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(tm) DRAFT Choice Version 2.15 USER'S MANUAL --------------------------------------------------------------- TRIUS, Inc. P.O. Box 249 N. Andover, MA 01845-0249 Tel. (508) 794-9377 Fax. (508) 688-6312 BBS (508) 794-0762 Copyright 1988 - 1994, TRIUS, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | This document is for the purpose of evaluating the program. | | It's not a replacement of the Printed, Bound, Illustrated | | 200+ page user's manual you will receive when you order the | | registered copy of the program after your 30-day evaluation! | | | | TRIUS, Inc., P.O. Box 249, N.Andover, MA 01845-0249, U.S.A. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Distribution of this manual in printed form is prohibited! | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ COPYRIGHT NOTICE --------------------------------------------------------------- DRAFT Choice(tm) is a copyrighted software product developed and owned by TRIUS, Inc. located in North Andover, Massachusetts, U.S.A. You may make and keep back-up copies of the software for your personal use, provided that you copy all the copyright, trademark, and other information indicated on the initial screen display, on each backup copy label. The rights to receive any financial or other benefit, and to modify the product or employ its components in any kind of derivative work, are reserved exclusively by TRIUS, Inc. You may not reverse-engineer, disassemble, modify, decompile or create derivative works of the product. You acknowledge that the product includes certain trade secrets and confidential information, all of which is the copyrighted intellectual property of TRIUS, Inc. DRAFT Choice is a trademark of TRIUS Inc. and the TRIUS Logo is a trademark of TRIUS, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. The DRAFT Choice User's Manual is copyrighted and all rights are reserved. The reproduction of this document, in whole or part, its conversion to electronic medium or its distribution in printed form (hard copy) are prohibited unless prior consent, in writing, has been given by TRIUS, Inc. EPSON is a trademark of Epson America Inc. IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines, Inc. LOTUS 1-2-3 is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation HERCULES is a trademark of Hercules Corporation MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 2 1.1 LIMITED WARRANTY --------------------------------------------------------------- This program is provided on an "as is" basis without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to quality and performance of these programs is with you. Should the program prove defective, you (not TRIUS, Inc.) assume the entire cost of all necessary repair, servicing, or correction. In no event will TRIUS, Inc. be liable to you for any damages, including any lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use these programs, even if TRIUS, Inc. has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state. Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages so the above may not apply to you. You acknowledge that you have read this agreement, understand it, and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions. You further agree that it is the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between us, which supersedes any proposal or prior agreement, oral or written, and any other communications between us. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 3 1.2 LICENSE TO USE --------------------------------------------------------------- The DRAFT Choice program and all other programs and materials distributed or shipped with it are Copyright TRIUS, Inc.,1994, and are protected by U.S. copyright law and International treaties. In the rest of this document, this collection of programs is referred to simply as "DRAFT Choice". You are granted a license to use your copy of DRAFT Choice only under the terms and conditions specified in this license agreement. A "registered" copy of DRAFT Choice is a copy distributed on diskette bearing the original TRIUS and DRAFT Choice registered trademarks, purchased directly from TRIUS, Inc. or from an authorized re- seller, AND accompanied by a printed bound manual bearing the TRIUS trademark. A "shareware" copy of DRAFT Choice is an evaluation copy distributed on diskette or via an electronic bulletin board, on-line service, or other electronic means, obtained from a shareware disk vendor, or obtained from another individual, without any printed documentation, other than what is contained on the disk. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ If you purchased a Disk, without a printed, bound, │ │ user's manual, or you downloaded a copy from a BBBS or │ │ other service, or you got a copy of DRAFT Choice from a │ │ CD-ROM, or the program was pre-loaded on your computer, │ │ then you have an 30-day evaluation shareware copy. You │ │ need to purchase a registered copy after the 30-day │ │ evaluation! │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Shareware copies of DRAFT Choice are distributed to allow you to try the program before you pay for it. They are Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc., and do not constitute "free" or "public domain" software. You may use a shareware copy of DRAFT Choice at no charge for a trial period of up to 30 days. If you wish to continue using DRAFT Choice after that period, you must purchase a registered copy. If you choose not to purchase a registered copy, you MUST stop using DRAFT Choice, though you may keep copies and pass them along to others. Your registered copy of DRAFT Choice may only be used on one computer at any given time, unless you have a site license, in which case, DRAFT Choice may only be used on the number of computers specified in your site license agreement. You may install your registered copy of DRAFT Choice on a computer attached to a network, or remove it from one computer and install it on a different one, provided there is no possibility that your copy will be used by more than one user, unless you have a site license, in which case there should be no possibility of the program being used by more users than it is licensed for. A "user" is defined as one keyboard which is ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 4 connected to a computer on which DRAFT Choice is installed, regardless of whether or not the user of the keyboard is aware of the installation or use of DRAFT Choice on the system. You may copy any version of DRAFT Choice for normal backup purposes, and you may give 'UNREGISTERED' copies of the PROGRAM to other individuals, which they may also use and copy subject to the terms of this agreement. If you copy the shareware version of DRAFT Choice for others, you must include all of the files distributed with it, including this one. You may not make any copies of the printed and bound DRAFT Choice manual, or copies of a printed version of this file without explicit written permission from TRIUS, Inc., and you may NOT distribute copies of the program that do not display the 'UNREGISTERED' copy notice in the opening screen. You may NOT distribute DRAFT Choice other than through individual copies of the SHAREWARE version passed to friends and associates for their individual use. Specifically, you may not place DRAFT Choice or any part of the DRAFT Choice package in a commercial library, or distribute it with any other product or as an incentive to purchase any other product, without permission from TRIUS, Inc. You may not reverse-engineer, disassemble, modify, decompile or create derivative works of the product. You acknowledge that the product includes certain trade secrets and confidential information, all of which are the copyrighted intellectual property of TRIUS, Inc. DRAFT Choice is a registered trademark of TRIUS Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. The DRAFT Choice User's Manual is copyrighted and all rights are reserved. The reproduction of any document on the DRAFT Choice diskette, in whole or part, or its conversion to electronic medium are prohibited unless prior consent, in writing, is given by TRIUS, Inc. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page -------------------------------------------------------------- COPYRIGHT NOTICE 2 1.1 LIMITED WARRANTY 3 1.2 LICENSE TO USE 4 2. GETTING STARTED 9 2.1 WHAT'S ON THE DISKETTES 9 2.2 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS 9 2.2.1 GRAPHICS BOARDS 9 2.2.2 MEMORY 10 2.2.3 MOUSE 10 2.2.4 MATH CO-PROCESSOR (Not Required) 10 2.3 INSTALLATION 11 3.1 QUICK START 12 3.2 COMMAND LINE SWITCH OPTIONS 13 3.3 CURSOR MOVEMENT 16 3.3.1 KEYBOARD 16 3.3.2 MOUSE 16 3.4 PROGRAM INTERFACES 17 3.4.1 MAIN MENU 17 3.4.2 DROP DOWN MENUS 17 3.4.3 INPUT WINDOW 17 3.4.4 DIALOG BOX 18 3.4.5 REFERENCE MARK 18 3.4.6 ENTERING COORDINATES 18 3.5 FUNCTION KEYS 20 3.6 LEAVING THE PROGRAM 22 4. COMMANDS 23 4.1 FILE 23 4.1.1 NEW 23 4.1.2 LOAD 24 4.1.3 SAVE 24 4.1.4 XTRACT 25 4.1.5 IMPORT 26 4.1.6 PLOT 28 4.1.7 ERASE 30 4.1.8 CONFIG 30 4.1.9 GET INFO 35 4.1.9 OSHELL 35 4.1.10 QUIT 35 4.2 DRAW 35 4.2.1 LINE 35 4.2.2 BOX 36 4.2.3 CIRCLE 36 4.2.4 TEXT 36 4.2.5 ARC 37 4.2.6 POLYGON 38 4.2.7 BEZIER 39 4.2.8 COMPLEX 39 ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 6 4.2.9 PARAM 41 4.3 EDIT 42 4.3.1 OBJECT SELECTION METHODS 42 4.3.2 COPY 43 4.3.3 MOVE 43 4.3.4 ERASE 44 4.3.5 SCALE 44 4.3.6 ROTATE 44 4.3.7 XTEND 45 4.3.8 ARRAY 45 4.3.9 MIRROR 47 4.3.10 TRIM 47 4.3.11 BREAK 47 4.3.12 OFFSET 48 4.4 ALTER 49 4.4.1 TEXT 49 4.4.2 STYLE 49 4.4.3 FILL 49 4.4.4. HATCH 50 4.4.5 UNITS 50 4.4.6 CORNER 51 4.4.7 EXPLODE 51 4.4.8 RUBBER 51 4.4.9 WARP 52 4.4.10 COMPLEX 52 4.4.11 TWEEN 53 4.4.12 ALIGN 53 4.5 IMAGE COMMANDS 55 4.5.1 UPDATE 55 4.5.2 WINDOW 55 4.5.3 LAST 55 4.5.4 PAN 55 4.5.5 DOUBLE 56 4.5.6 HALF 56 4.5.7 ZOOM 57 4.5.8 ALL 57 4.5.9 SET 57 4.5.10 VIEW 58 4.6 OPTION 59 4.6.1 GRID 59 4.6.2 TOGGLE 60 4.6.3 ATTACH 60 4.6.4 FILL 61 4.6.5 HATCH 62 4.6.6 STYLE 62 4.6.7 UNITS 62 4.6.8 MACROS 62 4.6.9 REFS 63 4.6.10 LAYER 64 4.7 SYMBOL 66 ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 7 4.7.1 USE 67 4.7.2 MAKE 67 4.7.3 DELETE 67 4.7.4 EXPLODE 68 4.7.5 RESET 68 4.7.6 FONT 68 4.7.7 ANIMATE 69 4.8 MEASURE 70 4.8.1 DIMENSION 70 4.8.2 COORDINATE 71 4.8.3 RADIUS 71 4.8.4 DIAMETER 71 4.8.5 ANGLE 71 4.8.6 ARROW 72 4.8.7 MARK 72 4.8.8 BOUNDARY 72 4.8.9 QUERY 72 4.9 LEADER 73 5. APPENDIX - FILE FORMATS 74 ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 8 2. GETTING STARTED --------------------------------------------------------------- You are probably eager to start using DraftChoice. Before you start, you should spend a few minutes and review this section which describes: -- The equipment necessary to run DraftChoice -- How to install the program on your system 2.1 WHAT'S ON THE DISKETTES --------------------------------------------------------------- The READ.ME file, provided as part of the DraftChoice package, contains last minute news about the program, important information that did not make it into the printed manual, and a brief description of the files on the DraftChoice diskettes. To view the READ.ME file on your screen, use the DOS command TYPE: TYPE READ.ME [ENTER] To print the contents of the READ.ME file, use the command: COPY READ.ME PRN [ENTER] Alternatively, you may view the READ.ME file using your favorite text editor, or word-processor capable of accessing pure ASCII files. 2.2 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS --------------------------------------------------------------- 2.2.1 GRAPHICS BOARDS --------------------------------------------------------------- DraftChoice works extremely well with basic PC systems. All you need is an IBM PC or compatible computer with a graphics board from the following list (and the corresponding monitor). MNEMONIC GRAPHICS BOARD PIXEL RESOLUTION -------- ------------------------- ------------------- CGA Color Graphics Adaptor 640x200--mono (1) EGA Enhanced Graphics Adaptor 640x350--16 colors HGA Hercules Graphics Adaptor 720x348--mono ATT ATT Graphics Board 640x400--mono VGA Video Graphics Array 640x480--16 colors SVGA Super Video Graphics Array 800x600--16 colors (1) It should be noted that although the program is functional with a CGA monitor/board combination, you will not be able to get the benefits of the on-screen tool icons. It is ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 9 recommended that the program is used with an EGA monitor adapter combination, or better! 2.2.2 MEMORY --------------------------------------------------------------- DraftChoice requires a minimum of 450k to operate. On a 640K machine operating under DOS 3.x, you should have approximately 130K of memory to use for your drawings. This corresponds approximately to a drawing composed of over 4000 individual elements (lines, circles etc). An average B size drawing might be made up of several thousand elements so you should clearly have plenty of room for your drawing(s). DraftChoice will automatically use any expanded memory (EMS) or extended memory (XMS) that it finds. PC systems with extended memory (XMS) can use an expanded memory emulator which assigns extended memory as expanded memory. For example on a 386 the following statement could be placed in the DOS config.sys file DEVICE=EMM386.SYS 500 which assigns 500K of EMS memory. 2.2.3 MOUSE (Recommended) --------------------------------------------------------------- If you want, you may select to use digitizing tablets or a mouse with DraftChoice. Most such devices connect to a serial I/O (Input/Output) port (usually COM1, i.e., the first communications port). In the current version of the program, a digitizing tablet operates in the same mode as a mouse, therefore only the description of the mouse operation is treated in this section. To attach the mouse to your computer, simply plug the mouse into the serial port (a 25 pin RS232C connector or a 9 pin mini-connector). Next, install the mouse driver. A mouse driver is a small memory-resident program included with your mouse when it was purchased. There are normally two types of mouse drivers. One is loaded as a device through the CONFIG.SYS file, while the other can be installed at any time from the DOS prompt. DraftChoice works with both types of mouse drivers. (Refer to your mouse's operating manual for details on how to install each type of driver). 2.2.4 MATH CO-PROCESSOR (Not Required) --------------------------------------------------------------- You don't need a math coprocessor to run DraftChoice. DraftChoice has been optimized and avoids floating point calculations wherever possible. However use of a math coprocessor will result in approximately a 10-50% speedup of a drawing update. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 10 2.3 INSTALLATION --------------------------------------------------------------- Before using DraftChoice, you need to install the program either on your hard or on floppy diskettes. An installation program provided on the diskette makes the process simple. It will transfer the necessary files from the original diskette to your working disk/directory. There are no copy protection schemes or hidden files to wrestle with. If you are installing on 360K diskettes, first format two blank diskettes and label them DraftChoice 1 & 2. To make a working copy of the program: 1. Place the DraftChoice program disk in drive A: 2 At the DOS prompt, type A: and press [ENTER] 3. Type INSTALL and press [ENTER]. Next, follow the simple on-screen instructions to specify where to install the program. When the operation is complete, the DOS prompt will reappear on your screen. Place the original diskette in a safe place. If your working diskette later becomes damaged, repeat the above process to make a new working disk. The following files are required to run DraftChoice: DC.EXE DC.LIN DC.PAT NFONT.FNT The rest of the files do not need to be present in your working disk/directory. -- Order a fully licensed copy TODAY -- +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | This document is for the purpose of evaluating the program. | | It's not a replacement of the Printed, Bound, Illustrated | | 200+ page user's manual you will receive when you order the | | registered copy of the program after your 30-day evaluation! | | | | TRIUS, Inc., P.O. Box 249, N.Andover, MA 01845-0249, U.S.A. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Distribution of this manual in printed form is prohibited! | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 11 3.1 QUICK START --------------------------------------------------------------- This section shows you the simple steps required to start using DraftChoice. There are many ways to set up your computer so that you can access different programs. Batch files or elaborate menu programs may be used. Because your particular needs dictate how your system is set up, you need to determine how to access and start DraftChoice for your particular setup. If you do not have a batch file or a menuing system, you can use the following basic method to start DraftChoice. Go to the drive and/or subdirectory where DraftChoice is stored. At the DOS prompt type DC followed by any command line switches (see next section), and press [ENTER]. This starts the program. A Menu Bar appears on the top line of the screen, draw icons are located to the right, and the center window is the drawing area. