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DRAWING TECHNIQUES Start out using the program by experimenting. Try using the various functions and actions and noting the results. With a little time and practice using the program becomes very fast and efficient. For major works take time to plan out the order in which you will create the drawing. It is generally best to start with the details, shrink these down and combine them to produce the final drawing. If you want the printed drawing to look like the screen the reverse video action should be chosen from <F1> just before printing. This is useful showing things like planetoids. The black back- ground is more natural. Mechanical drawings should be printed out without reversing the screen so that they correspond to the standard method of viewing. Since many of the actions take place inside of boxed areas it is advisable to create parts of a drawing separately and then combine them at the end. This can be accomplished by drawing the vari- ous components on different parts of the screen or by using a screen for each component and combining screens using the copy action of <F7>. EXAMPLES: To draw box: Move the cursor to one of the corners of the box. Select desired color of box with <F10>. Select <F2> and <r>ectangle to display the box as it is drawn. Move the cursor to form the box as desired. Use the <Shft-Cursor> keys to adjust the start point of the box if needed. Hit either <F2>, <ENTER>, or <F1-F8> to complete function and draw box. Respond <y> to the "Correct (y/n)?" prompt to keep the box or <n> to return to the drawing as it was. DRAWING TECHNIQUES 5-1 To draw a circle: Move the cursor to the desired center of the circle. Select desired color of the circle with F8. Select <F3> and <c> for circle. Move the cursor to the desired radius and hit either <F3>, <ENTER>, or <F1-F8> to complete func- tion and draw circle. If the circle is not prop- erly centered simply hold down the <Shift> key while using the cursor keys. Respond as desired to the "Correct (y/n)?" prompt. To draw a line: Move the cursor to the start of the line. Select <F6> and <l>. Move cursor to position line as desired. Use a <ENTER> or <F1-F8> <l> to mark next point on line. Continue drawing lines. To stop momentarily use the <Space Bar>. If you make an error <Back Space> can be use to erase the last line and redraw up to where you are. Line width can also be set using the <w>idth command of the CURSOR MODE and changed at will while drawing the line. The color can also be varied as the line drawn and you can switch back and forth with <d>ot, <p>arallel line, and <s>poked line. When last point of line has been marked, select F6 and either <e> or <E> to end the line. If <E> is chosen the line is not only drawn on the screen, but saved to disk under user specified name. It can be retrieved at any angle and any scale using <F6 o>. Even if you did not save the drawing to disk it is still available for reuse, continuation or modification. Select <F6 O> to redraw the last vector. To erase an area: Move the cursor to a position at one of the corners of the area to be erased. Select <F7 e> to mark the corner. Move the cursor to enclose the desired area with the display box. As with box the <Shft-cursor> keys can be used to modify the initial corner position. Select <ENTER> or <F1-F8> to mark the opposite corner. Copy works the same way. DRAWING TECHNIQUES 5-2 Creating 3-D looking spheres or planetoids is easy using the spray paint feature of <F4>. Start by drawing a circle of desired size, next paint it with <F5> as desired. Move the cursor to a loca- tion on the now painted circle and select <F4 s> to spray paint one of the colors in the circle or if you prefer use <F4 Alt-s> to spray paint all fore- ground colors. Next move the cursor to one corner of the square containing the circle and select <ENTER> to mark that corner. Next enclose the circle in a box by moving the cursor and select <ENTER> a third time to begin spray painting. This is a fun operation to use with the key macro since, by varying the cursor speed before calling the macro will result in different size planetoids. Very complex and interesting patterns can be created by copying and area and then moving off the screen with <F7 a>nimate. Try this with the file KD-PTRN.PIC, which can be retrieved with <F7 o>ld. When you obtain a particular pattern you want to use leave it on the screen with <F7 M> and then copy it again. Next move over the object you wish to paint with this new color pattern. Select <F7 Ctrl-m> to paint the object. (Note the object should be in color 3 for best results.) 