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L A S R F L O W V e r s i o n 1 . 0 A Flowchart Maker for HP Laserjet+ compatible printers. Copyright 1988 Jim Bumgardner Table of Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Legal Mumbo Jumbo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Quick Demonstration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Command Line Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Command Line Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The LASRFLOW Language - Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 A Simple Flowchart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Shapes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Scaling Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Positioning Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Gotos and Labels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 The IF Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Other Branching Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Cosmetic Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 LASRFLOW Command Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 LASRFLOW QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 ORDERING INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 LASRFLOW User's Manual - 1 - Introduction LASRFLOW is a program that produces flowcharts on your laser printer. It reads a file of flowcharting commands, and writes a file that you can copy to your printer. LASRFLOW is designed to work with HP Laserjet+ printers and compatibles. It was written specifically for an OKIDATA LASERLINE 6 printer. LASRFLOW offers these features: - Easy-to-read flowcharting language with implicit connections. - Preview flowchart on screen (CGA,EGA,VGA,HERCULES MONO) - Twelve Resizable Flowcharting Shapes. - Supports HP Laserjet+ Printers and compatibles - Supports up to 10 downloadable (soft) fonts. - Makes use of HP rule commands for speed, generates bitmaps when printing curves or diagonals. - Relative Coords option allows you to merge flowchart with other documents. Hardware Requirements LASRFLOW requires an IBM PC or compatible computer running MS-DOS Version 2.0 or later. You must have an HP Laserjet+ or compatible laser printer to print the flow- charts that LASRFLOW produces. To see your flowchart on the screen, you need a graphics card. LASRFLOW will work without graphics, but it will be harder to debug your flowcharts. LASRFLOW supports Hercules, CGA and EGAVGA without an additional driver. It also can support external TURBO C 2.0 graphics drivers. Legal Mumbo Jumbo This software is protected by the United States copyright law and international treaty provisions. Therefore, you must treat this software just like a book with the following exceptions: Jim Bumgardner authorizes you to make copies of LASRFLOW for your personal use, and to distribute it to other potential buyers. While you may give away copies of LASRFLOW, you may not sell it, or give it away as an enticement for another product or service. LASRFLOW User's Manual - 2 - Quick Demonstration To try out LASRFLOW, use the following command. C> LASRFLOW sample LASRFLOW will read the file SAMPLE.FLO (included in this archive) and show the resultant flowchart on the screen (if you have graphics). Flowchart text will appear on the screen as lines. At the same time, LASRFLOW will output a new file, SAMPLE.PRN. When the flowchart is complete, hit any key to return to DOS. You can then print the sample using the DOS command: C> COPY/b sample.prn lpt1: (or lpt2: if your printer uses the second port) The file, sample.prn is a combination of text, HP positioning commands, line drawing commands and bitmaps. Once the flowchart is printed, it can be erased or saved for later printing. Command Line Syntax The complete command line syntax for LASRFLOW is as follows LASRFLOW [options] sourcefile[.flo] [outputfile[.prn]] Normally, you would type LASRFLOW, followed by the name of the flowchart you wish to generate, like