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 12 3.2 COMMAND LINE SWITCH OPTIONS --------------------------------------------------------------- DraftChoice attempts to identify your hardware and choose an appropriate video mode. However, to take advantage of the higher resolutions and alternate startup options the program may be started with one or more command line switches. DC /Switch1/Switch2.../SwitchN [ENTER] For example, to start the program without using any expanded memory in EGA mode, at the DOS prompt you'd type: DC /NE/E The following command line switches are available in DraftChoice: /ATT - AT&T Monitor/Card (640x400) Specifies that your system is equipped with AT&T graphics with 640x400 monochrome. /BM - Bypass Mono This switch overrides the equipment autodetection and is used in combination with /EM. /DCH = FILENAME This switch instructs the program to load the "Filename" drawing file as soon as the program is started. /DEL=NNN - Plotter Buffer Delay Specify the delay, in milliseconds, after each block of data sent to a serial plotter/printer. This is used to avoid overflowing your printer's/plotter's buffer and losing some of the information. The default is set to 200 milliseconds. Note that a three digit number is required; e.g., to specify 50 milliseconds use /DEL=050. /E - EGA Monitor/Card (640x350) Specifies that your system is equipped with an Enhanced Graphics Adapter. Please note that even though your graphics adapter's manufacturer might claim that EGA mode is automatically selected, it has nothing to do with DraftChoice. You may have to specify this command line switch to enable 640x350 16-color graphics. /EM - EGA MONO (640x350) Enables the monochrome EGA mode. This command line switch is used for EGA graphics cards driving a monochrome monitor. (see /BM) /EMV - VGA MONO (640x480) Enables the monochrome VGA graphics mode. This command line switch is used for VGA graphics cards driving a monochrome monitor. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 13 /ES = NN - Super VGA Graphics (800x600) Specifies that your computer is equipped with a Super VGA monitor and adapter card, capable of displaying 800x600 16 color graphics. If your system is equipped with such a monitor card combination and the /ES switch is not used, the program will attempt to detect the appropriate hardware settings. If it fails, it will most likely start up in EGA or CGA mode. Please note that older mouse drivers sometimes do not recognize this mode and may not operate correctly. We therefore recommend that the keyboard is used for input while in this video mode. NN - The hexadecimal code that sets your monitors VGA mode. The codes for some SVGA Video Adapter boards are listed below: Video Adapter Card Mode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ATI WONDER SVGA 54 DFI VG-2000 5B PARADISE PLUS-16 58 PARADISE PROFESSIONAL 58 ORCHID PRODESIGNER 29 STB EM/16 29 GENOA 29 SIGMA X16 29 VIDEO SEVEN VRAM 62 or 16 VGA 1024i 62 or 16 If your Video Adapter card is not listed, then consult your user's manual for your video card and monitor, and find the appropriate mode. /EV - VGA Card (640x480) Specifies that your computer is equipped with a VGA monitor and adapter card, capable of displaying at a 640x480 pixel resolution. If your system is equipped with such a monitor/card combination and the /EV switch is not used, the program will most likely start up in EGA mode. /FNT=fontname; Start DraftChoice with a specific font file (the font can be later changed from within the program). Note that the semicolon is required after the name. /H - Hercules Card (720x348) Hercules graphic adapters are automatically recognized by the program. Some adapters, however, are not 100% compatible and this switch may be needed to force the program to recognize the graphics/adapter. /H2 - Hercules Card, Page #2 (720x348) This command line switch instructs the program to use the second video page at B000 for graphics when using a Hercules-type card with a monochrome monitor. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 14 /MONO - Use only two color B&W mode Used for monitors that do not display all color shades correctly. Also used when capturing screens for use with other software packages. /N87 - DO NOT use coprocessor Instructs the program not to use the math co-processor, even if the presence of one is detected. /NE - Don't use Expanded Memory Do not use expanded memory even if it is found on your computer. DraftChoice will automatically allocate all unused expanded memory it detects unless this switch is used. /NX - Don't use Extended Memory Do not use Extended memory even if it is found on your computer. DraftChoice will automatically allocate all unused extended memory it detects unless this switch is used. /NT - Disable the Turbo Cursor Feature Cursor movement using the keyboard cursor keys defaults to a "turbo" mode. While this feature speeds up cursor movement (in lieu of a mouse), it may not be compatible with some types of computers. The turbo feature may be disabled by use of the "non-turbo" /NT switch. /SET=NN - Set color to NN Used only with CGA modes, this command sets the foreground color of DraftChoice. Note that this command line switch has no effect when used with any EGA/VGA modes. /V1 - CGA Mode (640x200) Force a graphic/card combination to operate in CGA mode. This might be necessary for some non-standard VGA monitor and video card combinations. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 15 3.3 CURSOR MOVEMENT --------------------------------------------------------------- 2.6.1 KEYBOARD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The keyboard cursor keys can be used to easily move the pointing cursor around the screen. Choose a menu or command by pressing the first letter of the command or by moving the pointer on top of the command and pressing the ENTER key. The following keys may be used to manipulate the cursor. UP - move the cursor one step upwards DOWN - move the cursor one step downwards LEFT - move the cursor one step to the left RIGHT - move the cursor one step to the right PGUP - Increase the step size by 10 pixels PGDN - Restore the step size to 1 pixel of movement ENTER - Select a command, or indicate a reference point ESC - Cancel a command, or exit the selection mode Keeping the UP, DOWN, LEFT, or RIGHT cursor keys depressed will cause the cursor to accelerate in the desired direction (Turbo mode only). Tapping the keys will move the cursor one step at a time. 3.3.2 MOUSE --------------------------------------------------------------- Some mice have three buttons. DraftChoice, however, only uses two buttons on the mouse. They are the LEFT button which is functionally equivalent to the [ENTER] key on the keyboard (see above key explanation) and the MIDDLE or RIGHT mouse buttons which both represent the [ESC] key (see above). You can use either the keyboard or the mouse equivalents interchangeably. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 16 3.4 PROGRAM INTERFACES --------------------------------------------------------------- 3.4.1 MAIN MENU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The DraftChoice interface consists of a line of main menu selections across the top line of the screen. A menu item may be selected by either typing the first letter of the menu item or by moving the pointer up to the top line, highlighting the item, and then pressing ENTER. The main menu items have the following names: FILE - File handling (Load, Save, Import, Xport...) DRAW - Drawing objects (Line, Circles...) EDIT - Editing features (Copy, Move ...) ALTER - Modify attributes of entities IMAGE - Image zooming features (Update, Window, Half...) OPTION - Global defaults (Grid, Toggles, Fill, Style...) SYMBOL - Group and name objects and use as symbols MEASURE - Determine lengths, angles, areas LEADER - Select Leader line type (Balloon, Flex...) 3.4.2 DROP DOWN MENUS --------------------------------------------------------------- When a menu item has been selected, a drop-down menu appears. You will notice that the first option in the drop-down menu is highlighted. Any option in the menu can be selected by typing the highlight letter of that option, or by selecting it using the mouse or cursor keys and pressing [ENTER]. For example, to begin drawing a BOX which is one option in the DRAW menu, press "D" to select the DRAW menu, and then press "B" to select the box. Note: Menu items which display a right pointing triangle indicate the presence of a sub-menu. It is possible to return back through any menu or option by pressing the [ESC] key. 3.4.3 INPUT WINDOW --------------------------------------------------------------- An input window presents a prompt for a single piece of information, i.e. a name, dimension or typed coordinate. Note that the current contents of an input window can be erased by pressing either the [ESC] key or the right button on your mouse. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 17 3.4.4 DIALOG BOX --------------------------------------------------------------- A dialog box is a window which presents multiple choices which can be selected or modified. To select a choice with the keyboard, just type the first letter of the choice, i.e. to turn on the GRID press the letter G. The highlight will move to the choice with matching letter. Highlight the desired choice with the cursor and press [ENTER]. To select a choice with the mouse, move the mouse pointer. As the pointer passes over a choice the choice will be highlighted. To select that choice press the left button or enter key. 3.4.5 REFERENCE MARK --------------------------------------------------------------- Each drawing object created by DraftChoice has a reference MARK which is represented by a small identifier such as a cross (X). This feature is used by editing commands to aid in selection of an object for copying, moving or other manipulations. The reference mark will not be plotted or printed on your hard copy. The display of marks on the screen can be toggled on or off by selecting the command OPTION, TOGGLE, MARK. A cross identifier next to the word MARK in the dialog box indicates the reference marks will be displayed the next time the screen is updated. When disabled, reference marks will not be removed until after the next screen update. 3.4.6 ENTERING COORDINATES --------------------------------------------------------------- Drawings produced on DraftChoice use a floating point cartesian coordinate system with the following limits of accuracy (X is measured horizontally and Y vertically). 1.0 E-37 <= | X or Y | <= 1.0 E+37 NOTE: Although the magnitude of representable numbers is very large, only 11 significant digits of precision are provided. Realistically, if you try to draw a map of a city, and you want accuracy down to 1/1000 inch, the maximum range would be: +/- 99,999,999.999 inches (or 1,578 miles) IMPORTANT! In addition to using the crosshair cursor when drawing, coordinates can be entered accurately from the keyboard using one of four methods below. The first letter of each method identifies the type of coordinate. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 18 ABSOLUTE: Type A5,5 and press [ENTER]. --------------------------------------------------------------- Coordinate with respect to origin at a coordinate of 0,0. The first value represents X units and the second Y units. The cursor will be placed at location X=5, Y=5. NOTE: This is the default coordinate type if a letter is not specified, i.e., 5,5 is the same as typing A5,5. RELATIVE: R6,7 --------------------------------------------------------------- Similar to Absolute, but measured with respect to last X and Y coordinates entered. HINT, use this command to create objects with exact dimensions. POLAR: P20,30 --------------------------------------------------------------- Coordinate with respect to origin at absolute coordinate 0,0. The first value represents a RADIUS of 20 units projected at an angle of 30 degrees. All angles are measured positive counter clockwise from the horizontal (i.e. 3 o'clock). BEARING: B300,25 --------------------------------------------------------------- Similar to Polar but measured with respect to last coordinate. Note: Angles may also be entered with reference to NORTH and compass directions, i.e. B300,25 = B300,N65E B300,120 = B300,N30W TRAVERSE: T20,160 --------------------------------------------------------------- Length = 20 and angle = 160 degrees Similar to Polar & Bearing but angle is measured clockwise from the last direction. For example, if your last point was at 100,50, the following would result for each type of coordinate method used: A1000,200 Absolute coordinate, means the new coordinate is located at 1000 units X and 200 units Y. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 19 R200,300 Relative coordinate, means add 200 units X and 300 units Y to the last coordinate. (Equivalent to A300,350). P100,45 Polar coordinate, means radius is 100 units from the origin and the angle is 45 degrees from the horizontal. Equivalent to A70.71,70.71. B200,30 Bearing coordinate, means relative radius is 200 units at an angle of 30 degrees from the horizontal. Equivalent to A273.2, 150. 3.5 FUNCTION KEYS --------------------------------------------------------------- F1 [HELP] - Pressing F1 while in the ready mode of the program (not when a secondary menu or command is displayed), invokes the help mode. The help screen consists of a dialog box displaying a column of topics and a description of the highlighted topic is presented upon selection. To choose among the help topics, press the up/down cursor keys to move the highlight to the desired topic. Pressing [HOME] highlights the first topic in the list and [END] highlights the last topic. [PGUP] and [PGDN] allows you to move to the first and last displayed topics in the current screen. To search quickly for a topic, press the corresponding first letter. (i.e. press "M" for Macro) Pressing [ENTER] selects the topic and a full screen description of the topic is displayed. Pressing [ESC] returns the cursor back to the dialog box of topics. To exit the help menu, press the [ESC] key, while the dialog box is displayed. F2 [CORD] - Press this function key to enable or disable on- screen echo of drawing cursor position. F3 [CALC] - Invoke the formula calculator. The operators and functions available in the calculator are defined below: OPERATORS ~~~~~~~~~ + - Addition - - Subtraction * - Multiplication / - Division ^ - Raise to Power ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 20 FUNCTIONS ~~~~~~~~~ EXP(X) - Exponential SIN(X) - Sine of X (X in degrees) COS(X) - Cosine of X (X in degrees) ABS(X) - Absolute value of X TAN(X) - Tangent of X (X in degrees) ACOS(X) - Arc Cosine of X (Result in degrees) ASIN(X) - Arc Sine of X (Result in degrees) ATAN(X) - Arc Tangent of X (Result in degrees) INT(X) - Integer Portion of X LOG(X) - Logarithm (base 10) of X LN(X) - Natural logarithm of X MOD(X,Y) - Modulo division; return the remainder of X divided by Y. PI - Return constant value 3.14159265 SQRT(X) - Square root of X IF(X,A,B)- Returns A if x>1, B if X=0 NOTE: You may enter a formula when a numeric value is requested by any dialog window or input box. The above operators and functions may be combined for complex calculations, e.g.: SQRT(36) * LOG(100) + 10 will result in the value of 22 F4 [WIND/PICK] - Toggle between the WINDOW and PICK selection methods, (see OBJECT SELECTION METHODS). F5 [ADD/SUB] - Toggles selection mode to either add objects to editing selection list or remove objects from the list. F6 [GRID] - On-screen grid is immediately drawn or erased depending on previous status. F7 [ISO] - Permits drawing in vertical and 30-degree angles (six directions) to produce isometric drawings. This mode can be adjusted at any time while drawing an object. (See File Config Default for where to modify ISOANGLE) F8 [ORTH] - Toggles the ORTHO option on and off. When turned on, all line segments are drawn either horizontal or vertical (four directions). This mode can be adjusted while drawing an object. F9 [SNAP] - Toggle the SNAP option ON and OFF. The snap spacing is set using the Option, Grid command. When snap is active the draw cursor is forced to the nearest snap point. This mode can be adjusted while drawing an object. F10 [ATT] - Toggles ATTACH option ON and OFF. When active and a point is indicated, DraftChoice will search for the nearest object within the pick window distance (default is 8 pixels). ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 21 If an object is found, DraftChoice will determine the closest reference point on the object and the cursor will be repositioned at that point. This mode can be adjusted at any time while drawing an object. Shift - F1 [UNDO] - Undo cancels any elements created by the last editing operation and restores any previous objects that were modified. Shift - F2 [PERP] - Toggles perpendicular mode ON/OFF. This mode constrains line objects to be oriented perpendicular to the last line created. Shift - F3 [ARC DIR] - Changes the direction for drawing arcs, clockwise/counterclockwise. During a drawing operation the end points of the arc are also exchanged. 