Library" menu, and enter a name for the object. The name can be up to 20 characters long, and may include any printable characters including space. Press Return or click "OK"; it will be added to the library. To store every object in a drawing in the library, choose "Store all..." from the "Library" menu and confirm. Each object will be indicated in turn, and the "Store" dialogue box displayed. Enter a name for the object. Cancelling the dialogue will carry on with the next object without storing the current one. To display the contents of the library, choose "Library..." from the icon bar menu or "Show..." from a document's "Library" menu. A window will open showing a scrolling list of the object names. There are two library display modes: one in a small window showing the list of object names only, and a larger window additionally showing details and a thumbnail view of the selected object. To change from one view to another, use the window's toggle-size icon (right hand end of the title bar). To paste a library object into a drawing (which need not be the one that it was copied out of), select it in the scrolling list. Then select Library mode from the toolbox, or choose "Retrieve" from the "Library" menu. Click Select to place the object (centre at the pointer position), or press and hold Select to drag the object about before releasing it. This can be repeated, or another object chosen and pasted, as required. If the "Reset layer" option is set, the library object will be added on the current layer. If this option is not set, the object will remain on the same layer that it was on when it was added to the library. If this layer is not defined in the drawing, the object will not be visible and will be unselectable. The library window has its own menu with the following options: File Standard dialogue box giving information about the current library. Save library Saves the contents of the library as a library file; used in the normal way. Clear library Clears out the library, i.e. deletes all objects. Delete object Deletes the selected object from the library. Rename object Changes the name of the selected object. Edit the name in the entry box leading from this option. Save object Saves the selected object as a Draw file; used in the normal way. Units Sets the unit which is used when displaying the details of the selected object. To load a new library, double-click on it in a Filer display or drag its icon to the icon bar. This will replace the current library; if it is modified, confirmation is requested. To merge libraries, drag the icon to the library window; its contents will be added to the current library and any objects with duplicated names will be superseded by those in the merged library. The library window can be closed and re-opened without losing the contents of the current library. To update an object in the library, simply store it with the same name that was used before; the contents will be replaced. Using layers ------------ Layers are always available, but if you take no specific action to use them then everything will work as before. A drawing can have up to 32 layers. Each object appears on a particular layer, and each layer can be made visible (i.e. the objects are shown on the screen, or printed) and selectable (i.e. the objects can be selected and operated on) independently. There is always a current layer set, on which new objects are created and existing objects can be moved to. Most aspects of layers are controlled by a dialogue box opened by choosing "Layers..." from the "Misc" menu or by clicking Adjust on the layer display in the toolbox. It shows a scrolling list of the layers currently defined, with two buttons by each one. When "Sel" is on, objects on that layer can be selected and operated on; otherwise they cannot be selected. When "Vis" is on, objects on that layer will be shown on the screen and printed; otherwise they are invisible. The current layer is shown by the highlight bar; to designate another one as current, click on the name or number in the scrolling list. To define a new layer, click "Add layer"; a new layer will be added with the first free layer number and a default name. It will also be selected as the current layer. To change the name or number of a layer, select it as current and then edit the name or number in the boxes below and press Return. If the number is changed, and the new number is already defined as a layer, then the two layer names and information will swap. To remove the definition of a layer, select it as current and then click "Delete layer". Any objects that were on deleted layers will, when the dialogue is finished, be moved to layer 0. To select objects on all layers, click "Sel all". To select only the current layer and layer 0, click "Sel this". To make objects on all layers visible, click "View all". To view only the objects on the current layer and layer 0, click "View this". When all the layer settings are as required, click "OK". Press Escape or click the dialogue box's close icon to abandon the dialogue and not change any layer settings. Any new objects will be created on the current layer. To change the layer of existing objects, select them and choose "New layer" from the "Arrange" menu. The objects will be moved onto the current layer. Layer number 0 (default name "Standard") is slightly special. This is the layer that will be used by default if no action is taken to define new layers. Files created by Acorn Draw and other applications, and those