so: C> LASRFLOW sample By default, the extension ".FLO" is appended to the input filename, and an output file with the same name, but the extension ".PRN" is generated. You can output directly to your printer by specifying it as an output file, like so: C> LASRFLOW sample lpt2 This will cause the flowchart to be rendered more slowly on the screen. LASRFLOW User's Manual - 3 - Command Line Options Options are preceded by a dash or slash: -D Debug Mode (No Graphics) This option disables graphics, and generates text lines for each flow- charting action. -G0 No Graphics -G1 Normal Graphics (previews flowchart on screen) -G2 Shows each shape as it is generated (Zoom) -P Do not generate .PRN file - the flow chart is shown on the screen, but a printer file is not generated. Useful for debugging. -S Print Source Code on flowchart. This will output the contents of your .FLO file to your .PRN file. When you print the flowchart, the source code will appear starting from the top-left corner. Useful for debugging. -F Fast Drawing. This option causes all shapes to be rendered as process boxes, greatly speeding up the drawing time, and reducing the amount of output. Useful for rough drafts and testing logic. -R Use Relative Coordinates. If you specify this option, FLOW will use only relative printer coordinates, allowing you to relocate the flow- chart on a page by setting the cursor location before downloading the flowchart. FLOW will not formfeed the paper if you use this option. This option will increase the amount of output by about 25%. -N Don't download fonts. Use this option when printing a flowchart that uses downloadable fonts for the second time. It will reduce the amount of output sent to the printer. -C# Number of copies (e.g. -C2 -C3 etc.). Example: C> LASRFLOW -SF sample1 LPT2: (Print sample1 flowchart on printer 2, using fast drawing. Include the source code on the printout.) LASRFLOW User's Manual - 4 - The LASRFLOW Language - Tutorial A Simple Flowchart A simple flowchart would be three boxes connected together. Here's how you would do it: Source: PROCESS "First Step" ; This is a comment. PROCESS "Second Step" ; This is a comment also. PROCESS "Third Step" Result: +--------------+ Note: All examples in this manual are rendered | First Step | in ASCII characters so you can print them +------+-------+ on a non-IBM graphics printer. | +------+-------+ | Second Step | +------+-------+ | +------+-------+ | Third Step | +--------------+ The word PROCESS is a shapename, indicating LASRFLOW should draw a rectangle. The quoted text following the shapename goes inside the shape. LASRFLOW will automatically draw vertical lines to connect a sequence of shapes. You can use the semicolon (;) to divide the text into multiple lines. Each line will be centered with the shape, and the shape will be enlarged to fit the text if necessary (this feature can be turned off, see below). Leading and trailing spaces are NOT trimmed off of each line of text. You may use up to six lines of text. Each line may be up to 40 characters in length. Source: PROCESS "First Line;Second Line" Result: +-------------+ | First Line | | Second Line | +-------------+ LASRFLOW User's Manual - 5 - Shapes There are twelve shapes in all: PROCESS A rectangle. AUX A square box representing an auxiliary process. DOC A rectangle with a wavy bottom representing hardcopy. PREP A squashed hexagon representing some preparation like sorting. TAPE A circle representing a reel of tape. FILE A box with curved sides representing online storage. DISK A box with convex curved sides. MERGE A triangle pointing down. EXTRACT A triangle pointing up. MANUAL A trapezoid representing manual operation. DIAMOND A diamond (regular syntax). CONNECTOR A small circle (commonly used for off-page connections). POINT Used to force long distance connections through a particular area. (NULL shape). The PROCESS and AUX shapes, as well as all connecting lines, are rendered quickly using the HP line drawing commands. The rest of the shapes