3.6 LEAVING THE PROGRAM --------------------------------------------------------------- You just completed your first masterpiece and are ready to quit for the day. MAKE SURE THAT YOU SAVE THE LATEST VERSION OF YOUR DRAWING. Select the FILE option from the main menu, then the SAVE option. When SAVE is selected, the file will be saved into the current data drive and subdirectory. Access the QUIT command by again selecting the FILE option, then press Q on the keyboard or highlight the QUIT command with your cursor keys or mouse. Once QUIT is selected, you will be given a second chance to change your mind when DraftChoice asks you to confirm your selection. If you performed the above by accident, or changed your mind about quitting the program, select the CANCEL response and press [ENTER]. You will be returned to the DraftChoice work screen with your drawing intact. To exit completely, select the YES response and press [ENTER]. The program will now return you to DOS. Once the QUIT command is confirmed, all drawing information not saved will be lost. Remember to save your drawing before you QUIT! ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 22 4. COMMANDS --------------------------------------------------------------- This section describes the powerful commands that are available within DraftChoice through the drop-down menus. 4.1 FILE --------------------------------------------------------------- This menu allows you to access your drawings, perform file interchange between DraftChoice and other file formats, set the system defaults and produce a hard copy of your drawings. 4.1.1 NEW --------------------------------------------------------------- This command clears memory of the previous drawing including symbols, and prepares DraftChoice for a new drawing while allowing you to specify drawing scale factors and paper sizes. SCALE FACTOR - A scale factor is assigned to the drawing and is determined by the ratio of the values contained in the Dwg Units input box and the PAPER input box. For example, a Dwg Units value of 10 ft and a Paper value of 1 inch would have a 120:1 scale factor. This means that on paper a distance of 2 inches would be equivalent to a dimension of 20 ft. Units may be cycled through the available choices by typing in the letter "U" (highlighted). Available unit types are mm, m, km, inch, feet and inches, foot, yards, mile, and none. NOTE: Drawing units may be alternated from inches (in) to metric (mm) by selecting the SI option. DRAWING SIZE - Paper size may be chosen from the following: IMPERIAL METRIC -------------- --------------- A) 8.5" X 11" A) 210 X 297 mm B) 11" X 17" B) 297 X 420 mm C) 17" X 22" C) 420 X 594 mm D) 22" X 34" D) 594 X 841 mm E) NONE E) NONE NOTE: The default drawing size when File, New is selected is set by the drawing size which was active when the confi- guration file was saved, (File, Config, Save Config command) and becomes the default size for the current DraftChoice session. When File, New, Ok is executed, DraftChoice will automatically draw a frame (box) on the screen. The box dimensions correspond to the selected paper size (minus a half inch margins on all sides). You can verify that by using the Measure, Query, Length command. For example, a 1" Dwg Units = ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 23 1" Paper scale (8.5" x 11" drawing size) the rectangle would measure 7.5" X 10". CAUTION: This rectangle is the basis for the specified scale. DO NOT erase it. Make certain that all elements you draw are within this rectangle, if you want the drawing to be printed to scale. If, for some reason, you do not wish for this scaling rectangle to appear in the printout, instead of erasing it, use the Alter, Style, None command to make it non-printable (invisible). 4.1.2 LOAD --------------------------------------------------------------- This command prompts for a file name by presenting a dialog window which lists drawing files, subdirectories and drives names in the current directory. To select a name from the name list, move the cursor to high- light that name and press ENTER. The name will be transferred into the FILE box at the top of the dialog. The UP and DN indicators may be used to scroll the list of file names up or down. You could also directly type a different filename into the FILE box. To load the file, select OK or to return to the file menu without loading, select CANCEL. The current path is displayed in the PATH box. To change the subdirectory (used to indicate where your drawing files are located), select PATH and then type in the new path. When ENTER is pressed, the subdirectory will be read and a new list of names will be displayed. Subdirectory names and destination drives will also appear in the file list box but when selected will be transfered to the PATH input box. Once LOAD has been selected, the drawing currently in RAM is cleared (including all symbols currently in memory) and the specified file is retrieved and placed in memory. The current file name will be displayed in the upper, right-hand corner of the display. If you want to retrieve a drawing file, without erasing the current drawing or symbols from memory, you need to use the File, Import, DCH command. 4.1.3 SAVE --------------------------------------------------------------- This command prompts for a file name to be assigned to the current drawing in memory. A dialog window is displayed and the same general options, as for the Load command, are available. If you loaded a file from disk, that file name and subdirectory will appear as the default FILE and PATH. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 24 You may select PATH and change the subdirectory, highlight one of the displayed files and press enter, or select FILE and enter the name. Then, select SAVE to store the data onto your disk. If the file already exists, you will be given a chance to overwrite it, or cancel the SAVE operation. Note that once you select to overwrite the file, any data stored on your disk under that name will be overwritten with the data currently in RAM. 4.1.4 XTRACT --------------------------------------------------------------- This command allows you to extract a portion of your current drawing and save it in one of several formats. Please, note that multifile conversion can be achieved with TRIUS' program XTRAN. For more information, call TRIUS, Inc. DCH - The drawing is saved in native DraftChoice format (*.DCH). PIC - The image is saved using the PIC file format used to store spreadsheet graphics. This file format can be used to import drawings to programs that support PIC files. (*.PIC) BSAVE - The image is saved as a monochrome binary byte image. The first two integers in the output file represent the width and height of the image respectively. The remaining data in the file is the byte image saved row by row. (*.BIN) SYMBOLS - Save only the symbols defined in the current drawing to a special symbol file. (*.SYM) PCX - The image is saved in PCX file format used by many paint graphic programs. (*.PCX). If BWON is enabled, only a mono- chrome image will be created. FONT - Used to save the primary font file after modification. (*.FNT) Note that the default is to save the font file with that extension, because it's assumed that it is a single stroked font. If you had created or modified a fillable font, then you'd have to rename it, from DOS, giving it an .FOT extension. WPG - Uses DrawPerfect format for clip art used by DrawPerfect and WordPerfect. (*.WPG) VALUE - Extracts X,Y values for lines and polylines only (ASCII format). NOTE: Extracting your drawing to an HP Graphics Language file is not achieved through the XTRACT command. It is done by following these steps: ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 25 1) Set FILE, PLOT, DEVICE to HP7470 2) Set FILE, PLOT, OUTPUT PORT to a filename (TEST.PLT) 3) Use FILE, PLOT, OK or CLIP WINDOW to create the file. If FILE, PLOT, CLIP WINDOW is selected you are prompted to place a window around the objects to be extracted. DraftChoice will display the number of objects found in the top right corner of the screen. Press [ESC] when all objects have been selected. You will now be prompted for the reference point. This point will establish the origin (x=0, y=0) of the new drawing. Select the reference point and press [ENTER]. If a file with the requested name exists, you will be asked if you wish to replace it with the new file. 4.1.5 IMPORT --------------------------------------------------------------- This command allows you to import text, portions of drawings, or interchange data with other drawing file formats. The following options are supported: DCH - Import a DraftChoice DCH file into the current drawing. All symbols defined in the imported drawing will be included/added to the main drawing. (Note that up to a total of 200 symbols are supported in a single symbol library). PIC - The file must conform to PIC file format used to store spreadsheet graphics. ASCII - Each ASCII line creates a TEXT object which is placed into the drawing starting at the indicated reference point. The text is assigned the current text height, width and orientation. Each new line is offset by an amount equal to the text vertical spacing. VALUE - This is an ASCII file which has XY absolute coordinate pairs separated by commas, one pair per line. A continuous set of coordinate pairs would create a continuous complex line. Blank lines terminate the sequence and await the start of a new line. For example, the following would define two separate straight lines: line 1: 100,0 line 2: 100,100 line 3: line 4: 200,200 line 5: 300,200 NOTE: The units of the value file are assumed to be meters, regardless of the units setting of DraftChoice at the time of importing. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 26 For example, if your DraftChoice units setting is ft and you import a value file containing the two lines. 1,1 2,1 A line will be drawn from the point x = 3.28 ft., y = 3.28 ft. to the point x = 6.56 ft., y = 3.28 ft. HPGL - Import a text file containing the HP Graphics Language format. The following commands are supported. PU Raise Pen PD Lower Pen PA x,y Move Pen Absolute SP # Select Pen LB text #3 Place Text At Last Coordinate IP xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax;Set Scaling Points SC xmin,xmax,ymin,ymax;Sets Scale Window SI width, height; Set Text Width & Height SR width, height; Set Relative Width And Height As Function Of Scaling Points (see IP) SYMBOL - Import a DraftChoice symbol file with extension SYM. Note that if you type a .DCH file name, only the symbols contained within the DCH file will be imported. The imported symbols are appended to the symbols already in RAM. PCX - The file must conform to PCX file format. NOTE: The image is superimposed on the screen and does NOT become a part of the drawing. This feature is used when performing manual digitization by using DraftChoice to trace over the image. If the PCX image is a monochrome image, it will be assigned the color of the current active layer. SPCX - The file must conform to PCX file format. The PCX image is imported into the drawing as a scaleable scanline object. NOTE: No pixel editing of the image can be performed. If you require changes to the image perform them with a bit mapped paint program prior to importing the image. FONTS - Replace primary or secondary font. Either .NFT (single stroke), or .FOT (fillable) font files may be loaded. PRIMARY Replace the current primary font. Text that was entered using the primary font will now use the new imported primary font. SECONDARY Replace the current secondary font. WPG - The file must conform to WordPerfect WPG file format. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 27 4.1.6 PLOT --------------------------------------------------------------- This menu permits you to print, or plot, your drawing. The default settings are for a Epson compatible 9-pin dot matrix printer connected to LPT1. You can also change the device and output port to which data is sent. OK ~~ Before printing, make sure the printer paper is adjusted to the top of form and then select OK. The size of drawing sent to the printer is set by the scale factor selected under FILE NEW in combination with the PLOT setting. To achieve accurate scaling, the FIT flag must be enabled. Otherwise only the visible portion of the drawing displayed on the screen will be printed within the specified width and it will most probably not be to scale. The drawing is created in horizontal strips and then sent to the printer. Creating each strip of the drawing results in a short delay before the graphics information is sent to the printer. The higher the selected print density the greater the amount of time required to process and print the drawing because of the increased quantity of graphic data. Plotting progress is displayed as a percent status bar on the screen. When finished, DraftChoice will give a short beep. Select the FF (formfeed) button, if you are using a laserjet printer. Note that becuase of the way LaserJet printers operate (complete page info is required to process a page), it may be necessary to use the FF (formfeed) button to force your printer to print the drawing. If the selected output is a plotter, an additional dialog window will appear displaying a plot scaling factor and x and y offset values. X,Y, Offset Horizontal and vertical offset at which the origin of the drawing (0,0) is to be located on the paper (default is 0,0). X and Y offset values may be used to plot an image somewhere in the middle of a large sheet of paper. Factor Plot scaling adjustment factor for use with non- standard plotting devices. The default value of 1.023 will result in plots being scaled properly according to the pre- selected drawing on HP-7470 and compatible plotters. CANCEL ~~~~~~ Do not proceed with printing process. Return to menu. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 28 CLIP WINDOW ~~~~ ~~~~~~ The CLIP command permits you to selectively print only a portion of the drawing. You will be prompted to place a window around the view you wish to print. Press [ENTER] to confirm your selection. Next you will be asked to print or cancel your drawing. Note that the clipped portion of the drawing is printed at the same scale the drawing was created. QUALITY ~~~~~~~ Three print density options are available: High, Medium, and Low. HI Results in best possible quality drawing, but slowest output speed. MED Mixture of moderate quality and moderate output speed. LO Results in fastest output speed, but lowest print quality. ORIENTATION ~~~~~~~~~~~ Two drawing orientations are permitted, Portrait and Landscape. PORTRAIT Horizontal drawing direction is matched to the narrow paper direction. LANDSCAPE Horizontal drawing direction is matched to the long paper direction. Note that due to the relation of the paper sizes and the monitor aspect ratios, the default orientation for printing drawings to scale is LANDSCAPE. If the orientation is changed to PORTRAIT, then the printed dimensions are controlled by the paper width (in the 8.5"x11" case, it is controlled by the 8.5" size), and will not be at the selected scale. FIT ~~~ Scales the maximum/minimum drawing dimensions to exactly fit the Plot setting. ENHANCE ~~~~~~~ Draw emphasized, enhanced (lines) by using 4 pixels (dots) for each original pixel. This mode should be used only to enhance lines in high resolution modes. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 29 Please note that the time required to print an enhanced image is significantly longer than a non- enhanced image! PLOT ~~~~ Specify the width of the printed drawing in inches. When the FIT flag is set, the maximum and minimum dimensions of the drawing will be scaled to fit the width exactly. DEVICE ~~~~~~ This command will display a pick list which allows you to select the print device. (See File, Config, Printers) OUTPUT PORT ~~~~~~ ~~~~ Select either the parallel port, serial port, or a file name to send printed output to: LPT1 - Parallel Printer Port #1 LPT2 - Parallel Printer Port #2 COM1 - Serial Communications Port #1 COM2 - Serial Communications Port #2 FILE - Specify a file name used to store printer/plotter output NOTE: If a file name is selected for output, the drawing information will be written to the file using the selected device format. This option is used to produce graphics files to be imported to other programs. i.e., WordPerfect 5.1, PCWRITE, etc. (Also see FILE XTRACT) 4.1.7 ERASE --------------------------------------------------------------- This command erases a specified file from your disk. A dialog will appear and you may select the file to be erased. NOTE: Wild card characters CANNOT be used with ERASE. 