3-D oblique drawings can be made quickly from 2-D drawings. In high resolution, draw a box with <F2 r>; copy the box with <F7 c>; set the cursor speed to 1; move one space to the left and one space up; select <F7 s>; move alternately one step left and one step up until cube is of desired size; select <F7 M>; and the cube is complete. Schematics and flow charts can be readily created from predefined symbol libraries. Creating your own symbol libraries is easy and straight forward. For objects that you want to bring in at different sizes and angles the features of <F6> are ideal. As an illustration, lets consider creating symbols of furniture to use in laying out an office. Start by DRAWING TECHNIQUES 5-3 setting the scale of the screen so that the furni- ture will nearly fill the screen when drawn to get the maximum resolution. Move to 0,0 with <Alt-1>, select <F6 l, d, p, s> to start drawing the item. When you have completed drawing the item select <F6 E> to end line drawing save the vector image to disk. Give the item an appropriate name and go to the next item. When you are working on the room layout simply call up the required object from disk using <F6 o>, rotate it if desired, and place it where you want. Special effects can be created by setting the back- ground attribute to something other then the actual background. Try setting the background with <B> to <1>. Now draw a box or circle or line. Note how the object is left behind as you move the cursor. When you hit the <ENTER> key the screen is refreshed and then the final box/circle/ line is drawn, but sometimes it is desirable to use <B> to create patterns and other effects much quicker than otherwise possible. At any time you wish to pre- serve what the screen shows, select <k>eep and it will be saved. 16 Colors: If you have a composite color monitor or TV set you can obtain sixteen colors instead of the normal 4 available in RGB. Set the color palette to the second palette where color 1=Green, color 2=Red and color 3=Yellow. Draw several boxes, circles, or polygons on the screen. Move the cur- sor to within one of the figures and select <F5 Alt-p>aint. A color bar will appear showing 16 color choice, but these won't look that great. Select a </> and the colors change to 16 distinct, vibrant colors on a composite monitor. Select the number you desire and specify the color of the fig- ure and wholla the object is painted. Most of the other drawing functions only recognize the four primary colors so some care must be taken when creating a composite picture. DRAWING TECHNIQUES 5-4 Macros included with PC-KEY-DRAW can be an ideal method of learning how to use the program. By watching the macros you can get a feel for what can be done. By reading the macro files you can learn the exact key strokes required to create a given effect. See the following section on editing macros for more information. The macros should be translated to TeXT form for improved readability and printed out. Try entering the key strokes as they are and see what happens. Note that some macros start with a lot of initialization, while others get right down to drawing. Several things can be done to slow macros down so that what is happening is more visible. Try turn- ing on the Help menu by setting the program to Novice mode in the <Ctrl-s>tatus screen. Remove the *|2 or *|1 line in the macro so that the cursor and prompt are shown when the macro is run. This makes it run a lot slower. You can even add <Alt-p>ause commands at various places in a macro so that it stops for awhile before proceeding. DRAWING TECHNIQUES 5-5 KEY MACRO Perhaps one of the most powerful functions of PC- KEY-DRAW is the key macro command, because it has so many different uses. I have yet to fully explore all of the uses of the key macro, but they include saving entire drawings, creating slide shows, saving commonly used routines/figures, and performing repetitive operations. The key macro command works by recording all of the key strokes you make and saving them to disk in a sequential ASCII file. The program keeps track of the same key being hit a multiple number of times and records not only the key, but its repetition num- ber. Key macro files can be very small and still do quite a lot. Saving Entire Drawings: PC-KEY-DRAW provides numer- ous ways to save a drawing, which way you use depends on a variety of factors. The key macro offers a way to save a drawing that is rather dif- ferent from the rest, because, instead of saving a completed drawing, you are saving the steps to create that