contain curves or diagonals, and are rendered more slowly using bitmaps. When testing flowchart logic, you can use the -F option to render all shapes as process boxes; this will speed up rendering time without affecting the placement of shapes or connecting lines. Many of the shapes have synonyms: Shapename Synonyms AUX AUXILLIARY CONNECTOR CIRCLE, NODE DISK DRUM DOC DOCUMENT FILE ONLINE POINT NULL PREP PREPARATION, SORT TAPE REEL The TEXT command is used to print text on the side of a previously drawn shape: Source: PROCESS "First Step" TEXT RIGHT "This text goes on;the right of the top box" PROCESS "Last Step" Result: +------------+ This text goes on | First Step | the right of the top box +------------+ | +------------+ | Last Step | +------------+ LASRFLOW User's Manual - 6 - You may use TEXT LEFT to make text appear on the left side of a shape. The BRACKET qualifier will cause LASRFLOW to draw a bracket connecting the text and the shape. Scaling Commands LASRFLOW uses an imaginary grid of columns and rows to draw shapes in. The default grid dimensions are 1.25 inches (horizontally) by 1.5 inches (vertically). Each shape can occupy up to two columns horizontally and one row vertically. Shapes in adjacent columns on the same row will overlap. You can use the SCALE command to change the grid size, or the default shape sizes, for example: SCALE .5 ; Grid is now half-size. SCALE 1.0 .75 ; Grid is full-size, shapes are 3/4 size. In general, you should only use the SCALE command once, at the beginning of your flowchart. The CENTER command will automatically adjust the left margin so that your flowchart is centered on the page. You provide the column number to center on. The CENTER command must come after the SCALE command, if any. Example: SCALE .75 ; Grid is 3/4 size CENTER 3 ; Column 3 is on the center of the page. Normally, if the text can't fit into a shape, FLOW automatically enlarges the shape to fit the text. The ENLARGE and NOENLARGE commands may be used to turn this effect on and off. The CWIDTH and RHEIGHT commands can adjust the column width or row height separately. They both take arguments in inches. CWIDTH 1.0 RHEIGHT 1.0 ; Flowchart now uses 1 X 1 inch grid. LASRFLOW User's Manual - 7 - Positioning Commands By default, each new shape is moved down one row. You can use the UP, DOWN, RIGHT, LEFT and LOCATE commands to move boxes to different positions: Source: PROCESS "First Step" PROCESS "Second Step" RIGHT 1 DOWN 1 PROCESS "Third Step" Result: +-------------+ | First Step | +-----+-------+ | +-----+-------+ | Second Step | +-----+-------+ +-------+ +------+------+ | Third Step | +-------------+ The UP, DOWN, RIGHT and LEFT commands are useful for constructing modular flowchart sections, since you don't have to specify an exact row or column position. The UP and DOWN commands can be used without arguments, they move one row by default. The RIGHT and LEFT commands move two columns by default, since shapes that are printed in adjacent columns will overlap. The LOCATE command can locate to a specific column and row. Columns and Rows start at 0. "LOCATE 3 0" would locate to the top center of the page. You may also specify column and row coordinates after a label, or after a START command (discussed below). Connections LASRFLOW normally uses implicit connections. After a DOWN or UP command, the last and next shapes will be connected by their top and bottom sides. After a RIGHT or LEFT command, the last and next shapes will be connected by their right and left sides. The CONNECT command is used for explicitly specifying how two shapes are to be connected. Here is the same flowchart shown above, with different connections. Source: PROCESS "First Step" PROCESS "Second Step" RIGHT 1 DOWN 1 CONNECT BOTTOM TO LEFT PROCESS "Third Step" LASRFLOW User's Manual - 8 - Result: +-------------+ | First Step | +------+------+ | +------+------+ | Second Step | +------+------+ +--+ | +-------------+ +--+ Third Step | +-------------+ By default, the last shape is always connected