saved without the new format option set, will have all their objects on layer 0. Any objects on layers that are deleted, or objects merged from a file whose layers are not defined, will also appear on layer 0. This layer cannot be made unselectable or invisible, and it cannot be deleted or renumbered. If you intend to create a layered drawing, I would recommend that you reserve layer 0 for unlayered objects and use layers 1 through 31 as required. Layer numbers are important if layered objects are to be transferred between drawings or drawings merged into one another. Objects will be transferred onto layers with the same number, regardless of the name; if a layer is not defined in the drawing that the objects are being merged into, any objects on that layer will appear on layer 0. When saving layered drawings, remember to have "New format" and "With settings" turned on so that the layer information is retained. Keystroke equivalents --------------------- Any mouse action in a window causes it to grab the input focus from then on. Keystroke equivalents for menu actions are shown on the menus (they can be hidden, if desired, to make the menus smaller, but they will still perform the action). Note that some keystrokes have an action on both the "Create" and "Edit" menus; when in path edit mode the "Edit" menu applies, and the "Create" menu at other times. The following keystrokes also have an effect: Up, Down, Left, Right When dragging, move the pointer by one pixel. In Select mode, when not dragging, move the selected objects by one pixel (if grid lock is off) or one grid step (if grid lock is on). In path edit mode, when not dragging, move the current point in the same way. Escape Abandon an operation in progress. Shift-Select Centre the display at the pointer position, if possible. Space Switch back and forth between the Select tool and the last tool used. Print Pop up the "Print" dialogue box f3 Pop up the "Save drawing" dialogue box. Font Handling ------------- DrawPlus tries to handle fonts as intelligently as possible. There are two menus associated with this, "Font name" and "Font style". Normally, the name menu lists the font family name (the first component of the pathname) while the style menu gives the valid styles for that selected family. The following weights are understood: .Light .Book .Medium .Standard .Regular .Demi .Bold .Heavy .Black and the following slopes: .Normal .Roman .Italic .Oblique which should cover most of the fonts in common use (if a font has only one component in its name, standard weight and upright is assumed). If a font is installed on the system with an style attribute which is not known, then that attribute will appear on the name menu as a separate family. For example, if the fonts 'Oxford.Ultra' and 'Oxford.Ultra.Italic' are installed (where 'Ultra' is not a recognised weight), they will appear on the name menu as "Oxford-Ultra" with "Medium" weight and slopes of "Normal" and "Italic" on the style menu. There should be no limit on the number of fonts which can be known to DrawPlus. However, note that due to the Draw file format there is a limit of 255 different fonts which can be used in a single drawing. Bugs, Features and Cautions --------------------------- The following are the dropoffs, bugs and omissions that I know about in the current version: 1. The little-known facility in the original to directly copy selected objects between drawings (by using the "Select/ Copy" menu option) is not supported. More than one document at a time can be in Select mode. 2. Line pattern changes are not applied to path objects which are members of groups. 3. DrawPlus cannot load DXF files in the way that the original version of Draw could. Use the original to convert DXF files, if you really want to. 4. The only major facility missing which was present in the original is the "New view" option to open two windows on the same drawing. Sorry about this, but by the time I got around to thinking about implementing this the fundamental program structure didn't permit it to be implemented (too many extensive changes were required). Anyway, I never have enough room on my screen for one view, let alone two, and switching magnification is much more convenient... 5. If a drawing with background objects is merged with another, the background objects in the merged one lose their background status. 6. Text being edited displays wrongly in very low-resolution modes (e.g. mode 2). But nobody ever uses these modes (and Acorn's Edit gets it wrong too!). Unforeseen errors are sometimes reported as "Internal error" or "Fatal error" and a message. If you get one of these, let me know what happened (in the case of "Fatal" and your masterpiece being lost, after you've counted to ten and calmed down) with as much informa tion as possible, namely: Machine type, OS version and memory available Version of DrawPlus and Shared C Library being used Type of monitor and screen mode being used What was being done at the time Error message or other symptoms Is the problem repeatable? Is the problem confined to just one drawing? Any unusual modules which may be installed (e.g. screen savers) If the problem relates to text, details of fonts installed Note to Impression II users: When saving Draw files for loading into the border library, select the corner and edge pieces (corner at the front) and then save them as a selection to disc or directly into the border setup dialogue box. Saving them as a drawing, even if they are the only two