4.1.8 CONFIG --------------------------------------------------------------- SAVE CONFIG - This command saves DraftChoice default settings into a file called DRAFTC.CFG. When DraftChoice is executed ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 30 from DOS, the settings contained in the CONFIG file will be automatically set. - Status of Toggle switches; COORD, EXTENT, MARK, TEXT, VERIFY, BWON, AUTO, FILL, STYLE - GRID/SNAP status, grid and snap spacing - Text Options; justification, height, width, angle, and spacing - Corner Options; type, radius, chamfer lengths - Circle; type, aspect ratio - Arrow; type, size - Complex; type - Dimensions; type, arrows, leaders - Unit of measurement - Polygon sides - Array; type, copies, scale, angle, counter rotate angle, - Plot; device, output, plotter aspect ratios, orientation - Drawing size, Scale Factors - Colors; Menus, Highlights, Letters, Screen, etc. - Refresh rate, mouse and keyboard sensitivity, video aspect ratio - Default fill pattern and line style / dash spacing NOTE: If you use a CONFIG file from an older version of DraftChoice, unpredictable settings may result. Erase the old DRAFTC.CFG file from the DraftChoice working disk or directory and redefine and save your new settings. PRINTER - This command will display a pick list which allows you to select the print device. The list may vary, as more drivers are added to the program over time. Some of the generic drivers are listed below: HP7470 Produces a plot using the Hewlett Packard Graphics Language (HPGL) which is sent to the selected serial port or file. This option can be used with any plotter device that supports HPGL or sent to a plot file. NOTE: WordPerfect 5.0 and 5.1 can import HPGL files directly into documents. If you want to create a file that you can later import to WordPerfect, select HP7470 and set Output (below) to FILE. EPSON-FX80 Use Epson FX-series compatible graphics commands (9-pin printers). EPSON-LQ2400 Use Epson 24-pin graphics commands. CITOH Use C.Itoh, 8-pin printer commands. OKIDATA 182 Use Okidata, 9 pin printer commands including the 182+ series of 9-PIN Dot Matrix printers. HP LASERJET Use HP LaserJet, PCL graphics commands. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 31 POSTSCRIPT Use Encapsulated Postscript commands. May be used to direct output to a Postscript printer. OUTPUT - Select either the parallel port, serial port, or a file name to send printed output to: LPT1 - Parallel Printer Port #1 LPT2 - Parallel Printer Port #2 COM1 - Serial Communications Port #1 COM2 - Serial Communications Port #2 FILE - Specify a file name used to store printer/plotter output NOTE: If a file name is selected for output, the drawing information will be written to the file using the selected device format. This option is used to produce graphics files to be imported to other programs. i.e., WordPerfect 5.1, PCWRITE, etc. (Also see FILE XTRACT) COLORS - Customize the screen colors. MENU - Color of pull-down menu. LETTER - Color of first letter in each menu option. HILITE - Color of menu highlight bar. PROMPT - Color of the input prompt line. SCREEN - Color of all objects, text, etc., drawn on the screen when BWON is active. ACTIVE - Color of button or choice highlighted in dialog window. INACTIVE - Buttons and Toggles not highlighted in dialog windows. BACKGND - Background color of dialog window. SERIAL - This command allows you to define serial port communication parameters used by the COM ports. Make sure that parameters selected in this menu correspond to the configuration of your printer/plotter. 110 to 9600 Select baud rate transmission speed. ODD, EVEN, NONE Select type of Parity. 1-BIT, 2-BIT Number of Stop Bits ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 32 7-BIT, 8-BIT Number of Data Bits DELAY An integer representing milliseconds (default = 200 ms). The Delay variable is used to make sure information sent to your serial plotter/printer does not overflow the data buffer. The delay value should be increased if you notice objects in your drawing do not appear correctly in your output (e.g. random lines). DEFAULT - The following parameters control the response of the screen to keyboard or mouse input and the screen updating process. The DEFAULT dialog window appears on the screen. See FILE, CONFIG, SAVE CONFIG to make these settings permanent. ASPECT - Set the video aspect ratio, so a circle looks correct and does not appear oval. The aspect ratios differ for CGA, EGA and HGA cards and may vary depending on your graphics monitor. MOUSE - Set the mouse sensitivity to movement. The smaller the number the more sensitive the mouse (default is 12). RATE - With BWON is active, objects are drawn into a special video buffer to increase redraw speed. The buffer is transferred to the screen after a set number of objects have been drawn. For very large complex drawings with many objects it is faster to transfer bigger blocks of objects. The default rate of 7 means that 1/7 of the total number of objects in the drawing must be drawn in the screen buffer before the visible video screen is updated. A rate of 1 means that the entire drawing will be drawn in the screen buffer before the visible screen is updated. Experiment with refresh rates of 1, 7, or pick an even larger refresh rate to find the greatest overall drawing speed. SPDUP - Set the sensitivity of the keyboard cursor keys when used to navigate the cursor around the screen. Keeping a keyboard cursor key depressed will cause the pointing cursor to accelerate in the desired direction. The default value of SPDUP is 2. A value of 0 results in no acceleration and moves the cursor one pixel at a time no matter how long the cursor key is kept depressed. The larger the value, the greater the acceleration rate. Experiment until you find a value which is acceptable to you. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 33 NOTE: No matter what the value of SPDUP, tapping the keyboard cursor keys once will result in cursor movement of one pixel at a time. COLOR - Set background color of the screen for CGA video devices only. PICK - Modify the size (in pixels) of the pick window used to select objects when editing (default is 8 pixels). LEVEL - Sets the degree of curve smoothness for spline, circle and arc objects (See DRAW COMPLEX SPLINE for the effects of various values of LEVEL.) ISOAGL - The user can set their own Isometric angle under the Default menu. This allows for a more accurate design. The isoangle is turned on and off, by toggling the ISO mode. If an isoangle is not specified, than the isoangle defaults to 30.00. 1: FONT - If a secondary font file has not been loaded, only one font file selection option is available to the user. NOTE: The selected font here has no effect on text that is already drawn. If, however, text was drawn using the primary font, let's say ROMAN, and a new primary font is loaded using the File, Import, Fonts command, then all text that was written in ROMAN font will change to the new one. 2: FONT - Load a secondary font BEGIN S - Permits a setup string to be sent to the printer when the program is loaded. Usefull for setting left margins or other desired parameters. END S - Permits the user to specify a setup string to be sent to the printer after the program is exited. Usefull for resetting some printer. NOTE: Each string can be 30 characters long. DOT/IN - Dot per inch (horizontal) resolution for the selected output device. V/H - Verticat to horizontal resolution ration for selected output device. The user may change that if circled appear as allipses on printed output. Screen Center Mode - Three options here specify which mouse button will be used for screen centering. The options are Right, Middle, or None. If Right is selected ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 34 and the right mouse button is pressed, then the current croos-hair cursor location becomes the center of the screen. 4.1.9 GET INFO --------------------------------------------------------------- Displays general settings. This includes the printer type, detected video mode, undo stack, symbols, elements, DOS and EMS memory, math coprocessor if present, and the current time. 4.1.9 OSHELL --------------------------------------------------------------- Temporarily shell to the operating system, (DOS). To return to DraftChoice, type EXIT and press [ENTER] at the DOS prompt. Shelling to DOS is achieved by executing another copy of COMMAND.COM. The user may change the command processor by simply editing the shell prompt when prompted to do so. 4.1.10 QUIT --------------------------------------------------------------- Exits DraftChoice and returns to DOS. Remember to save any changes to your drawing prior to exiting as they will otherwise be lost. 4.2 DRAW --------------------------------------------------------------- This menu contains all the drawing commands available in DraftChoice. During drawing modes the cursor position will be echoed only when OPTION TOGGLE COORD is active. The X-Y coordinates are displayed on the bottom screen line with delta X (dX) and delta Y (dY) distances also displayed after a reference point has been entered. The coordinates may also be toggled on/off by pressing [F2]. 4.2.1 LINE --------------------------------------------------------------- Draws a continuous sequence of end point connected lines until the mode is exited. Each time the [ENTER] key is pressed (or the left mouse button), a new line will be drawn from the last entered point. The sequence continues until the [ESC] key or the right mouse button has been pressed. NOTE: You can have snap mode active or enter coordinates at any time in order to precisely locate reference points for any object. (See section on Entering Coordinates) ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 35 4.2.2 BOX --------------------------------------------------------------- Draw a horizontally-aligned box between two points which locate opposite corners of the box. Locate the first point by positioning the cursor and pressing [ENTER]. Next move the cursor to the point defining the opposite corner of the box and press [ENTER]. If a fill pattern has been selected, the box is automatically filled. NOTE: Have snap mode active or type coordinates to precisely locate opposite corners of the box. 4.2.3 CIRCLE --------------------------------------------------------------- Draw circles or ellipses using the default type selected under SETUP. When the circle command is invoked, the user is presented with the Place and Setup commands. PLACE - Draw a circle according to the default settings. You will be prompted according to the type of circle selected under the SETUP menu. SETUP - Specify circle types and aspect ratio in a dialog window. The default circle type is RADIUS with an ASPECT ratio of 1. RADIUS Requires a center point and point on circumference. DIAMETER Requires two points on circumference. POINTS Requires three points on circumference. ELLIPSE Require a center point and point defining radius of major and minor axes. ASPECT Aspect ratio of circle used by RADIUS, DIAMETER and POINTS type circles. This is the ratio of the horizontal to the vertical diameter of the circle (default = 1.0). 4.2.4 TEXT --------------------------------------------------------------- PLACE - Text can be placed anywhere on the screen. Text is aligned with respect to reference point according to type selected under SETUP. Note that while entering text the following text enhancement options are available. Alt-U : Underline the text that follows, until another Alt-U character option is encountered. Alt-S : Shift ther text that follows half a space UP(similar to Superscript), until another Alt-U character option is encountered. Alt-B : Shift ther text that follows half a space DOWN (similar to Subscript), until another Alt-B character option ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 36 is encountered. Alt-O : Overstrike the text that follows until another Alt-O character option is encountered. SETUP - Specify the height, width, angle and spacing of the text from the SETUP menu. The unit of measurement displayed is the same as the Dwg Units setting (see FILE, NEW). Set sizes and orientations: HEIGHT Height of text in current units. (Default = 0.25) WIDTH Width of text in current units. (Default = 0.20) ANGLE Specify the orientation angle of the text. The angle is specified in degrees, counterclockwise from the horizontal axis. (Default = 0.0) SPACE Sets the spacing between lines of text as a multiple of text height. (Default = 1.2) Set type of text alignment (Default = Left): LEFT Specify left justification. The left edge of the string you enter will be placed on the selected point. CENTER Specify center justification. The text you enter will be centered around the selected point. RIGHT Specify right justification. The right edge of the text you enter will be placed on the selected point. FIT Adjust text size so text will fit between two reference points. Select font to use, either primary or secondary: 1: FONT Use primary font for new text. 2: FONT Use secondary font for new text. If a secondary font file has not been loaded, only one font file selection option is available to the user, i.e. the 2: FONT field will be blank. NOTE: See FILE IMPORT FONTS to change font globally or to load a new font file. 4.2.5 ARC --------------------------------------------------------------- Once the ARC command has been selected, the user is presented with three different options of drawing an Arc. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 37 C, P1, P2 Draw an arc by indicating the center of the arc, the starting point on the circumference, and then the ending point on the circumference, either clockwise or clockwise from the first point. The clockwise/counterclockwise direction is indicated by an icon button, below the menu line, when enabled the arc will be drawn in a clockwise direction, when disabled a counterclockwise direction. The direction can be toggled while drawing (end points of the arc are exchanged), by pressing [SHIFT] - [F3] or by selecting the icon button with the mouse cursor and pressing the left mouse button. Calc_Arc When this Arc option is selected, the user is prompted to specify a center point, and then a dialog window opens that allows the user to enter a radius, a starting angle, an ending angle, and arch value and a chord value. Note that as you enter the starting and/or ending point, the chord and the arch values are automatically adjusted to the theoretically calculated limiting values. The same effect will also be observed if you change the chord and/or arch value, i.e., the ending value and the chord/arch value that was not entered are automatically adjusted to the theoretically calculated limiting values. It should be noted that the orientation of the angles for drawing an Arc using this command, is always clockwise. Tan (2_Lines) Draw a smooth curve joining two lines. The user is prompted to specify 4 points (Two points on each of the two lines). Care should be taken to define the points in the appropriate sequence. The arcs are drawn according to the current circle aspect ratio. See DRAW CIRCLE SETUP ASPECT for information on adjusting the circle aspect ratio. If a fill pattern is selected, the ARC will be automatically filled. 4.2.6 POLYGON --------------------------------------------------------------- A polygon is a regular-sided closed shape; i.e., all sides and all angles are equal. Polygons are centered on the first reference point specified and the location of the first vertex is set by the second point. The number of polygon sides is defined in the SETUP dialog. Also, the number of sides may be automaticalle increased/decreased, after you've defined the center, by pressing TAB or Shift-TAB. PLACE - Locate point 1 (the center of the polygon) and press [ENTER]. The size of the polygon floats until fixed by point 2, press [ENTER], (See also OPTION FILL). ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 38 SETUP - Select the type of polygon and the number of sides to the polygon. TRIANGLE A three-sided polygon SQUARE A four-sided polygon PENTAGON A five-sided polygon HEXAGON A six-sided polygon SIDES Toggle the arrow up/down keys to increase/decrease the number of sides of the polygon or enter the value manually. OK Accept all settings. CANCEL Exit the dialog window. 4.2.7 BEZIER --------------------------------------------------------------- Draw a bezier curve (a special quadratic curve) using 3 control points. Locate end points 1 and 2 of the curve by pressing the [ENTER] key. Point 3 is dynamically used to flex the shape of the quadratic curve. To fix the bezier curve to its final position press the [ENTER] key. Pressing [ESC] cancels the object. (See also OPTION FILL) The bezier curve has the characteristic that the slope of the curve at the end points (1 and 2) is tangent to imaginary lines drawn to point 3 and that the shape of the curve is always concave to the controlling reference points. 