to the next shape. Sometimes you will need to turn this off, for example, when printing two flowcharts on one page, or when merging two streams. The START command tells LASRFLOW that the next shape is not connected to any previous shapes. Source: PROCESS "1" RIGHT START PROCESS "2" Result: +-------+ +-------+ | 1 | | 2 | +-------+ +-------+ Since a START will often be accompanied by a LOCATE, the START command accepts column and row coordinates: START 3 0 ; Start in center of page. You may begin your flowchart with a START command, but it is not required. LASRFLOW User's Manual - 9 - Gotos and Labels The GOTO (or TO) command can be used to connect a shape to another (labelled) shape. This is often used to represent merged processes. Here's an example. Source: PROCESS "Box 1" PROCESS "Box 2" RIGHT 1 box3: PROCESS "Box 3" START 2 0 PROCESS "Box 4" PROCESS "Box 5" GOTO box3 Result: +-------+ +-------+ | Box 1 | | Box 4 | +---+---+ +---+---+ | | +---+---+ +---+---+ | Box 2 | | Box 5 | +---+---+ +---+---+ +-------+------+ +---+---+ | Box 3 | +-------+ A few explanations are in order here. The RIGHT 1 command moved box 3 over to the right by one column. (By default, RIGHT moves over by 2 columns, since shapes in adjacent columns will overlap). The START command indicates that a new sequence of shapes follows. If the START command wasn't used, FLOW would connect Box 3 directly to Box 4. Since STARTs are generally accompanied by LOCATEs, the START command accepts column and row coordinates. Thus "START 2 0" starts a new sequence at column 2, row 0. "BOX3:" is a label. The GOTO command connects to a labelled box. Forward references are legal. The GOTO command may be optionally followed by side specifiers to indicate how the line should be drawn: TO label CONNECT RIGHT TO BOTTOM TO label RIGHT BOTTOM This command would connect from the right side of the current shape to the bottom of the labelled shape. LASRFLOW User's Manual - 10 - A variant of GOTO is FROM, which connects to the last drawn shape from a labelled shape. Both GOTO and FROM have OFFPAGE forms, which allow you to extend a line to the edge of a page: Source: PROCESS "Test" FROM OFFPAGE LEFT ARROW GOTO OFFPAGE UP Result: | | | +---+---+ ----------->| Test | +-------+ Using the OFFPAGE command, you can construct pages that fit together to make one large flowchart. The IF command The IF command is for making decision nodes. Here is an example where it makes a 2-way fork: Source: IF RIGHT "Ans=42?" "Yes" PROCESS "Stuff" TO label1 RIGHT LEFT ELSE "No" PROCESS "Etc." Result: / \ / \ Yes +--------+ / Ans=42? \-----------+ Stuff +----> \ / +--------+ \ / \ / |No | Etc. The IF statement may be followed by any number of statements, including more IF sequences. The ELSE command terminates the first fork, and continues processing from the IF shape. The ELSE statement may include a LEFT or RIGHT directive, which is used for making 3-way forks, as shown below. The last ELSE statement does not include a LEFT/RIGHT directive, and should not be indented. ELSE is a synonym for END, a command used for terminating forking structures. Another synonym for END is ENDIF, which you may prefer to ELSE. Here is LASRFLOW User's Manual - 11 - example of a three-way IF construct, using both ELSE and ENDIF: Source: IF RIGHT "?" "Yes" (statements) ELSE LEFT "No" (statements) ENDIF "Maybe" (statements) Result: / \ No / \ Yes <------/ ? \------> \ / \ / \ / |Maybe | V Other Branching Commands The OFFSHOOT command is used for making a single fork. For example: Source: PROCESS "Tape Total" OFFSHOOT RIGHT ARROW DOCUMENT "Hard Copy" END PROCESS "Etc." Result: +------------+ +-----------+ | Tape Total +--->| Hard Copy | +-----+------+ |______------ | +-----+------+ | Etc. | +------------+ A shape may have more than one offshoot (an OFFSHOOT RIGHT, OFFSHOOT BOTTOM and OFFSHOOT LEFT). Each offshoot is followed by one or more statements, and than an END statement (you may also use ENDOFFSHOOT for clarity, if you wish). LASRFLOW User's Manual - 12 - The