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Text File | 1992-05-19 | 16.6 KB | 463 lines

AUTOSKETCH FOR WINDOWS README DOCUMENT 05/19/92 This document contains information on late developments not included in the AutoSketch manuals. To view this document online: - Click the Maximize button in the upper-right corner of this window. The readme document is easier to read in a maximized window. To move through this document: - Click the scroll arrow buttons at the right side of this window or press PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN. To print this document: - Choose Print from the File menu. AUTOSKETCH README TOPICS This readme document contains the following topics: 1. INSTALLING AUTOSKETCH 1.1 Upgrading to Microsoft Windows 3.1 1.2 Using the AutoSketch Setup Program 1.3 Printer Drivers 1.4 Hewlett-Packard Plotters 1.5 Hewlett-Packard LaserJet Printers 2. USING AUTOSKETCH 2.1 File Menu 2.2 Aerial View 2.3 Toolboxes 2.4 Text Editor 2.5 Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) 2.6 Pasting Color Drawings into Other Applications 2.7 Print Settings 2.8 Color Printing 2.9 Macros 2.9.1 Recording Macros 2.9.2 Editing Macro Files 2.9.3 New SET Variables 2.9.4 New Macro Commands 1. INSTALLING AUTOSKETCH 1.1 Upgrading to Microsoft Windows 3.1 If you haven't already done so, we highly recommend that you upgrade to Microsoft Windows 3.1. This new version of Windows has many enhancements, including improved printer support and increases in speed and performance. 1.2 Using the AutoSketch Setup Program If the wrong Setup program appears, you might have the wrong disk in drive A or you might have typed the wrong information. Make sure you insert AutoSketch disk 1 in drive A, close the drive door, and enter a:setup. Depending on your system configuration, the Setup program might offer RAM drives and network drives as valid installation drives. Make sure that you select a FIXED DISK drive. 1.3 Printer Drivers If you have problems printing with AutoSketch, you might need to change the Transmission Retry value for your printer or plotter. We recommend that you set the value to 120 seconds. To change the value, open the Windows Control Panel and choose Printers. Click the Connect button to display the Connect dialog box where you can change the Transmission Retry value. If you've reset the Transmission Retry value and you still have printing problems, you might want to upgrade to Windows 3.1. Windows 3.1 includes many improved printer drivers. You can also obtain the most recent Windows driver for your printer by contacting the printer dealer or manufacturer. 1.4 Hewlett-Packard Plotters There are two ways to connect a Hewlett-Packard plotter to your computer: using Hardware Handshaking or XON/XOFF Flow Control. To plot with AutoSketch for Windows, we recommend that you use Hardware Handshaking. Depending upon the model of your Hewlett-Packard plotter, you might need to use Hardware Handshake cabling and the following settings: Baud Rate: 9600 Data Bits: 7 Parity: Even Stop Bits: 1 Flow Control: Hardware To change these settings, open the Control Panel and select the Printers icon. Select the Connect... option and select one of the available serial communication ports (for example, COM1 or COM2). Then select the Settings... option. The "Settings for COMx" dialog box lets you configure the communication settings for that port. Following is a diagram of a Hewlett-Packard serial cable that works with AutoSketch for Windows. HP Serial Cable 17255D Computer Plotter 1 --------- 1 3 --------- 2 2 --------- 3 5 ----+ | 6 --------- 20 20 --------- 5 (not necessary) | +---- 6 (not necessary) 7 --------- 7 Note: The top 5 to 6 to 20 connection with the loopback on the computer end is necessary for Hardware Handshaking to work properly. The bottom 5 to 6 to 20 pin connection with the loopback on the plotter side is NOT necessary. Many serial cables include this extra set of pin connections so the cable can be reversed and still function properly. 1.5 Hewlett-Packard LaserJet Printers If you have problems printing to a HP LaserJet, you might have insufficient memory installed in your printer or the Memory option in the Printer Setup might be set incorrectly. To print with a HP LaserJet, we recommend that you have at least one megabyte of memory installed. To see how much memory is installed in your printer, run the printer's Self Test. (See your printer manual for instructions.) If the printer has sufficient memory and you still have problems, open the Windows Printer Setup dialog box and make sure that the Memory option is set to one or more megabytes of memory. You can open the Printer Setup dialog box from the Window's Control Panel or from the Print Settings dialog box in AutoSketch. 