4.2.8 COMPLEX --------------------------------------------------------------- A complex object is a multi-sided shape composed of straight or curved lines. Control points defining the shape are specified in a manner similar to the LINE command. The complex line will be filled with the default fill pattern if one is selected and fills are active. (See Alter Fill, Option Fill and Toggle Fill) PLACE - The first point is chosen by positioning the cursor and pressing [ENTER]. Specifying subsequent points will result in a point to point connection of the complex line. The last point can be made to close the shape by typing "C" and [ENTER]. Pressing [ESCAPE] terminates the input of control points. SETUP - Select type of complex line: line, spline, freehand or tape. LINE Connect control points with straight lines. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 39 SPLINE Use control points to create smooth curve tangent with mid-points and tangent to end points. Curve smoothness is controlled by the value specified by LEVEL under the FILE, CONFIG, DEFAULT menus. A LEVEL value of 1 results in the same shape as COMPLEX LINES. A LEVEL value of 3 results in a smooth curved shape. FREE A freehand curve allows you to draw on the screen using the cursor. This allows you to enter information, like your signature, directly into the drawing. However, a maximum of 100 points may be stored per object. The faster you move the cursor, the bigger the step size and more coverage you can get with the 100 points. After 100 points a new line is automatically created. Pressing ENTER toggles the drawing pen up or down. ESCAPE exits the mode. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 40 TAPE This command is similar to LINE except all segments are composed of a parallel set of lines mirrored at all control point corners. Before you start drawing the tape, a prompt will be made for the desired tape thickness. The parallel line will be drawn to the left of the control line, relative to the first segment's begin/end points. OK Confirm dialog selections. CANCEL Exit the dialog menu. 4.2.9 PARAM --------------------------------------------------------------- This powerful command can be used to create complex shapes based on parametric equations. A menu will be displayed which permits you to independently define the X- and Y-coordinates as a function of t. The start and end parameters are required to define the shape: X(t) Formula defining X coordinate as function of t. Y(t) Formula defining Y coordinate as function of t. START - Specify location for parametric process to begin. END - Specify location for parametric process to end. ITERATE - Iterate will repeat the process as many times as specified. OK - Confirm settings and place object. CANCEL - Exit without creating object. The equation is used to generate a continuous sequence of points. The points will be used to create a complex line object placed relative to a point you specify. For example, a parametric equation: X(t) = t X(t) = 2*t with START = 0 END = 2 and ITERATE = 2 ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 41 will produce a straight line defined by the data points: ITERATION# t X(t) Y(t) ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 4 and if the starting point (position of shape) is x=1, y=1, then the line drawn would be 1,1 to x=3, y=5. As an additional example, the following equations produce a circle of radius 10 located at the origin: X(t) = 10*Sin(t) Y(t) = 10*Cos(t) with START = 0 END = 360 and ITERATE = 36 The following equations create a spiral complex line. X(t) = 2*Sin(t)*exp(-t/1038.74) Y(t) = 2*Cos(t)*exp(-t/1038.74) with START = 0 END = 720 and ITERATE = 36 NOTE: Angles passed to SIN, COS, and TAN functions are in degree units. 4.3 EDIT --------------------------------------------------------------- Edit commands act upon objects, allowing them to be erased, duplicated, translated, rotated, mirrored, or combinations thereof. NOTE: EDIT commands operate on all unprotected layers. To protect objects from editing operations see OPTION, LAYER, PROTECT. 4.3.1 OBJECT SELECTION METHODS --------------------------------------------------------------- Two methods are available for selecting an object(s) for editing, the Window method and the Pick method. Two icons are available on the line beneath the menu area. "PK" indicates the Pick mode is active, while "WN" indicates the Window method of selection. WINDOW - Select objects by enclosing the reference mark associated with the object in a window. You will be prompted to ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 42 establish one corner of the window. Move the cursor near the reference mark(s) of the object(s) you wish to edit and hit [ENTER]. Move the cursor diagonally creating a window which captures the reference mark(s) and hit [ENTER] again. To continue with the editing command, you must press [ESC] to halt the window selection mode. All objects selected by the window will be modified by the selected EDIT command. PICK - The Pick mode is preferred if reference marks are clustered and you wish to edit only one object. To select the Pick mode, press the [F4] function key. A small box will appear on the screen in place of the cursor. Position the box over a line associated with the object to be edited and hit [ENTER]. If found, the object is added to the list of object(s) selected. To halt the selection mode, press [ESC], otherwise continue selecting objects. NOTE: Switch between WIND and PICK modes by pressing [F4] at any time or by clicking on the appropriate icon with the mouse. Normally selected objects are added to the selection list, however it is possible to deselect an object by pressing function key [F5]. This enables the "-" icon, below the menu line, and objects will be removed from the selection list. Pressing [F5] again enables the "+" icon (objects are added to the selection list). The selection mode may also be toggled by clicking the mouse on the appropriate icon. 4.3.2 COPY --------------------------------------------------------------- Selected object(s) will be copied based on two or more points. The first point, or FROM position, is any point at or near the selected object which is used as a reference point. Subsequent TO points indicated are used to determine the translation distance and subsequent direction of the copy. Object copies occur dynamically, i.e., the block of objects moves as the cursor is moved. Pressing [ENTER] places a duplicate of the block onto the drawing at the cursor position. You can continue to move and place a number of duplicates anywhere on the screen. To terminate this mode, press the [ESC] key. 4.3.3 MOVE --------------------------------------------------------------- Translate the selected object(s) into a new position. Dynamic positioning occurs with the movement of the cursor. Press [ENTER] to indicate the final position. NOTE: Position can be specified by typing coordinates. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 43 4.3.4 ERASE --------------------------------------------------------------- Erase the selected object(s) from the drawing. NOTE: See UNDO to restore previous erasures. 4.3.5 SCALE --------------------------------------------------------------- Scale the selected object(s) according to parameters specified in the dialog window. The current horizontal and vertical dimensions of the object(s) will be multiplied by the X and Y scale factors. You must specify a reference point about which to scale the objects. When Scale is selected a dialog window will appear which allows the following parameters to be modified. X Set Horizontal scaling factor Y Set Vertical scaling factor [uparrow] Increase X or Y scale factor by 0.1 [downarrow] Decrease X or Y scale factor by 0.1 HALF Reduce current X and Y scale factors by 1/2. DOUBLE Increase current X and Y scale factors by 2. INVERT X and Y scale factors become 1/current scale factors. RESET Set X and Y scale factors to 1.0. OK Confirm selections and proceed to next step of scaling. CANCEL Abort scaling operation. The following flags are optional when scaling. LOCAL - When active, scale all objects about local reference points and NOT a global reference point. FIT - FIT is used to expand/contract selected entities so they will fit a specified area. The user is first asked to select the desired entities and then to define the envelope the entities are to fit in. NOTE: The reference point used for fit scaling, is always the same, i.e. the original reference points of the selected entities. 4.3.6 ROTATE --------------------------------------------------------------- Rotates the selected elements by a specified angle about a point of rotation. Positive (+) angles are rotated in a counter- ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 44 clockwise direction, negative (-) angles are rotated in a clockwise direction. Angle Value of angle rotation in degrees. The following buttons permit convenient preset angles to be entered in the angle box. 0 Set angle to zero degrees. 45 Set angle to 45 degrees. 90 Set angle to 90 degrees. 135 Set angle to 135 degrees. 180 Set angle to 180 degrees. 215 Set angle to 215 degrees. 270 Set angle to 270 degrees. 315 Set angle to 315 degrees. SGN Reverse direction of rotation OK Confirm settings and rotate object. CANCEL Exit without rotating selected objects. 4.3.7 XTEND --------------------------------------------------------------- This command will extend one or more selected lines to intercept with a boundary object. As an example, first identify the boundary object (1) to which the line segment is to be extended. Next select the line object (2) to be extended. Following object selection a dialog will be presented requesting the type of extension to be performed; INNER Only the lines that will physically intersect the boundary line segment will be extended. ANYWHERE All lines including those that would intercept an imaginary line defined by the extend boundary line will be extended. NOTES: 1. No action will occur if the line which is extended will not meet the intersecting line and INNER is selected. 2. When extending to complex entities, the extension is up to the first boundary of the complex entity. 4.3.8 ARRAY --------------------------------------------------------------- This command combines a COPY operation with a ROTATION, TRANSLATION, SCALING and surface REVOLUTION. After selecting ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 45 one or more objects the ARRAY dialog window will permit specification of COPY type, and options. The following action modifiers may be selected from the dialog window. LINEAR - The copies will be positioned in a line. You will be prompted to position the first copy. Subsequent copies will be positioned the same distance away from the line established between the original and first copy. Each element can still be rotated on its own axis. CIRCULAR - The object will be rotated from a center point in a circular rotation. You will be prompted to specify the center of rotation. Copies will be positioned in a circle about a specified point. VOLUME - Specifies a volume rotation. Select the location of the vertical axis line about which to perform the revolution. The entire object will be revolved through the angle specified. PATH - Creates equally distributed copies of the selected objects using the path of a single object (such as a line, bezier, or spline). The following value parameters may be modified. TOTAL Specify the number of times the object is copied. Changes to this value will automatically recalculate the ANGLE value based on a 360 degree sweep of the objects. ANGLE Copies can be rotated or revolved about a reference point in a circular fashion. The effective radius of the circle is equal to the distance between each object and the reference point. ANGLE defaults to 360/(number of copies plus 1.) SCALE The scale defaults to 1. A scale of less than 1 will result in subsequent copies getting smaller. A scale of greater than 1 will result in subsequent copies getting larger. ROTATE This value may be used to additionally rotate each object. The ROTATE value is added to the ANGLE value to determine the total angle of rotation. If set equal to, but with the opposite sign of the ANGLE value, the object will maintain its original orientation and only be translated. Negative ROTATE values are subtracted from the ANGLE value. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 46 OK Confirm your selections and perform the array copy. ESC Cancel array copy. For example, to ARRAY a triangle (a 3 sided POLYGON) with 3 copies, the angle of rotation estimated by DraftChoice will be 360 degrees divided by (3+1) = 90 degrees. 4.3.9 MIRROR --------------------------------------------------------------- Place cursor around the object to be mirrored. After selecting object, you will be asked if you want to flip or mirror the object. FLIP - Selected objects will be mirrored about a user defined axis. Objects are removed from previous orientation and placed in new location. MIRROR - This command will cause the selected objects to be mirrored across the user defined axis creating new objects and leaving the original objects intact. OK - Performs selected Mirror/Flip operation. CANCEL - Abort operation without action. Return to menu. 4.3.10 TRIM --------------------------------------------------------------- Trim line objects that extend beyond a specified boundary. First, select the trim boundary. Next position the cursor on a line on the side of the boundary which is to be trimmed. NOTE: Complex objects must be exploded first before they can be trimmed. 4.3.11 BREAK --------------------------------------------------------------- This command removes a portion of an object between two specified points. First, select the object to break. Next specify the first break point by positioning the cursor on the object and press [ENTER]. Finally, position the cursor at the second break point, and press [ENTER]. Note that cutting off the end of a line can be performed by positioning the cursor outside the line end point on the portion of the line to be deleted. The entity will be broken into two segments with the segment defined by the two break points deleted. This command is very useful when you have one object intersecting another and you wish to selectively erase part of one of the objects. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 47 NOTE: Breaking a CIRCLE creates an ARC object. The direction of the break is clockwise from the first break point. 4.3.12 OFFSET --------------------------------------------------------------- Creates a copy of line, circle, arc, or polygon objects offset from the original object. When selected, a pick box prompts you to specify the offset distance for the copy. You will then be prompted to select the object to be copied, and the side on which to place the copy. Position the cursor and press [ENTER]. A copy will be placed the offset distance from the original. For lines, the copy will be positioned parallel to the original. The radius of arcs, circles, and polygon objects will be adjusted by the offset amount. -- Order you Fully Licensed Copy Today -- +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | This document is for the purpose of evaluating the program. | | It's not a replacement of the Printed, Bound, Illustrated | | 200+ page user's manual you will receive when you order the | | registered copy of the program after your 30-day evaluation! | | | | TRIUS, Inc., P.O. Box 249, N.Andover, MA 01845-0249, U.S.A. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Distribution of this manual in printed form is prohibited! | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 48 4.4 ALTER --------------------------------------------------------------- This powerful menu contains commands that are required to change certain attributes for entities that are already drawn, and allows editing of special-type entities. 4.4.1 TEXT --------------------------------------------------------------- The Alter, Text command allows you to edit one or more text strings that have already been typed into your drawing. When selected, the text strings are placed on the edit line (top of screen) and the Arrow, Delete and Insert keys are active. Press [ENTER] to confirm any modifications and proceed to the next selected text string. Note that the EDIT menu commands used to copy, move, scale and other operations consider a character string as a single entity. 4.4.2 STYLE --------------------------------------------------------------- This command permits you to change the line style of selected objects. After selecting objects a pick list of styles is presented, upon selection of the Line Style button. Place the cursor on your selection and press [ENTER]. Line styles are defined in the external text file DC.LIN. (See Appendix on how to develop your own line styles). The following line style options are also available: NONE Prevent the display of line or object outline. SLIM Represent each line with 1 dot width. THICK Represent each line with 3 dot width. FAT Represent each line with 5 dot width. SPACE Set the spacing of dots and dashes for various line styles. OK Confirm new settings and apply to selected object. CANCEL Do not perform change. 