drawing. When the key macro is used to save a drawing it should start by properly initial- izing the program, so that each time it is called the result will be the same. After selecting create macro with <Alt-k c> and naming it, initialize the program. Initialization should start with refresh- ing the screen with <F8 f>, setting the cursor to 0,0 with <Alt-1>, setting the cursor speed to one with <Shft-F9>, and setting the color to 1 with <Shft-F10>. Then proceed to create the drawing. When the drawing is complete, end the key macro with <Alt-k e>. The drawing can then be redrawn with <Alt-k r> and the macro name. IRIS2.MCR (on Library Disk #2) is an excellent example of saving an entire drawing. KEY MACRO 6-1 Slide Shows: Very interesting slide shows can be created quickly and easily using the key macro com- mand. The complete drawing capability is avail-able to be used in the slide show. Slide shows are created simply by starting the macro and then per- forming the desired steps. This might be as simple as calling up a series of already completed draw- ings and pausing in between them or may include the actual creation of the drawing as part of the show. The DEMO.BAT (formally SAMPLE) macro included on the program diskette was created simply by drawing what I wanted. As with the saving of a drawing, slide shows should be initialized for best results. Portions of a slide show can be done separately and then combined by linking or merging. Linking is performed by calling the next sequence from the end of the first. In this way slide shows can be very long or continuous. Merging is accomplished using a word processor and actually combining files. (See Editing Macros.) The <*> command is useful for slide shows and you may want to include it as part of the initializa- tion. Normally the prompts for the program will be displayed as a macro is run, but by using a single <*> at the beginning of the command all printed prompts can be suppressed. This not only improves the appearance of the slide show, but it greatly speeds the execution time. Entering <*> twice will stop printing of prompts and will hide the cursor. From a text editor put the following to stop the prompts: *|1 or use the following to stop the prompts and hide the cursor: *|2 KEY MACRO 6-2 Saving Commonly Used Routines/Figures: Certain operations can be saved for later use in another drawing. These saved operations can be called from disk as needed to perform the required task, and save having to manually do the task. Generally, routines should include minimal initialization for the maximum flexibility. Various figures that are commonly used can also be saved with the key macro command, as they will probably require less disk space then if saved with one of the other methods. The penalty for doing so is the time required to create the figure on the screen will be longer than that required to simply call the completed drawing from disk. However, for saving border patterns and the like, the key macro command is ideal. Repetitive Operations: Key macros can be used to automate certain repetitive actions and save you significant time. An example of such is the creat- ing of concentric circles or ellipses using all of the available colors. Try the following: 1. Locate the cursor in the center of the screen. 2. Set the cursor speed to 1 and the color to one. 3. Start the key macro with the name CIRCLE. 4. Draw a circle of radius one pixel. 5. End the circle and confirm that it is correct. 6. Move the cursor to the center of the circle using <C>. 7. Step the cursor speed up one using the <+> key. 8. Step the color up one using the <F10> key. 9. Select <Alt-k> and run the macro CIRCLE from itself. At this point the program should start drawing circle after circle, each time incrementing the color and the size by one. To stop the macro use <Esc>. Try some other short drawings and linking them to themselves. KEY MACRO 6-3 Configuration: While PC-KEY-DRAW provides a config- uration screen, it does not remember everything that you may want it to remember the next time you run the program. A simple solution is to create a key macro that does the desired configuration, such as adjusting the screen. Version 3.1 allows macros to be called from DOS when the program is called, by simply entering the name of the macro on the command line after the program name, followed by a space. Editing Macros: The editing of macros created from version 3 is limited to using a word processor. The file is straight ASCII, but beware that what may look like a common space CHR$(32) is actually an ASCII zero