FORK statement is used for doing multiple branches: Source: PROCESS "Start" FORK 1 OF 3 PROCESS "1" FORK 2 OF 3 PROCESS "2" PROCESS "2A" FORK 3 OF 3 PROCESS "3" ENDFORK Result: +-------+ | Start | +---+---+ +------------+------------+ +-+-+ +-+-+ +-+-+ | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | +---+ +-+-+ +---+ | +-+-+ |2A | +---+ Like the IF and OFFSHOOT Commands, each FORK statement may be followed by any number of statements. The last fork must be terminated with an END statement. ENDFORK is a synonym provided for clarity. By default, FORKs go down, but you can also fork LEFT or RIGHT, like so: Source: PROCESS "Start" FORK RIGHT 1 OF 2 PROCESS "1" FORK RIGHT 2 OF 2 PROCESS "2" ENDFORK Result: +-------+ +-------+ | Start +-+-+ 1 | +-------+ | +-------+ | | +-------+ +-+ 2 | +-------+ LASRFLOW User's Manual - 13 - Cosmetic Commands The ARROW command is used to draw arrowheads on connecting lines. ARROW is also a qualifier on most branching commands. Examples: PROCESS ARROW PROCESS IF RIGHT ARROW "Condition;True?" "Yes" ELSE ARROW "No" TO label: BOTTOM ARROW If arrows are used in your flowchart, a small four character font will be downloaded to your printer as font 0. It sets up the letters U,D,R and L as directional arrowheads. The FONT command selects one of the resident fonts, or downloads a software font. LASRFLOW is preset to work with some of the resident fonts on an OKIDATA Laserline 6 printer. These resident fonts are: 1 Courier 12 Point 2 Line Printer 8.5 Point 3 Times Roman 10 Point 4 Times Roman 10 Point Compressed 5 Helvetica Bold 14.4 Point If you don't have these as resident fonts, try downloading them to your printer ahead of time. Fonts 1-10 may also be downloaded to the printer from disk. When LASRFLOW downloads a font, it generates a width table so it can properly center lines of text within shapes. Examples: FONT 2 Will select Font number 2 (Line Printer). FONT "CN12R.SFP" Downloads a soft-font (Font Number 6 by default). FONT 2 "CN12R.SFP" Replace Font 2 with a Download Font. FONT 8 Reselects Font 8, (which has already been downloaded). The TITLE command will print a centered title in Font 5 (Helvetica), unless you specifically request a different font. Examples: TITLE "How to tie your shoe" TITLE FONT 1 "This title will print in Courier" FONT 1 "\fonts\cn18.sfp" TITLE FONT 1 "This title will print in Century 18 Point" Normally, your title will be centered. You can align your title to the left by LASRFLOW User's Manual - 14 - specifying LEFT, as in: TITLE LEFT "Left Aligned Title" The TITLE command can also be used to locate text to a specific point on the page. You give it horizontal (x) and vertical (y) coordinates in inches. For example: TITLE 4.0 6.5 "Text" The BOX will command will draw a box. You give it X and Y coordinates in inches, and you specify width and height in inches, for Example: BOX 3.5 0.0 1.0 1.0 This would draw a 1 inch by 1 inch box on the top center of the page. When using X and Y coordinates with the TITLE and BOX commands, the top and left margins are ignored. LASRFLOW User's Manual - 15 - LASRFLOW Command Reference In the following alphabetical section, square brackets [] indicate optional arguments. Uppercase arguments indicate keywords. Lowercase arguments indicate numbers. Arguments in quotes indicate quoted text. LASRFLOW commands may be in upper or lower case, and multiple commands may appear on the same line. A Semicolon will comment the rest of a line. <label>: [row [col]] A label is any word followed by a colon. Labels may be referenced in GOTO and FROM statements. These statements are used to connect boxes which are not in the normal flow of events. A label may be optionally followed by row and column coordinates for locating the next shape. <shapename> "text" There are twelve unique shapes. They are: AUX CONNECTOR DIAMOND DISK DOC EXTRACT FILE MANUAL MERGE POINT PREP PROCESS TAPE The thirteenth shape, POINT (or NULL), does not draw anything. It is used for forcing explicit connection paths. Some