objects in it, will cause Impression to crash. Drawings can be loaded into frames with no problem. Text objects cannot be loaded into the border setup; doing this will again cause a crash. Finally... ---------- I hope you like using and are satisfied with DrawPlus. If so, tell your friends. If not, or if you have any suggestions for improvements or suggestions, please contact me; I will try to fix bugs and incorporate reasonable ideas in forth coming versions. Standard boring Copyright Notice: All program code and the contents of the supporting files are copyright © myself (Jonathan Marten) 1990,1991,1992 except for the public domain Interface module and its supporting code which was written by and is © Simon Huntington. No rights are taken or implied over any drawings or other works which may be produced using this application. DrawPlus is "Shareware". You are free to give this application to anyone you please via any medium, provided it is delivered with all the supplied files, unaltered. If you wish to post it on your bulletin board or include it in your PD library then that is fine. You may not sell this application, except that PD libraries may make a nominal charge to cover disc duplication and postage. You have permission to use any part or the whole application in a project you intend to place in the public domain, as long as I am fully credited. If you wish to use this application as part of a system or other application that is for sale (for however much and for whatever reasons) or released as copyright material then my express permission in writing must be obtained. I maintain copyright on all the material supplied and reserve the right to amend these conditions in cases of misuse. A great many hours of work have gone into the development and maintenance of this application, and I would like to keep supporting it. Although I have supplied the application free, donations will be gratefully received (amount at your discretion). If you send a blank disc as well, I will return it with any useful PD or my own software that I may have lying around. You can obtain the latest version of the application, at any time, by sending a blank disc. Disclaimer: Apart from using their (excellent) C compiler and (somewhat dubious) RiscOS library, this application has no connection with Acorn. Any confusion caused by the use of the term "Draw" or similar is regretted. This software is supplied "as is"; no warranty, express or implied, of the merchantability of this software or its fitness for any particular purpose is given. In no circumstances shall the author, or any provider or distributor of this software, be liable for any damage, loss of profits, or any indirect or consequential loss arising out of the use of this software or inability to use this software. Acknowledgments: Many thanks to those who wrote to me, pointing out problems with the original or making suggestions (or just saying that they liked it!). There are too many people to mention, but I'm sure that those who made (feasible) suggestions will recognise them here. Special thanks to Barry Thompson, for loaning me his copy of Impression II (with the dongle!) to track down the border library problem (and for finding more bugs than everybody else put together...); Simon Huntington for the Interface module (fancy dialogue boxes coming later, maybe); John Davey for the ModeExtend module which allowed me to diagnose the multisync-related bugs. Background: I decided to develop this application after using Acorn's original Draw for quite a number of drawings and finding some problems with it (none of them serious, but quite a few of them annoying). The hardware and software that I used was as follows: Original '440 with 50Mb SCSI disc (a bit more room now!) Acorn ANSI C release 3 compiler, debugger and RiscOS library (later, release 4) My version of Make (available on Norwich Computer Services Careware disc #1) An expanded version of MicroEmacs (originally from David Pilling) Some of David Pilling's C Tools (notably 'ctags') 'Old Faithful' BBC B with Lancaster Kermit, for remote debugging Various other tools such as Paint and FormEd Most of the operations have the 'look and feel' of the original Draw, and this was indeed where most of the inspiration came from. Many of the additional facilities, notably the alignment operations and the four-way object handles, also layers and dash patterns, were inspired by Claris' MacDraw II for the Apple Macintosh. The library facility was also based on this. The original 'Text to path' facility was inspired by (but not copied from) Data Store's FontFX application, which is recommended for achieving even more exotic font effects. The grid options and appearance, and the Shift-Select display control ("Window") were copied from Racal-Redac's Visula system. The font name/style system, the background facility, polygon create and the 'Skew' options were entirely my own work (honest!). Etymology (look it up like I had to): The original package was called Draw One-and-a-Half because it was only halfway towards what I was intending to write (the full package was going to be called Draw 2). But then Acorn started calling their next version Draw 2, so this application was renamed DrawPlus. Contacts: I can be contacted by or at: Snail-Mail: 11 Carmarthen Close Farnborough Hampshire GU14 8TJ Phone: (0252) 542431 (at reasonable hours) E-mail: jmarten@cix.compulink.co.uk jmarten@cix.UUCP ...!ukc!slxsys!cix!jmarten Arcade BBS: 387 Jonathan Marten September 1992