CHR$(0). Also beware that cursor posi- tion is relative, not absolute. The use of a back- ground editor, such as Sidekick, can be of great benefit, since it can be called up while you are working in PC-KEY-DRAW. Be sure that the particu- lar background program you are using works when the screen is in a graphics mode! The macro files are set up so that each line is a command followed by a separator (|) and the number of repetitions. The command is the actual key stroke code. While MaCRo files can be edited directly it is easier to first convert them to TeXT files using KD-TRANS.EXE. Since errors you may make are recorded you may want to edit them out of a slide show. This can be done easily to the ASCII file by removing only the com- mands and not the cursor movement that may occur as part of the command. One of the most common editing method will be the merging of files together to create one big file. When merging files care must be taken to ensure that all parameters are set to the value needed by consecutive parts of the macro. For example the cursor position at the start of a macro will deter- KEY MACRO 6-4 mine the actual end result. One handy feature of a key macro is the ability to call a second macro at the end of the first, allow- ing unlimited macros to be chained together when run, but reside separately on disk. To avoid hav- ing to edit the macro, work in reverse, starting with the last section first and be sure that each macro includes its own initialization. Macro files contain the key strokes used, followed by a separator (|) and a number to indicate the number of times the key was hit in a row. If the key was a command it will only appear once while something like a cursor movement key may have been hit many times in a row. Text can be added after the repeat number for the purpose of placing remarks in a macro. This is especially convenient for including notes to others on what the macro does and how to use it. The following is a short example of what a macro file would look like after being translated with KD-TRANS.EXE to a TeXT file: SHFT-F10 |1 Force Color to Color 1 SHFT-F9 |1 Force Cursor Speed to 1 + |4 Add four to the Cursor Speed F2 |1 Select Function 2 Rectangles p |1 Select polygon 5 |1 5 sided RIGHT |9 Move to the right 9 times [ |3 Rotate the polygon F9 |1 Drop speed to 1 [ |1 Rotate the polygon ENTER |2 End polygon and indicate correct. F9 |1 Toggle speed back to 5 LEFT |5 Move into polygon F5 |1 Select F5 Paint & Pattern ALT-P |1 Select Alternate paint 8 |1 Choose Color 8 for fill 1 |1 Choose Color 1 for border ENTER |1 Confirm correct. ALT-K |1 Select Key Macro KEY MACRO 6-5 e |1 End You can duplicate the above by simply entering in the above keys the number of times indicated. The remarks to the right of the repeat number should not be entered. Note that KD-TRANS expects the key stroke name to be exactly 10 characters and spaces. DOS and Macros: Macros can be called from DOS as follows: KD-DRAW FILENAME where FILENAME is the name of the macro file to be called once KD-DRAW is loaded. A MCR extension is assumed. If another extension is used it must be specified or will not be found. This capability allows the for slide shows to be run by a user knowing nothing about PC-KEY-DRAW or allows set-up routines to be run to customize PC-KEY-DRAW to your particular application. Macros can be called from BATch files or macros can be DOS BATch files. It is possible to create a macro that is both a BATch file and a PC-KEY-DRAW macro. This allows for lots of possibilities with a minimum of extra files on the disk. Some can must be taken in setting up BATch file MaCRo combi- nations. Use the samples on the program disk as a guide. Basically the BATch file is the first part and the MaCRo the second. Since no action is taken in a macro file until the separator (|) is located the BATch file is ignored by the macro. Run Time Mode: Starting with version 3.24 PC-KEY- DRAW can be set to work in a Run Time Mode, so that the end user can view and run macros without any knowledge of PC-KEY-DRAW. To turn PC-KEY-DRAW into the run time mode simply remove or rename KD- DRAW.HLP. When KD-DRAW is called if it does not find KD-DRAW.HLP it only allows a macro to be run. In normal operation when a macro is exited by KEY MACRO 6-6 <Esc>, normal end of the macro, or an error control returns to the CURSOR MODE. In a run time mode when the macro is exited control returns to DOS. If KD-DRAW.DFT is not found the default drive is assumed to contain everything required by the macro to run unless a drive is specified in calling the desired