shapenames have synonyms: Shapename Synonyms AUX AUXILLIARY CONNECTOR CIRCLE, NODE DISK DRUM DOC DOCUMENT FILE ONLINE POINT NULL PREP PREPARATION, SORT TAPE REEL A shapename may optionally be followed by text, which will appear inside the shape. Example: TAPE "Data;Tape" A shapename may be followed by a TEXT command, for placing text outside of the shape. LASRFLOW User's Manual - 16 - ARROW This is command is used to draw an arrowhead on the line connecting the preceding and following shapes. It is also a qualifier for the IF, ELSE, TO, FROM and OFFSHOOT commands. AUX (Synonym: AUXILLIARY) This shape is a square indicating an Auxiliary process. LASRFLOW is optimized to draw this shape very quickly. See shapenames. BOX x y width height This draws a box at coordinates X,Y with the specified width and height. The coordinates and sizes are in inches. CENTER columnnumber This command will adjust the left margin so that the specified column number is in the middle of the page. Use this command at the beginning of your flowchart AFTER a scale command. COLUMN columnumber (Synonym: COL) This command locates to the specified column number. Column numbers start at 0. See CWIDTH, LOCATE CONNECT side [TO] side This command is used to force an explicit connection path between two shapes. The shapes will be connected by at most four lines: A line leading from the edge of each shape to it's grid boundaries. And a horizontal and vertical line connecting the two grids. If more lines than this are necessary, You will have to construct an explicit path by using the POINT shape. CONNECTOR (Synonyms: CIRCLE, NODE) This shape is a small circle indicating an off-page connection, or some type of node termination. See shapenames. CWIDTH inches (Synonym: CW) This command is used to set the column width in inches. The default column width is 1.25 inches. See SCALE. DISK (Synonym: DRUM) This shape is a rectangle with convex curved sides. It represents some kind of magnetic media. See FILE, SHAPENAMES. DOC (Synonym: DOCUMENT) This shape is a rectangle with a wavy bottom, representing printer output, or a documentation file. See shapenames. DOWN [rows] This command moves down by the specified number of rows. The default amount is one row. After this command, the next connection will be from the bottom side to the top side. LASRFLOW User's Manual - 17 - ELSE [LEFT|RIGHT] "Answer" This is a synonym for END, which is used to make IF constructs clearer. See IF. END (Synonyms: ELSE, ENDIF, ENDFORK, ENDOFFSHOOT) This command is used to terminate an OFFSHOOT, FORK or IF construct. ENLARGE NOENLARGE Normally, LASRFLOW will automatically enlarge a shape if it is too small to fit all of the text inside. These commands can be used to turn this effect on and off. EXTRACT This shape is a triangle with the small side up, indicating an extraction. See shapenames. FILE (ONLINE) This shape indicates a disk file. It has sides which curve to the left. See SHAPENAMES. FONT number or FONT [number] "softfont" This command is used to either select a resident font or to download a softfont. Once a font is downloaded, this command can be used to reselect it. LASRFLOW has width information for resident fonts from the OKIDATA LASERLINE 6, they may or may not be present in your printer. They are: 1 Courier 12 Point 2 Line Printer 8.5 Point 3 Times Roman 10 Point 4 Times Roman 10 Point Compressed 5 Helvetica Bold 14.4 Point If these fonts aren't available on your printer, download a different font. Examples: FONT 2 ; Select Line Printer Font FONT "OPTIMUS" ; Download Optimus font (font number 6) FONT 2 "CENTURY" ; Replace font 2 with Century Font FONT 6 ; Select Optimus font again. FORK [side] val [of] val This command is used to do vertical forks. Example: FORK RIGHT 1 of 3 (commands) FORK 2 of 3 (commands) FORK 3 of 3 (commands) ENDFORK LASRFLOW User's Manual - 18 - FROM label [[CONNECT] side1 [[TO] side2]] [ARROW] or FROM OFFPAGE [side] [ARROW] This command draws a connection from the labelled shape to the last shape. It