4.4.3 FILL --------------------------------------------------------------- Similar to the Style command, above, this command is used to alter the fill pattern of already drawn complex entities. A dialog menu will be presented which permits the user to select from a list of visible patterns. (see Appendix on developing your own fill patterns) ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 49 The following dialog button modifiers may be selected; NONE Only the outline of the main object appears so any object will be visible. OPAQUE Creates a solid fill pattern of the type selected. Objects underneath the pattern will not show through. SEETHRU Allows fill patterns from overlayed filled objects to show through. [UP] Advance to next set of patterns. [DN] Backup to last set of patterns. CANCEL Revert back to original settings. Highlighting a pattern and pressing [ENTER] will cause the pattern to be selected for use and the dialog will be exited. 4.4.4. HATCH --------------------------------------------------------------- A hatch pattern is constructed from line entities and will replace an assigned fill pattern. Hatching is preferred for use with pen plotters and postscript printers. Hatch patterns are selected by name from a pick list. A check mark next to the hatch pattern name indicates the current selection Hatches are defined in the external text file DC.PAT (see Appendix on how to develop your own hatch patterns). 4.4.5 UNITS --------------------------------------------------------------- This command is used to alter the units of an already drawn dimension entity. After the element(s) to be re-dimensioned are specified, the user is presented with a pick list containing the following unit types; mm, meter, km, inch, ft.in, feet, yard, mile, none. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 50 4.4.6 CORNER --------------------------------------------------------------- The CORNER command modifies the intersection of two lines with either a Fillet, a Chamfer or an exact Meet. First select two intersecting lines. Press [ESCAPE] to confirm your selections. Next confirm or change the parameters in the dialog menu. The following corner options may be selected. FILLET Extends or trims two lines until they are tangent to an arc of specified radius. The two lines must intersect at a point within the drawing. DraftChoice will not FILLET parallel lines. If such an operation is attempted, an error message will be displayed. A-LENGTH and B-LENGTH parameters have no effect on FILLET operations. RADIUS Select radius of arc applied to corner. CHAMFER Chamfer will cut off the corner or edge of an object at the specified distance and join the ends with a line. The RADIUS parameter has no effect on CHAMFER operations. A-LENGTH Distance from intersecting point (line one) B-LENGTH Distance from intersecting point (line two) MEET The two lines will be extended until they intersect. 4.4.7 EXPLODE --------------------------------------------------------------- This command converts COMPLEX objects such as bezier curves and circles into equivalent objects composed only of straight line segments. 4.4.8 RUBBER --------------------------------------------------------------- Move end point of LINE and BEZIER objects into new positions. Objects totally enclosed in the rubber window will be moved. Objects crossing the window boundary will be stretched. First, select those objects with end points you dynamically wish to move. Next, specify a "from" position. After the from position is identified, move the cursor until the collection of objects is stretched into the desired shape. Finally specify the "TO" position by pressing [ENTER] or cancel the operation and restore the original shape by pressing [ESC]. NOTE: Rubber will not expand complex objects, but will move the object according to its reference point. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 51 4.4.9 WARP --------------------------------------------------------------- Permits dynamic skewing, shearing and scaling of objects. Selected objects will be exploded and surrounded by a four point control envelope. One or Two control points at a time may be selected and dragged into a new position with the mouse. To select a single control point, position the mouse pointer inside the small control point box. Depress the left mouse button and drag into the new position. Release the button to release control point. To move two adjacent control points at a time, position the mouse pointer on top of the control line connecting two control points. Press the left button and drag to new position. Release button to release control points. All objects will be redrawn and distorted according to the control envelope. To convert final placement press the [ESCAPE] key. NOTE: Text objects must be exploded prior to WARP. 4.4.10 COMPLEX --------------------------------------------------------------- Allow changes to complex entities. This command only operates on complex entities; an appropriate error message is displayed if a simple entity is selected. Note that only a single entity may be modified at a time. The following menu options are available. MODIFY The modify command is used to change the position of control points on a complex object. First place a window around the complex object you wish to modify and press [ENTER]. Next, place a window around the active control points. Press [ENTER] to indicate the "FROM" position and [ENTER] to specify the "TO" position. DOUBLE This command is used to create border lines (doubles) around complex entities. You are asked to specify how far from the original you want these border lines to be. One of the benefits of creating a DOUBLE-type entity is that the new entity is complex and can therefore, be filled with one of the available fill patterns to create unique border-type entities! JOIN The Alter, Complex, Join command is used to connect lines or complex entities into a single object. Please, note that the joining of lines requires that the entity selection is done using the pick mode or the window mode picking one line at a time. This is because joining will occur in the order entities are selected, ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 52 and this order is ambiguous when the general window selection is used. CONTROL This command is used to alter a complex object. Place a window around the complex object and press [ENTER] to confirm your selections or [ESCAPE] to exit. An envelope will appear around the object. Click on the control points of the envelope to modify the envelope as you wish. Press [ESCAPE] to exit and the object will be redrawn. 4.4.11 TWEEN --------------------------------------------------------------- This command creates intermediate objects by blending two different control objects. The control objects can not be symbols. For example, TWEEN could be used to create intermediate contour lines for a topographic map, a centerline between river banks on a map, or create a series of shapes morphing between a circle and a triangle. The number of copies and the smoothness of fit are set through a dialog window which presents the following commands. TOTAL Set number of intermediate blended objects to be created. POINTS Set number of points which subdivide the complex line created by blending two control objects. 4.4.12 ALIGN --------------------------------------------------------------- This powerful command lets you align elements in your drawing, horizontally or vertically, using a number of criteria. Note that any combination of these criteria can be used. Once the command has been invoked, you are prompted to select the items to align. User either the Window or the Pick selection mode to select the desired elements and press ESC when you are finished. Then, you'll be presented with a dialog box that permits you to select the alignment criteria. HORIZONTAL ~~~~~~~~~~ Move selected elements horizontally (left/right), so that the selected alignment takes place. Note that if the Vertical Alignment is NONE, only a horizontal displacement of the selected elements takes place. Left - Align ALL selected elements with the leftmost point of the leftmost element. Center - Align ALL selected elements with the center point of the most centrally located element. (Horizontal ONLY!) ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 53 Right - Align ALL selected elements with the rightmost point of the righmost element. None - No horizontal displacement of the elements takes place. VERTICAL ~~~~~~~~ Move selected elements vertically (up/down), so that the selected alignment takes place. Note that if the Horizontal Alignment is NONE, only a vertical displacement of the selected elements takes place. Top - Align ALL selected elements with the topmost point of the topmost element. Center - Align ALL selected elements with the center point of the most centrally located element. (Vertical ONLY!) Bottom - Align ALL selected elements with the bottom most point of the bottom most element. None - No vertical displacement of the elements takes place. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 54 4.5 IMAGE COMMANDS --------------------------------------------------------------- Imagine that you are looking through a magnifying window at a very large and detailed picture. At high magnification, you can only see that portion of the picture which is directly under the viewing window. To see more of the picture (but less detail), you must decrease the image scale factor. To zoom in on a specific detail, you increase the image scale factor (but see less of the picture). When DraftChoice is started, the default image scale factor is set to 1.00 and the coordinate of the lower corner of the screen is set at 0,0. This is called the origin. The image scale factor (ISF) is displayed in the lower left of the DraftChoice screen. You can modify the ISF by using the IMAGE menu commands to adjust the position of the viewing window with respect to the drawing and the overall size of the drawing displayed on the screen. 4.5.1 UPDATE --------------------------------------------------------------- Redraw the entire screen at the current image scale and option settings. UPDATE will remove remnants of objects that have been ERASED or MOVED. Note that the speed of screen updates can be enhanced in those drawings that contain FILL patterns, TEXT objects and LINE styles if their associated OPTION TOGGLES are disabled. 4.5.2 WINDOW --------------------------------------------------------------- Zoom in on a portion of the current display. You select a portion of the drawing which will be enlarged to fill the screen, by enclosing the area with a flexible window. The size of the window will be used to determine the new image scale factor. 4.5.3 LAST --------------------------------------------------------------- Swap between the last image/scale factor/position displayed and the current image settings. This is very useful when working on a very large drawing. It allows you to zoom in on a small work area, make your changes, and then returns you to the original scale which shows the entire drawing. 4.5.4 PAN --------------------------------------------------------------- Dynamically reposition the viewing window on the current display (with BWON mode active). After the "FROM" point is selected (by pressing [ENTER]) you will discover that movement of the cursor (with mouse or cursor keys) will result in the image on the screen moving instantly! (Hint: use a "FROM" ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 55 point near the center of the screen to permit the greatest range of movement). Fix the new location of the viewing window by pressing [ENTER]. Once the new location is fixed, the drawing is redrawn at the specified position. 4.5.5 DOUBLE --------------------------------------------------------------- Double the image scale factor and reposition the viewing window about the center of the screen. Objects displayed in the drawing appear larger by a factor of two. 4.5.6 HALF --------------------------------------------------------------- Halve the image scale factor and reposition the viewing window about the center of the screen. Objects displayed in the drawing appear smaller by a factor of two. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 56 4.5.7 ZOOM --------------------------------------------------------------- This command allows you to manually change the image scale factor and the location of the lower left screen coordinate (screen origin). A dialog window presenting the choices will be displayed. XOFS The X offset coordinate is used to position the origin of the drawing (lower left corner) to coordinate X. YOFS The Y offset coordinate is used to position the origin of the drawing (lower left corner) to coordinate Y. ORIGIN Return the drawing to the default image origin setting. SCALE Entering a scale factor of 1.0 will return the drawing to the default image scale setting. The horizontal and vertical dimensions will be multiplied by the entered scale factor. OK Press [ACCEPT] to confirm your selection and redraw screen according to new settings. CANCEL Abort ZOOM operation. 4.5.8 ALL --------------------------------------------------------------- DraftChoice scans all objects in the drawing to determine the maximum and minimum X-Y coordinates of the drawing. DraftChoice then determines an image scale factor and a viewing window which will display the entire drawing on the screen at the largest scale possible while still fitting all objects on the screen. 4.5.9 SET --------------------------------------------------------------- Assign a name to a specific view (image, scale factor and viewing window) of the drawing. The user can later pick that name from a selection list to redisplay the same view. Up to 8 different views may be defined for each drawing. Each view may be assigned a unique name up to 10 characters long. The default view names, VIEW-1 through VIEW-8, correspond to the IMAGE, ALL created view. To create a view, select SET, and choose a view name. You can either accept the name or enter your own unique name. Finally, specify the window that will be used for the view, similar to the IMAGE, WINDOW command. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 57 To modify either the name or window of a selected view, select SET, choose the view name, enter a new name or accept the current name, and reselect the window. 4.5.10 VIEW --------------------------------------------------------------- Select one of the predefined views from the pick list presented. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 58 4.6 OPTION --------------------------------------------------------------- The OPTION menu allows you to change parameters that effect the entire drawing. The changes will remain in effect until the next time a parameter is changed or DraftChoice is restarted from DOS. To save any changed parameters as new defaults for future sessions, see File, Config, Save Config. 4.6.1 GRID --------------------------------------------------------------- The GRID command allows you to select from two options GRID and SNAP. After selecting OPTION GRID, a dialog menu will appear with the following options. GRID Create a construction grid at the specified x and y grid spacing in the displayed units. The grid is visibly represented by a dot at each XY intersection coordinate. Grids are preset to correspond to a 1 inch paper distance. (The physical grid will not be displayed until the GRID menu has been exited.) The grid can be toggled on and off by typing "G" or selecting GRID. From the drawing screen, the grid may be toggled on/off by pressing the [F6] function key or by toggling the GRID icon, below the menu line, with the mouse. SNAP Constrain movement of the cursor to exactly the spacing of the snap grid. The snap grid is similar to the construction grid, but is not visible. When drawing an object, physical coordinates are forced to the nearest snap point. The snap grid can be toggled on and off by selecting SNAP from the dialog window or toggling the SNAP icon, located just below the menu line, with the mouse. While drawing press the [F9] Function Key. A change in color of the SNAP icon button on the DraftChoice screen indicates the snap option is active. X, Y Sets the horizontal and vertical grid spacing. H, V Sets the horizontal and vertical snap spacing. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 59 4.6.2 TOGGLE --------------------------------------------------------------- Toggle switches are features that can be enabled or disabled. A dialog window appears. A cross identifier (x) next to each switch indicates the switch is active. The switches are listed below along with their default settings in brackets: COORD Dynamically display the X-Y coordinate position of the cursor at the bottom of the screen in the current units. Changes in x and y values (dx and dy), radius, and angle are also displayed while drawing or editing as appropriate. [OFF] EXTENT If disabled, then an Image, All command sets the viewing window based on the scale/drawing border. If it is ON then Image, All sets the viewing window based on the calculated extents of the drawing elements. [ON] MARK Display the object reference mark (X). This toggle switch is useful when fine editing of entities is desired. [ON] TEXT Display TEXT objects completely. If disabled, represent text with a solid line to speed up screen redrawing. [ON] VERIFY Force the user to confirm an erase action. [ON] BWON When enabled use monochrome color and a video buffer for all drawing operations to increase speed of display update. When disabled draw directly to screen using assigned layer colors. [OFF] AUTO Automatically play animation sequence ( if defined) in drawing file immediately after it is loaded. [OFF] FILL Fill shapes with assigned patterns. If disabled, only the boundary of drawn objects are displayed. Disabling fill may be used to speed drawing update time (see OPTION FILL or OPTION HATCH). [ON] STYLE Permit use of line styles. If disabled, show each line with a thickness of SLIM (see OPTION STYLE). [ON] PROMARK Display element on protected layers using a dotted line pattern (if the option is toggled ON). 