macro, in which case that drive is assumed to contained the primary files needed by the macro. There are no restrictions to distributing PC-KEY- DRAW as a Run Time program, ie. without KD-DRAW.HLP and KD-DRAW.80C, except if a charge for the disk is made. If you wish to charge for a Run Time version of PC-KEY-DRAW you must have prior written permis- sion. Hot Keys: 27 keys can be assigned a macro file name so that when the key is struck the appropriate macro file is run immediately. The Hot keys are the following: <Shft-F1 to F8> <Ctrl-F1 to F10> <Alt-F1 to F9> If KD-DRAW.HOT is found on the program disk or in the program directory on the hard disk the Hot keys are activated. KD-DRAW.HOT contains the listing of the key macro files that correspond to the appro- priate function keys. KD-DRAW.HOT can be edited with any text editor that produces pure ASCII files. There are two primary applications for Hot keys. The first is to assign commonly used routines so that they can be called up quickly as needed. A number of such routines are supplied on library disk #2 and #3. For example BOLD.MCR produces bold faced text from any text brought in with <F6 Ctrl-t> or <F6 Alt-t>. The second use of the Hot keys is for creating a tutorial using the function keys with an on screen menu. KEY MACRO 6-7 Supplied Macros: Numerous macros are supplied with PC-KEY-DRAW. Some are for demonstration of the programs capability, some are more entertaining then anything else, while others perform various routines that are of use to a serious PC-KEY-DRAW user. The following discusses several of the more significant macros. Most of the supplied macros have remarks that can be read using a text editor or simply TYPE from DOS to show instructions for the macro. Use <Alt-1> <F6 T a> from PC-KEY-DRAW to read the macro remarks before running it. Be sure to answer <n>o when asked if correct or the text will become part of your drawing. It is a good idea to add remarks to any macros that you write. In particular you should provide informa- tion as to any premacro operations that are needed for successful operation of the macro. Remarks can be added with a text editor. Sample Demo: A sample demo is included on the pro- gram disk. It was created in several sections and then edited together. Note that the prompt line has been turned off for most of the demo for a cleaner look and faster execution. DEMO.BAT (for- mally SAMPLE.MCR) may stop at several points and wait for input from the keyboard before continuing. A short line is displayed in the bottom right cor- ner when the macro is waiting for user input. The <Alt-p> command could also be used when you want the macro to suspend operation for a specified length of time. DEMO.BAT is both the Batch file and the macro. Slide Show Demo: A demo slide show is included with the numerous screens and pictures on Library Disk #1. SCNSHOW.MCR is a macro that calls previously created screens and partial screens using a variety of display techniques. This method of operation is similar to other Slide Show programs, but far more powerful. KEY MACRO 6-8 Drawing Demo: Library Disk #2 contains the macro IRIS2.MCR that creates a drawing of an iris from scratch. You can watch the moves that the artist made to construct the drawing. Mistakes and changes of mind have been left in to show the pro- cess behind the picture. The completed picture is contained in IRIS3.SCN. My wife Brenda drew this picture with minimal help from me. As I said, she is an artist and it is very clear seeing the results of IRIS2.MCR. IRIS2 took 4 hours from start to finish to create and then edit the macro. In that 4 hours she stopped and we ate dinner. Routines: Library Disk #2 contains several useful routines. Two of the most useful are OVERLAY.MCR and OVERLAY2.MCR. Both take an object currently being animated and through a series of steps over- lay the object onto the background. Which one you use depends on the object that is to be overlaid. OVERLAY will leave a dark outline around the object which is ideal for many, but not all objects. OVER- LAY2 does not leave the outline and is therefore better for certain objects. Both macros were writ- ten to make use of Screen 2 and Screen F7 as work- spaces, so anything in these screens when you call the macro will be lost. It would be easy to write a macro that does not use Screen 2, but uses the disk for temporary storage instead. KEY MACRO 6-9 PAGES AND LAYERS PC-KEY-DRAW version 3 allows you the option to draw using up to 64 pages or 64 layers. The two cannot be used at the same time. Pages and layers are saved on the