is the compliment of the GOTO command. If you specify one side, it is the side of the shape you are connecting from, for example: FROM aboveshape BOTTOM If you specify two sides, the first is the from- shape, and the second is the to-shape. You may optionally specify ARROW to put an arrowhead on the line. The OFFPAGE variant connects from the edge of the page to the last shape. GOTO label [[CONNECT] side1 [[TO] side2]] [ARROW] or GOTO OFFPAGE [side] (Synonym: TO) This command draws a connection from the last shape to the labelled shape. It is the compliment of the FROM command. If you specify one side, it is the side of the shape you are connecting to. If you specify two sides, the first is the from-shape, and the second is the to-shape. GOTO aboveshape BOTTOM ; connect to bottom of aboveshape GOTO shape LEFT TO TOP ; connect left to top of shape You may optionally specify ARROW to put an arrowhead on the line. The OFFPAGE variant connects from the last shape to the edge of the page. IF [LEFT|RIGHT] [ARROW] ["text"] ["Answer"] (commands) ELSE [LEFT|RIGHT] ["Answer"] (commands) ENDIF This shape is a diamond representing a decision. You specify LEFT or RIGHT for the direction you want the branch to take. The optional Answer text (usually "yes" or "no") will be placed on the branch. The IF statement is followed by one or more statements, and term- inated with an ELSE or ENDIF. An ELSE RIGHT or ELSE LEFT must be term- inated with an ENDIF (this makes a three-way decision). Examples: ; 2-way if statement IF RIGHT "Condition;is true?" "Yes" PROCESS "Do some stuff" ENDIF "No" PROCESS "Do some other stuff" LASRFLOW User's Manual - 19 - ; 3-way if statement IF LEFT "Condition is true?" "Yes" TO yeslabel ARROW ELSE RIGHT "No" TO nolabel ARROW ENDIF "Maybe" TO maybelabel ARROW LEFT [columns] This command moves the next shape left. The default amount is 2 columns. After this command, the next connection will be from the left side to the right side. See CONNECT. LEFTMARGIN inches This command sets the left margin, which defaults to 0.0 inches. Use the CENTER command to automatically adjust the left margin so that the flowchart is centered. See CENTER. LOCATE col [row] (Synonym: LOC) This command is used to locate to a specific column and row. Labels, as well as the START command also take column and row coordinates. Column and Row coordinates start at 0. MANUAL This shape is a trapezoid which represents manual operation. See SHAPENAMES. MERGE This shape is a triangle with the small end pointed down. It indicates merging files or processes. See shapenames. NOENLARGE See ENLARGE OFFSHOOT [side] ["BranchText"] (commands) (Synonym: BRANCH) This command is used to make a single branch. It is followed by one or more commands, and then an END statement, signifying the end of the offshoot. The Branchtext is text placed on the branch, such as "Yes" or "No". Example: PROCESS "Tape Total" OFFSHOOT RIGHT DOCUMENTATION "Tape Totals;Printout" ENDOFFSHOOT PROCESS "Next Process" LASRFLOW User's Manual - 20 - POINT (Synonym: NULL) This is a NULL shape (it doesn't draw anything) used to force connections. Example: PROCESS LEFT 4 POINT DOWN 4 PROCESS PREP (Synonym: PREPARATION, SORT) This is a hexagonal shape used to indicate a preparation, like sorting. PROCESS This is a rectangle, representing one or more processes. LASRFLOW is optimized to draw this shape very quickly. See shapenames. RHEIGHT inches (Synonym: RH) This command is used to set the row height in inches. The default row height is 1.5 inches. See SCALE. RIGHT [columns] This command moves the next shape over. The default amount is 2 columns. After this command, the next connection will be from the right side to the left side. See CONNECT. ROW rownumber This command locates to the specified row. Row numbers start at 0. SCALE grid [shapes] This command is used to scale the gridsize (row width and column height up or down. It can also be used to change the relation between shape size and grid size. Examples: SCALE .5 ; Everything is