4.6.3 ATTACH --------------------------------------------------------------- Places the begin/end points of an object being drawn/edited to a specified connecting point on an existing object, therefore giving the two points the same coordinate. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 60 ATTACH is helpful when you are drawing or editing an object, and you need to locate either the begin or end point at precisely the same location of an existing object. ATTACH may be toggled on/off by pressing the [F10] function key, or by clicking the mouse on the [A] ATTACH button at the top of the screen. OPTIONS VERTEX - Attach to a polygon vertex, complex vertex, or Bezier/line end points. MID POINT - Attach to a point on an object midway between two end points or two vertices. REFERENCE - Attach to the reference point of an object. TANGENT - Attach to a point on the object which results in a tangent line projecting backwards to the last indicated point. CLOSEST - Attach to a point on the selected object which results in a perpendicular line to that point when projected back to the last point defined. OK - Select enter to accept the point. CANCEL - Select escape to delete the point. NOTE: The cursor must be positioned within a specified number of pixels of the existing object for attach to function. This value is specified by File, Config, Default, Pick. For entities that have no start or middle (ie, circles), newly drawn objects will attach to the nearest vertex point. 4.6.4 FILL --------------------------------------------------------------- The OPTION FILL command uses the selected bit mapped fill pattern as the default which is assigned to any complex shape capable of being filled. It overrides any hatch pattern previously assigned. The following objects can be assigned a fill (or hatch) pattern when drawn: BOX ARC BEZIER CIRCLE COMPLEX POLYGON COMPLEX ARROW SPLINE FREEHAND An object having a fill pattern can be changed to another pattern with the ALTER FILL command. (See ALTER FILL for description) ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 61 4.6.5 HATCH --------------------------------------------------------------- The OPTION HATCH command uses the selected hatch pattern as the default which is assigned to any complex shape capable of being filled. It overrides any bit mapped fill pattern previously assigned as the default. A hatch pattern is created by combining different types of line styles and is recommended when plotting will be done on a pen plotter or Postscript printer (see ALTER HATCH for description). 4.6.6 STYLE --------------------------------------------------------------- The OPTION STYLE command selects the line style to be used as the default for any new objects. The current line style is indicated in the Option, Menu. To change the default style place the pointer on the Line Style button and press [ENTER]. Next, choose the desired style from the pick list presented. The currently selected line style is highlighted on the list. The line style may be further modified as None, Slim, Thick, or Fat. (See ALTER STYLE for description) 4.6.7 UNITS --------------------------------------------------------------- Indicate the current units to use when mapping screen coordinates. Choices include mm, meter, km, inch, ft.in, feet, yard, mile, or none. The desired unit may be selected from a pick list that appears. A diamond identifier beside one of the units indicates the current default setting which will be used by all new dimension operations and by the coordinate position indicator displayed in the center of the bottom line of the screen. It does not have any effect on previous units that were already embedded in the drawing. (See ALTER UNITS to change previous units.) 4.6.8 MACROS --------------------------------------------------------------- A macro is a sequence of keystrokes that are automatically played back to perform desired operations. Up to five different macros may be defined in DraftChoice identified by the letters A through E. Macros are executed by simply holding down the Alt key and pressing the corresponding key-letter, A through E. Macros are composed of letters corresponding to DraftChoice command selections and a set of special keywords. Macro ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 62 keywords must be enclosed in curly brackets {}. The following keywords are available: ~ - Equivalent to pressing [ENTER] {ESC} - Equivalent to pressing [ESC] {LT} - Move cursor one increment left {RT} - Move cursor one increment right {UP} - Move cursor one increment up {DN} - Move cursor one increment down {PGUP} - Increase cursor movement step by 10 pixels {PGDN} - Decrease cursor movement step by 10 pixels {WIND} - Toggles the windowing selection mode ON {POINT} - Toggles pointing selection mode ON {ISON} - Toggles Isometric mode ON {ISOFF} - Toggles Isometric mode OFF {ORTHON} - Toggles Orthogonal mode ON {ORTHOFF} - Toggles Orthogonal mode OFF {SNAPON} - Toggles Snap mode ON {SNAPOFF} - Toggles Snap mode OFF {CDON} - Toggles Coordinate display ON {CDOFF} - Toggles Coordinate display OFF {PERPON} - Toggles Perpendicular mode ON {PERPOFF} - Toggles Perpendicular mode OFF {CPOS} - Clockwise drawing of ARCS {CNEG} - Counterclockwise drawing of ARCS {ELADD} - Toggle ADD element mode ON {ELSUB} - Toggle SUBTRACT element mode ON {GRIDON} - Toggle GRID mode ON {GRIDOFF} - Toggle GRID mode OFF {GETXY} - Execution of the macro is suspended and the user is permitted to move the cross-hair cursor using the mouse. Macro execution is continued once the left/right mouse button has been pressed. {GETKEY} - Execution of the macro is suspended and the user is permitted to enter X,Y coordinate values. OK Accept the macro definition for the currently selected macro (A-E). CANCEL Cancel the macro definition dialog window and return to the Options menu. 4.6.9 REFS --------------------------------------------------------------- Each object in the drawing is assigned one or more reference points. A visible reference point makes it easier to select objects using the WINDOW selection mode. The dialog menu presented allows you to select your own reference mark type. (Also See OPTION TOGGLE MARK) Cross X - The object will be marked with a large CROSS. Cross x - The object will be marked with an small cross. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 63 Plus + - The object will be marked with a plus. Box B - The object will be marked with a large Box. Box b - The object will be marked with a small box. Hour - The object will be marked with an hourglass-shaped mark. 4.6.10 LAYER --------------------------------------------------------------- LAYER commands provide control over the layer features of DraftChoice. DraftChoice has 128 layers, which can be thought of as transparent overlays. Layers allow you to organize objects in your drawing into logical overlays groupings. Each layer may be named, made visible or invisible, or protected from editing operations. Each layer is assigned an ID number 001 through 128. While all layers may be displayed, only one layer at a time is active. The ID number of the active layer is shown on the tool panel next to the LAYER button. A layer pick list is displayed in the lower left of the display. The layer ID, layer name, and status of visible and protect options are shown for all layers. To scroll through the layer listing, click on the [uparrow] and [downarrow] keys. To make a layer active, highlight the layer and press [ENTER]. To accept any changes made to a layer's options, press OK. ID ~~ Specify the ID number of the layer to be altered. The number of the current layer (for attribute editing purposes) is displayed in the ID window. To choose a different ID number, select ID and enter the number of the layer, 1 through 128 and press [ENTER]. The dialog window will automatically update to display that layer's attributes. NOTE: The current layer does not become the active layer until that layer is selected from the layer pick list by highlighting the layer and pressing [ENTER]. If a different layer is selected from the pick list, that layer's ID number will be displayed in the ID window. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 64 NAME ~~~~ Display or edit the name assigned to the current layer. To assist in layer identification, each layer may be assigned a name of up to 12 characters in length. The names should describe the contents or purpose of the layer. Layer names do not have to be unique. To enter or edit a layer's name, select NAME, type in the name, and press [ENTER]. If a different layer is selected from the pick list, that layer's name number will be displayed in the NAME window. VISIBLE ~~~~~~~ Control whether a layer is visibly displayed on the screen or concealed from view. When many layers are being used, it may be desirable to show only those layers of interest to clarify the view. To make a layer visible, first select the layer to make it active, then click on the VISIBLE button. A cross mark (x) in the VISIBLE window indicates the layer is visible. In the layer pick list, the Visible (V) column indicates the status of each layer. A Y indicates Yes, the layer is visible, while a N indicates No, the layer is not visible. Layers may be globally made visible or invisible with the Set All Layers command. To ensure objects are not mistakenly selected while editing, make sure all layers are VISIBLE when selecting objects. As an alternative, you may wish to protect those layers which are not visible. PROTECT ~~~~~~~ Control whether objects in a layer are protected from editing commands. Often while editing, it may be desirable to protect objects in certain layers from being selected for a EDIT or ALTER command. To protect a layer, first select the layer to make it active, then click on the PROTECT button. A cross mark (x) next to the PROTECT option indicates the layer is protected. In the layer pick list, the Protect (P) column indicates the status of each layer. A Y indicates Yes, the layer is protected, while a N indicates No, the layer is not protected. Layers may be globally protected or unprotected with the Set ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 65 All Layers command, which assigns the current selection of VISIBLE and PROTECTION to all the layers. SET ALL LAYERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sets the status of Visible and Protect options as the default for all layers. To make only one layer visible or to enable protection for several layers, it is easier to toggle the option off for all layers, select SET, deselect SET, and then turn protection back on for the selected layers. To globally set an option, set VISIBLE and PROTECT to the desired status and select SET ALL LAYERS. CAUTION: SET ALL LAYERS sets the current status of Visible and Protect for ALL layers. It is not possible to globally change the visible status with out globally changing the protection status. 4.7 SYMBOL --------------------------------------------------------------- This menu allows you to group a number of drawn objects and assign a symbol name to that group. For example, an electrical designer might have a set of symbol definitions for common objects like resistors and capacitors. Each symbol might be composed of one or more base objects like lines, circles, and boxes. By defining the symbol once, and then using it by name many times, the designer will save time, effort, and computer memory in creating the drawing. Symbols are saved with drawings that use them. When DraftChoice is started, it looks for a symbol library file AUTOLOAD.SYM. If found, the symbol library file is loaded automatically. NOTE: If you use the FILE NEW command, all named symbols will be cleared from memory. Importing a drawing file that contains symbols will merge any symbols currently in memory with the imported file. Caution must be used when importing symbols. A symbol being imported with the same name (but defined differently) will not be loaded as the existing symbol takes precedence. CAUTION: To save any additions to the symbol library currently in RAM for later use by other drawings, use the FILE, XTRACT, SYMBOLS command, which creates a file with the extension .SYM. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 66 4.7.1 USE --------------------------------------------------------------- When the SYMBOL, USE command is selected, a dialog menu displaying icons of the available symbols is presented. Move the cursor to highlight the desired symbol and press [ENTER]. Additional options which allow you to modify the orientation and size of the symbol, prior to placement are also available. SCALE Set the size of the symbol based upon the original size of the symbol at the time it was defined. ANGLE This option will rotate the object at a user- specified angle. CANCEL Do not place symbol. Return to menu. Finally tell DraftChoice where to place the symbol. Move your cursor to the desired spot (or enter the destination coordinate) and press [ENTER]. The symbol will be placed with the symbol reference point aligned with the indicated destination. NOTE: Any modifications (scale, rotate, etc.) you make to a symbol stay in effect until you either change them or you re- load the library. 4.7.2 MAKE --------------------------------------------------------------- Define a symbol by selecting a group of objects, assign a symbol name and then indicate a point at or near the objects which will be used as the symbol reference point. For example, to make a circle/box combination into a symbol, select Symbol, Make, and use the window mode to select both objects and press ESC. When prompted, enter a symbol name (SAMPLE) and then specify the lower left corner of the box as a reference point. Now when you select Symbol, Use, the circle/box combination will appear as one of the available symbols. NOTE: Remember to save your new symbols. (See FILE, XTRACT, SYMBOLS). 4.7.3 DELETE --------------------------------------------------------------- To remove ONE symbol definition, select the name from the dialog menu. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 67 4.7.4 EXPLODE --------------------------------------------------------------- This command takes a symbol in the drawing and replaces it with its component parts (i.e. lines, circles, arcs). An excellent use of this command is to permit you to make modification to an existing symbol library. For example, take a symbol, SYMBOL EXPLODE it, define some new lines, delete some old lines, and then make a new symbol with the same name. WARNING: Do not confuse this command with EDIT, EXPLODE which will decompose an object to a collection of only line objects. 4.7.5 RESET --------------------------------------------------------------- Discard all symbols in the Library and release all memory assigned to it. 4.7.6 FONT --------------------------------------------------------------- The character font used to DRAW TEXT belongs to its own special category of symbols. To perform changes to a font letter, perform the following steps: 1. Perform a file NEW, Set Units to Meters and select a drawing size of NONE. 2. Set the Snap H&V spacing to 1, Grid X & Y spacing to 8 meters. 3. Set the text height and width equal to 256. 4. Place a letter on screen and note position of base line, top of character and descender line. 5. Use SYMBOL, FONT command to assign the objects to a specific letter. 6. After redefining letters, save new font file ( FILE, XTRACT, FONT). For example, the capital letter A can be constructed with three straight lines. NOTES 1:Circles and other complex shapes will automatically be converted to LINE objects before they are used to define a font character. A new definition assigned to a font letter will not become permanent unless the font has been saved. 2:Normally, it's assumed that the user is creating a single stroked font. If, however, you are creating a ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 68 fillable font, then the character outlines should be composed by countinuous complex entities. 