workspace disk, which can either be a RAM disk, hard disk, or floppy. To use all 64 pages/layers about 1.2 megs of memory is required. In addition to use more than about 20 pages/layers you must set up a subdirectory for the workspace. See your DOS manual for information on creating and using subdirectories. Screens: There are four screens available for creating drawings. Generally you will use SCreen 1 or SCreen 2 as the main drawing screen. You must be in SCreen 1 to access the pages. The other main screen is generally used as a temporary workspace or for holding symbols, shapes, patterns that you need to access quickly and repeatedly. If you are using layers SCreen 2 becomes the visual layer and SCreen 1 is the active layer. Screen 3 is called F7 and it shows that last object copied, erased, animated, etc. Most of the drawing functions can be used in F7, although some may behave differently. F7 is an ideal screen to use to modify something that was just copied before placing it on the drawing. For example to change the color of a FONT before placing it on one of the main screens. <F8 o>ld, <F8 O>ld sequential, and <F8 s>ave work differently in screen F7. Instead of manipulating full screens the partial screens normally associated with the F7 key are retrieved or saved. This makes <F8 O>ld sequential particu- larly useful since it lets you browse through the partial screens as you normally would with the full screens. The final screen is very limited and contains the 25th line of the main screens. PAGES & LAYERS 7-1 Screens are different from pages in several impor- tant ways, but perhaps the most significant is where they are stored. Screens are stored within the 192K the program uses, while pages, other then the current page, are stored on the workspace disk. For fast access use a RAM disk for the workspace. Pages can be used when you want to create a picture that is larger than can be reasonably accommodated on a single screen. This might be a large flow chart, mechanical drawing, or just a big painting. Basically the pages are arranged on an 8X8 grid although they can be used as 64 vertical pages if desired. It is possible to scroll by 1/2 page either horizontally or vertically. To use pages you must be in SCreen 1. Portions of a page can be readily transferred between other pages using the <F7 c>opy function. Pages must be saved separately to disk. While in page mode the cursor line will show SC1 PG00 when in SCreen 1 & page 00. To scroll from one page to another use <Ctrl-Home> to display current position and then use the arrow cursor keys to scroll/pan in the direction of the arrow by one half screen. Use <PgUp> or <PgDn> to move a full page at a time. <Home> returns you to page 00 and <End> takes you to the maximum page that has been created. When scrolling the current screen is saved to the workspace disk, if anything has been added, and the disk is searched for the existence of the page you are moving to. If the page was previously created it is shown, otherwise a blank page is shown. Selecting <Ctrl-Home> twice displays page 00 without saving the page you are currently on. Ultimately the ability to use multiple screens should allow some very detailed printed output on laser printers. Consider drawing on just four pages then printing them out side by side on a laser printer for a 1280X400 dot resolution picture from a standard graphics card. This is an area I PAGES & LAYERS 7-2 hope to be looking at for the next major update. Layers or overlays are very powerful and useful. Think of them as drawing on several layers of clear plastic. Only the active layer is effected by the various functions. The other layers can be visual as desired. To use layers you must be in screen 1 as it is the active screen. Screen 2 becomes the visual screen and holds copies of all layers that are visual. To use correctly start with SCreen 2 being clear. Draw the first portion of the graphic on SCreen 1 and then declare a layer with <Ctrl-l>. This transfers SCreen 1 to SCreen 2, saves it to disk and clears SCreen 1. With SCreen 2 now being overlaid with SCreen 1 the drawing will initially look the same. Continue drawing and as appropriate declare the next layer and so on. There are many uses to layers and many ways that they can be used. Proper use of layers can greatly speed the creation of complex drawings. As with pages, if you want to save the various layers you must do so separately. When layers are activated the prompt line will show SC1L0* when in SCreen 1 and layer 0. The * indi- cates that not only are layers active, but that the