half-size. SCALE 1.0 .75 ; Grid Full Size, Shapes 3/4 size. START [col [row]] This command is used to indicate the beginning of a separate process. It prevents LASRFLOW from connecting the last shape to the next shape. You may optionally provide column and row coordinates. TAPE (Synonym: REEL) This is a circular shape which looks like a reel of tape. See shapenames. TEXT [side] [BRACKET] "text" This command is used to place text outside of the last shape. The BRACKET qualifier will connect the text to the shape with a bracket. Example: PROCESS "1" TEXT RIGHT "This is the;First Process" PROCESS "2" TEXT LEFT BRACKET "This is the;Second Process" You may use semicolons (;) in the text to force a new line. LASRFLOW User's Manual - 21 - THICKNESS [dots] This command sets the line thickness. The default thickness is 2 dots. TITLE [FONT number] [[X|LEFT] Y] "text" This command is normally used to center a title on the page in the Helvetica Bold Font. Example: TITLE "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" If you don't want the title centered, you can use the LEFT option. TITLE LEFT "Flowchart Study #2" If you use the X and Y positioning options, the text will be placed at those coordinates on the page (inches): TITLE 1.0 4.5 "Text" You optionally specify a different font using the FONT option. Example: FONT 6 "BIGFONT" TITLE FONT 6 "Flowchart Number 5" TO A synonym for GOTO. See GOTO. TOPMARGIN inches This command sets the top margin in inches. The default top margin is 0.0 inches. UP [rows] This command moves the next shape up. The default amount is one row. After this command, the next connection will be from the top side to the bottom side. See CONNECT. LASRFLOW User's Manual - 22 - LASRFLOW QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE Enter the command LASRFLOW ? for a list of command line options. Commands label: [row [col]] shapename "text" ARROW BOX x y width height (inches) CENTER columnnumber COL columnnumber CONNECT side [TO] side CWIDTH inches DOWN [rows (def=1)] ELSE [LEFT|RIGHT] ["Answer"] END "Branchtext" ENDIF "Answer" ENDFORK "Branchtext" ENDOFFSHOOT "Branchtext" [NO]ENLARGE FONT number FONT [number] "softfont" FORK [side] val [OF] val FROM label [[CONNECT] side1 [[TO] side2]] [ARROW] FROM OFFPAGE [side] [ARROW] GOTO label [[CONNECT] side1 [[TO] side2] [ARROW] GOTO OFFPAGE [side] [ARROW] IF [LEFT|RIGHT] [ARROW] ["text"] ["Answer"] LEFT [columns (def=2)] LEFTMARGIN inches LOCATE col [row] OFFSHOOT [side] [ARROW] ["BranchText"] END RHEIGHT inches RIGHT [columns (def=2)] ROW rownumber SCALE grid [shapes] START [col [row]] TEXT [side] [BRACKET] "text" THICKNESS [dots] TITLE [FONT number] [[x|LEFT] y] "text" TOPMARGIN inches UP [rows (def=1)] Shapes AUX CIRCLE CONNECTOR DIAMOND DISK DOC DOCUMENTATION EXTRACT FILE IF MANUAL MERGE NODE NULL ONLINE POINT PREP PROCESS SORT TAPE LASRFLOW User's Manual - 23 - ORDERING INFORMATION LASRFLOW is a $35.00 shareware program. You can examine it now - the version of LASRFLOW included in this archive is fully functional. But if you like the program, or plan to use it - you should purchase it. In addition to feeding the author, your support helps keep LASRFLOW, and other shareware programs, alive. For your $35.00, you will get: - A floppy disk containing the latest version of the program. At this time (10/88) the program is being updated fairly frequently. - A typeset, looseleaf manual, containing the latest documentation. - A guilt-free conscience. For an additional $35.00, you will get the complete source code for LASRFLOW (Turbo C 2.0). If you are an experienced Turbo-C programmer, this will allow you to add new commands and flowcharting shapes. To order, fill out the enclosed order form (or make up one of your own) and send it with your check to: Jim Bumgardner 711 E. Cypress Apt. A Burbank, CA 91501 I can be reached on weekends, and after 6:30 PM (Pacific Time) at 818-846-7781. I can also be reached at Cooperworks BBS, on PLINK (BUM), and on the C echo. JAB 10/26/88 LASRFLOW User's Manual - 24 -