4.7.7 ANIMATE --------------------------------------------------------------- ANIMATE allows you to create an animated display of images. Any portion of the screen can be captured, providing it has an object in it. When a sequence of images has been captured, they can be played back in an animation sequence, forwards or backwards. The duration of display for each frame can be set in milliseconds. HINT: It helps to use a rectangular frame to blank out the last image placed on the screen, i.e. enclose the area you will be capturing with a box (Draw, Box) and include the box in your capture window. WARNING: Animation screens are stored in conventional memory. The total number of slides, therefore, depends on the amount of available RAM and the screen resolution. GET Capture selected objects as a rectangular block of Binary Bits. The size of the block is determined by the maximum and minimum boundary of the selected objects. Once an image has been captured, you are prompted for the image display time in milliseconds. PLAY Play back sequence of recorded slides. Note that if a single slide has been captured, this command has no visible effect. The following keys affect the play back display speed: [UP] Speeds up the display sequence rate [DN] Slows down the display sequence rate [LEFT] Causes the display to rotate in a "reverse" direction [RIGHT] Causes the display to rotate in a "forward" direction STEP This command permits you to view each slide individually. Press the right cursor to advance to the next slide, and the left cursor to backup. Press [ENTER] to modify the display duration assigned to the slide. Hit [ESC] to exit from the step mode. RESET Release memory assigned to all slides. CAUTION: Captured slides are lost unless the file has already been saved to disk! NOTE: Only conventional memory is used to store slides. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 69 4.8 MEASURE --------------------------------------------------------------- This menu allows you to create dimension objects and query the distance, included angle, and area of existing objects. 4.8.1 DIMENSION --------------------------------------------------------------- Create an object complete with dimension leader lines which echoes distance between its end points. This type of object will update the echoed distance if any changes result from scaling occur. The DIMENSION command has two options, Place and Setup. PLACE Place a dimension line on the screen complete with end point arrow heads and a text string representing the distance between the end points. The orientation of the text string is controlled by the order in which the end points are indicated. The text is always placed from the first point to the last point. If the space between the leader lines is greater than the length of the dimension text the distance text will be centered between end points. Otherwise, text overflows to the left. SETUP This choice presents the user with a dialog menu which permits changes to alignment and arrow options. The following options determine dimension text orientation; PARALLEL Dimension text will be placed parallel to the dimension line. 3.5 FT ___________________ HORIZON Dimension text will always be horizontal. ----- 3.5 FT ------ ORDINATE Position the text at the dimension line's end point, perpendicular to the dimension line. The following options control type of arrows used at end points of dimension lines: ARROW Arrows will be used to define the end of the dimension lines. 3.5 FT <----------------> ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 70 SLASH Small lines oriented at 45 degrees to the direction of the dimension line, will be used to signify the precise end of the line. 3.5 FT /-----------------/ NOTE: Cycle through arrow style choices by pressing the down triangle (i.e., Half, Delta, Wire, etc...) 4.8.2 COORDINATE --------------------------------------------------------------- Creates an object which echoes the X,Y coordinate as text associated with the reference point. Please, note that dimension text is not a text-type entity. It is a different object type and cannot be modified with the ALTER, TEXT command. 4.8.3 RADIUS --------------------------------------------------------------- Draw a dimension line from a center point to a point on a circumference. The text used for the Radius dimension line is preceded by the letter 'R' and is placed according to the selected option. Parallel - Text is placed parallel to the drawn Radius dimension line. Outside - Text is placed next to the dimension line, outside the circle. Inside - Text is placed next to the dimension line, inside the circle. Horizontal and vertical crossed lines are placed at the first point and are used to indicate the center of the circle. An arrow is placed on the circumference point. 4.8.4 DIAMETER --------------------------------------------------------------- Draws a dimension line with arrow heads at both ends of the line. Use to dimension the diameter of circle objects. 4.8.5 ANGLE --------------------------------------------------------------- Draws an arc dimension with arrow heads and two leader lines. You specify the center, point 1 on the arc and point 2 clockwise from point 1. A dimension line and the size of the angles in degrees are automatically inserted in the drawing. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 71 4.8.6 ARROW --------------------------------------------------------------- This command is used to place an arrow at a specified point. PLACE Define position of arrow and press [ENTER]. Subsequent movement of the cursor controls the direction of the arrow until orientation is fixed by pressing [ENTER] a second time. SETUP Select the size and type of the arrow. 4.8.7 MARK --------------------------------------------------------------- This object is used to place a construction mark on the drawing for reference purposes only. It will not be plotted. Pressing [ENTER] continues to create object MARKS until [ESCAPE] is pressed. 4.8.8 BOUNDARY --------------------------------------------------------------- This command determines the maximum, minimum, horizontal, and vertical dimensions of a collection of one or more objects and places a dimension line to the right and below the objects. Select objects using pick or window modes and then press [ESCAPE]. Dimension lines will be placed around the collection of objects, to the right (vertically) and below (horizontally). If the object does not possess a horizontal or vertical dimension (as in a line object) then that dimension will be omitted. 4.8.9 QUERY --------------------------------------------------------------- Reports attributes, characteristics, and parameters for selected object(s). LENGTH Report length between two points. The calculated length will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. ANGLE Report interior and exterior angle between three points defining the intersection of two lines. First specify the intersecting point and then, respectively a distant point on each line segment of interest. The calculated angle will be displayed in a dialog window. AREA Report area enclosed by points representing the perimeter. To terminate the operation press the [ESC] key and the total area will be displayed in a dialog window but will not be inserted in the drawing. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 72 OBJECT Report parameters associated with a selected object including Type, Line Style, Fill Type, Layer and Position. LAYER Reports the layer assigned to the object. STYLE Reports the line style of the object. FILL Reports the fill pattern associated with the object. WIDTH Reports the line width of the object. REF PT X & Y coordinates of the objects' starting point. END PT X & Y coordinates of the objects' end point. NOTE: Other objects display different information 4.9 LEADER --------------------------------------------------------------- Leader lines are used to logically connect a descriptive text object with a drawing object and are commonly used for notes. Two points define the leader line. For example, the inclined leader option consists of a line angled at 60 degrees from the vertical connected to a horizontal line. The first point indicated is identified with an arrow. Horizontal, Vertical, Balloon & Flexible Leader line types are also supported. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 73 5. APPENDIX - FILE FORMATS --------------------------------------------------------------- This section describes the various file types and formats that are used by DraftChoice (or its companion products). *.DCH Native, Binary DraftChoice format. All drawing and symbol files created by DraftChoice are of this format. Please, note that DCH files created by versions of the program earlier than Version 1.5, probably will not be loaded by this version of DraftChoice. *.PLT HPGL (Hewlett Packard Graphics Language) format. ASCII file containing HPGL commands. Files of this type may be sent directly to a plotter or can be imported by a large number of software applications (word processors, graphics, etc.). HPGL files can be both created and imported by DraftChoice These files do not always have a PLT extension. If such a file is created using DraftChoice, the user may assign their own extension to the file name. *.DXF A file format created by Autodesk (developers of AutoCAD), to transfer drawing information between programs. DXF files are pure ASCII files. The structure of the files is detailed in most AutoCAD books. This format is not supported directly by DRAFTChoice, but it is used by XTRAN and DRAFTChoice Plus (they can be ordered directly from TRIUS, Inc.) *.PCX PC-Publisher binary graphics format file. Imported by most popular software applications (word processing, graphics, desktop publishing, etc.) *.WPG WordPerfect binary graphics format files. The format of these files is explained in detail in the WordPerfect Developer's package. Value Files Pure ASCII files containing numbers that may be imported as text, or as coordinates, into a DraftChoice drawing. Please note that this should not be in the format created by your favorite word processor, UNLESS your word processor produces pure ASCII (text) files. The structure of the file is very simple with a pair of values, separated by comma, on each line. Each set of values denotes absolute X ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 74 and Y coordinates. A blank line signifies a break in the line continuity. For example, the lines: 10,10 15,15 20,20 30,30 will produce a continuous line with three segments. from X=10, Y=10 to X=15, Y=15 from X=15, Y=15 to X=20, Y=20 from X=20, Y=20 to X=30, Y=30 while the lines (with a blank line inserted): 10,10 15,15 20,20 30,30 will produce two line segments, from X=10, Y=10 to X=15, Y=15 and from X=20, Y=20 to X=30, Y=30 Text Files Pure ASCII files that may be imported as text into a DraftChoice drawing. Please note that this should not be in the format created by your favorite word processor, UNLESS your word processor produces pure ASCII (text) files. BSAVE A special binary file format that may be used with BASIC. Consult your BASIC language user's manual for details on using the BASIC BLOAD command to load a file created using the BSAVE format in DraftChoice. The following is a simple BASIC program to display a file TEST.SCR on a CGA monitor. 5 REM ******************************************************* 10 REM ** Demonstrates Simple routine to get * 15 REM ** DraftChoice file created using the BSAVE option * 20 REM ** and display it on your CGA Monitor * 25 REM ******************************************************* 30 REM *** Clear screen and set 640x200 CGA graphics 35 CLS ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 75 40 SCREEN 2 45 DIM A%(1000) 50 REM *** Set data segment and offset address to point 55 REM *** to storage area. 60 DEF SEG 65 AD=VARPTR(A%(0)) 70 REM *** File must reside in current directory 75 BLOAD "TEST.SCR",AD 80 REM *** Place image on screen at location X,Y 85 PUT (100,10),A%,PRESET 90 END DC.LIN This file contains the line type definitions that are used by DraftChoice. A maximum of 20 line styles may be defined and stored in the DC.LIN file which is an ASCII file and may be edited using your favorite text editor. The format of the file is simple. One line contains the name of the line type, preceded by an asterisk, and the next line contains the line type definition, as a repeatable pattern of short line segments, or characters, preceded by an upper case A. All length segments are in Dwg units (i.e., the Dwg units specified in the File, New command. The size of the repeating pattern depends on the SPACE value in Option, Style. *LineName A,R1,R2,R3,.... R1,R2,R3 are real values, or special characters, as follows: Positive = length of continuous line segment. Negative = length of blank line segment Zero = dot / = right slanted short line \ = left slanted short line # = small box outline | = placement of the piping character Examples: *DASHED A,0.5,-0.25 A repeated pattern that consists of a solid line segment of 0.5 units, followed by a blank line segment of 0.25 units. ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 76 *CROSS A,0.5,/,\ A repeated pattern consisting of a solid line segment of 0.5 units, followed by a short right slanted line and a short left slanted line (both at zero displacement, forming a cross). DC.PAT This file contains the hatch pattern and bitmapped pattern definitions that are used by DraftChoice. The format of the file is very simple. The first portion contains the hatch pattern definition, followed by the bitmapped pattern definition. HATCH PATTERN DEFINITION ------------------------ A maximum of 20 hatch patterns may be defined by the user. One line contains the name of the hatch pattern, preceded by an asterisk. This line is followed by one or more pairs of lines that contain the pattern orientation (degrees), X and Y basepoint coordinates, parallel displacement and vertical displacement, and the line type definition consistent with the requirement given for the DC.LIN file. *HatchPatternName Or,Bx,By,Dp,Dv A,R1,R2,R3,.... where Or = Orientation of the line type that follows (in degrees). Bx = Basepoint (start) X-coordinate By = Basepoint (start) Y-coordinate Dp = Parallel displacement Dv = Vertical displacement R1,R2,R3 are real values, or special characters, as follows: Positive = length of continuous line segment. Negative = length of blank line segment Zero = dot / = right slanted short line \ = left slanted short line # = small box outline | = placement of the piping character ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 77 Examples: ~~~~~~~~~ *HORIZON 0,0,0,0,0.5 A,1 Where: Or = 0 (i.e., 0 degrees horizontal) Bx,By = 0 (start at leftmost boundary) Dp = 0 (no horizontal displacement) Dv = 0.5 (horizontal lines will be spaced 0.5 units apart) A single line will be used to create the pattern. The line will consist of a repeated solid line segment of 1.0 (i.e., a solid line). A second example: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *PLUS 90,0.5,0,0,1.0 A,-0.25,0.5,-0.25 0,0,0.5,0,1.0 A,-0.25,0.5,-0.25 Two line definitions are used to define this particular hatch pattern. First Line Or = 90 (vertical) Bx,By = 0.5,0 (start 0.5 units from left boundary) Dp = 0.0 (no parallel displacement) Dv = 1.0 (horizontal lines will be spaced 1.0 units apart) The line will be made up of three segments. A blank (0.25 units long) segment, a solid segment (0.5 units long), and another blank segment (0.25 units long). Second Line Or = 0 (horizontal) Bx,By = 0,0.5 (start 0.5 units from bottom boundary) Dp = 0.0 (no parallel displacement) Dv = 1.0 (horizontal lines will be spaced 1.0 units apart) The line will be made up of three segments. A blank (0.25 units long) segment, a solid segment (0.5 units long), and another blank segment (0.25 units long). ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 78 BIT MAPPED PATTERN DEFINITION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The second portion of the DC.PAT file contains the bit mapped pattern definitions in the format described below. A maximum of 50 bit mapped patterns may be defined by the user. Each pattern is defined by two lines. The first line contains the pattern name preceded by the percent (%) sign signifying that it is a bit mapped pattern. The second line contains 8 groups of bytes, preceded by the dollar sign signifying that they are hexadecimal values. The byte values are based on a pixel grid as shown below: 01230123 1 -------- 2 -------- 3 -------- 4 -------- 5 -------- 6 -------- 7 -------- 8 -------- For example, the bit mapped pattern 01230123 1 --█---█- 2 --█---█- 3 --█---█- 4 --█---█- 5 --█---█- 6 --█---█- 7 --█---█- 8 --█---█- which would result in vertical lines displayed on the screen, would correspond to the lines, %VERTICAL $44,$44,$44,$44,$44,$44,$44,$44 in the DC.PAT file. On the other hand, the DC.PAT line, %HORIZON $FF,$00,$00,$00,$00,$00,$00,$00 would result in the bit mapped pattern, ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 79 01230123 1 ████████ 2 -------- 3 -------- 4 -------- 5 -------- 6 -------- 7 -------- 8 -------- Contents of DC.LIN *DASHED A,0.5,-0.25 *CROSS A,0.5,/,\ Contents of DC.PAT *HORIZON 0,0,0,0,0.5 A,1 *PLUS 90,0.5,0,0,1.0 A,-0.25,0.5,-0.25 0,0,0.5,0,1.0 A,-0.25,0.5,-0.25 %VERTICAL $44,$44,$44,$44,$44,$44,$44,$44 %HORIZON $FF,$00,$00,$00,$00,$00,$00,$00 ________________________________________________________________________ DRAFTChoice 2.15 Copyright 1994, TRIUS, Inc. Unregistered Pg 80