visual layer is currently being shown along with the active layer. If the prompt line reads SC1L3 it means that you are in SCreen 1, Layer 3 and only the active layer is being shown. A simpler way of using the layer feature is to load a pattern screen into SCreen 2. For example a screen containing perspective lines might be put in SCreen 2 as the visual layer. Switch to SCreen 1 and activate layer with an <l>, causing the per- spective screen to be shown. Create your drawing using the perspective screen for guidance. PAGES & LAYERS 7-3 Another use for layers is to load a complex object as the visual layer and use the active layer to trace the visual layer and save it in a vector for- mat. Saving Pages/Layers: As noted the layers and pages must be saved separately from within the program. An alternate method of saving layers/pages can be accomplished from DOS. After completing the vari- ous pages exit the program to DOS. If the work- space drive is the same as the drive you save draw- ings on then use the following command in DOS after switching to the workspace drive: REN PAGE.* FILE.* where FILE is the name that you want the file to have. To recall the file at a later data you must first rename it as follows: REN FILE.* PAGE.* Run the program and select <Ctrl-Home> twice to restore the first page. If you use a RAM disk for a workspace then a slightly different procedure is needed to save the drawings from DOS. Instead of RENaming the files COPY them to the desired disk (X:) as follows: COPY PAGE.* X:FILE.* And to retrieve the files use: COPY X:FILE.* PAGE.* Enter the program and retrieve the files using <Ctrl-Home> twice. PAGES & LAYERS 7-4 Compressed Saves: A modification of the above tech- nique can be used to not only save the pages or layers, but to compress them and combine them into a single file. Several programs are available such as ARC and LUE/LUU that can compress and library files. The graphics screens can be significantly compressed and by combining them into one file they can more easily be kept track of. Which library program you use is up to you, but a faster one has some advantage over an more efficient one. By writing the appropriate macro-batch file combina- tion the entire operation can be operated to the point where the user has little knowledge of what actually takes place. ! REMEMBER! <F8 s>ave will save only the screen you are in and not the pages and layers. Refer to the previous discussion for information on how to save pages and layers. PAGES & LAYERS 7-5 LIBRARIES PC-KEY-DRAW provides 6 methods of saving libraries of commonly used pictures, screens, fonts, vectors, macros, and patterns. Line drawings can be saved as vectors for later recall at any angle and scale using F6. Portions of the screen can be saved as bitmapped images under F7. Fonts can be created and then saved using F7 as can patterns. Entire screens are saved with F8, while key macros can be created for a wide variety of uses. PC-KEY-DRAW can also save files as a BASICA subroutine. Vector Saves are ideal for creating objects that need to be retrieved at different angles and sizes. Possible uses include electrical schematics, flow charts, architectural symbols and more. Each ele- ment is saved with its own name providing easy recall of the elements by name. Artists could use this to create special brush patterns/shapes to paint with. VCT is the default extension. Cur- rently the only objects that can be saved as vec- tors are those created entirely from lines, dots, parallel lines, or spoke lines. On ending the line drawing with <F6 E>nd the vector can be named and saved to disk for later use. A vector file con- tains the x and y coordinates of the object along with color and width information. Previously created vector files can be loaded with <F6 o>ld. The scale factor is matched to that of the drawing unless forced to something else. The rotation angle can also be set. Picture Saves are used for complex objects. They are ideal for animation and a whole lot more. One use is to create small patterns to use as brushes for painting with, but a more common use is to save parts of the screen for use in other drawings. <F7 C>opy & save is used to copy an area from the screen and save it to disk. PICtures are ideal for animation. PIC is the default extension. A FIG extension can be specified which results in the LIBRARIES 8-1 file being saved as a series of ASCII numbers. The files can be retrieved with <F7 o>ld or <F7 O>ld & place. <F7 o>ld brings the file in to animate, while <F7 O> places it directly on the screen. To view all of the PIC files on the drawing disk, move to the F7 Screen, select <F8 O>ld, and the files will be brought in one at a time and displayed in the upper left corner of the screen. Font Saves provide a method of saving small com- monly used portions of a screen, such as text, but not limited to text. The portions of the screen are created individually and saved under a common file. They are retrieved with <F6 Alt-t> based on the letter assigned to each picture when saved. FNT is the default extension. To save a character use <F7 C>opy and name the file with an FNT extension. You will be prompted for the character that corre- sponds to the one just copied. To ensure that the characters line up properly be sure to be consis- tent with the location of the top of the character. To modify the default letter and word spacing select <Space Bar> when prompted for the character and enter the desired size in pixels. TYPEMAKE.MCR (on Library Disk #3) creates an unusual looking text font from the primary text fonts. The created font is readily available as KD-FONT3.FNT, but it is interesting to watch as it is created. Direc- tions for TYPEMAKE.MCR are contained in the file. Screen Saves can be used as a library by saving multiple pictures on one screen and then recalled using template of F8. This lets you group commonly used pictures under one name and uses them as desired. Generally saving complete screens will be the most commonly used storage method. SCN is the default extension. SCN files can be view sequen- tially for either screen 1 or screen 2 by selecting <F8 O>ld. LIBRARIES 8-2 Pattern Saves are in the same basic format as Pic- ture Saves, only arranged as 40 X 23 blocks for retrieval using the pattern fill function of F5. Actually any PIC file can be used as a pattern file. Pattern files can be used for simple painting or definitive patterns used for architecture or cartography can be created. 64 different patterns can be saved in one file. The <F1 Ctrl-z> screen size is identical to the pattern size. PIC is the default extension. PATMAKE.MCR (on Library Disk #2) will create a blank pattern screen with a grid of 64 blocks that can be replaced with the patterns you are creating. Macro Saves have many, many uses. See section on KEY MACRO for details as to macro use. MCR is the default extension. BASICA Saves are accomplished in much the same way as Picture or pattern saves using <F7 C>, except that when a BAS extension is added to the file name the file is saved as a subroutine that can be merged into a BASICA program that you are writing. The file will always start a line number 20000 so you will have to RENUMber before merging several together. The subroutine created can be called and will load an array with the data so that the array can be put on the screen using the PUT command of basic. This is ideal for writing games or for writing programs with graphical interfaces. PUT is an ideal way to get simple animation in a BASICA program. Any of the files on the library disks can be turned into BASIC subroutines. See your BASICA manual for detail information on merging BASICA files, and using graphic commands, like PUT and GET. Creating Libraries: While PC-KEY-DRAW is ideal for creating libraries, it currently comes with a lim- ited supply of libraries. I have created many libraries for my own use, but they include things that would be of little use to anyone else. Most of LIBRARIES 8-3 the libraries I have created relate to motion com- pensated cranes and there just isn't much call for such symbols. At the time of this writing PC-KEY- DRAW includes four font libraries, seven pattern libraries, and a number of macro libraries. I do not have the time or the talent to create general purpose libraries, but some of you might. Please send any libraries that you create to me for evalu- ation. Unregistered users can receive credit towards registering, while registered users can receive credit towards updates or CA$H back. Yep, I am willing to pay for good libraries in any of PC-KEY-DRAW's formats, including printer configura- tion. The actual price will depend on the type, quality, and general use of the library. Please indicate what you think the library is worth. I reserve the right to withdraw this offer at any time. Please send original libraries only and not copies of other program libraries. Library Disks: Several library disks are supplied with PC-KEY-DRAW. The library disks contain numer- ous files saved with many of the possible save techniques offered by PC-KEY-DRAW. See Appendix H for listing of the library disks currently avail- able. LIBRARIES 8-4