2. USING AUTOSKETCH 2.1 File Menu At the bottom of the File menu, AutoSketch displays the names of the last five drawings you opened. You can open one of those drawings from the File menu by clicking the filename. 2.2 Aerial View In the Aerial View window, all pattern-filled objects display as outlines only. 2.3 Toolboxes When you create a custom toolbox, AutoSketch displays its name in the menu bar. If a toolbox appears in the main toolbox window, its Control menu contains a Close command. The Close command lets you close the toolbox in the main toolbox window without removing its name from the menu bar. You can then display another toolbox in the main toolbox window by clicking the corresponding name on the menu bar. If part of a toolbox is obscured when you resize the AutoSketch window, an arrow button appears next to the toolbox Control-menu button. You can click the arrow button to scroll the buttons in the toolbox. 2.4 Text Editor When you open the Text Editor, Word Wrap is turned off. If you import a text file or edit a text entity, you might need to click the Word Wrap check box to display all of the text. (A check mark indicates that Word Wrap is on.) If you accidentally remove text with the Backspace key, you can restore it by pressing Alt+Backspace immediately. 2.5 Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) When you run AutoSketch for the first time, it is automatically registered as an OLE application. Information about AutoSketch, AutoSketch drawing files, and the location of the AutoSketch executable file (sketch.exe) are recorded in the registration process. If you move the AutoSketch executable file after running AutoSketch, OLE will not work correctly. If you move sketch.exe, you must use the Microsoft Windows 3.1 Regedit utility to delete "AutoSketch" as a "Registered File Type." The next time you start AutoSketch, it will be registered automatically at its new location. To make a few changes to an AutoSketch drawing linked to a document, you can simply double-click the object to start AutoSketch. To make extensive changes to an AutoSketch drawing linked to a document, we recommend that you exit the document's application and start AutoSketch from the Program Manager. If you start AutoSketch from the document's application, the link is dynamically updated with each change to the drawing, which can slow down the editing process. 2.6 Pasting Color Drawings into Other Applications If you use the Clipboard to paste an AutoSketch drawing into a document created with another application, objects drawn in some of the lighter colors might not display or print. Usually this is because the lighter colors in AutoSketch are mapped to white in other applications. The color white is often the background color and therefore does not display or print. If you experience this problem, you can use the Change Property tool in the Edit toolbox to change "missing" objects to other colors before copying them to the Clipboard. 2.7 Print Settings In the Print Settings dialog box, if you turn off Print to Extents, AutoSketch resets the scaling factors to their default values (1 Drawing Unit = 1 Printing Unit). If you turn on Print to Extents, AutoSketch automatically adjusts the scaling factors to the extents of the current print box (indicated by the X Print Size and Y Print Size). AutoSketch saves the X Print Size and Y Print Size with the drawing. If a drawing contains a print box sized for a printer other than the one you're currently using, you might have to change the print sizes. To reset the X Print Size and Y Print Size to the maximum sizes for the current printer, click the Setup button in the Print Settings dialog box. Then click OK in the Setup dialog box. AutoSketch resets the X Print Size and Y Print Size for the current printer. 2.8 Color Printing In AutoSketch, color number 255 is white. Objects drawn using color 255 are displayed in a shade of gray in AutoSketch. However, those objects are sent to the Windows Print Manager as the color white. Since most Windows printer drivers recognize white as the background color, these objects might not print. If your color printer uses dithering to create 255 colors (as the HP PaintJet does) and you plan to use colors other than numbers 1 through 7, you might want to make a test drawing to see how those colors print on your color printer. We suggest drawing small Pattern Fill objects with the solid fill pattern. First try printing the drawing with Fill turned off, then try printing the drawing with Fill turned on. These tests will show how filled objects and narrow lines print in color. 2.9 Macros 2.9.1 Recording Macros You cannot play a macro while recording a macro. Because all custom SketchTools play macros, you should NOT select custom SketchTools while recording a macro. If you select a custom SketchTool, the Record Macro tool terminates. 2.9.2 Editing Macro Files You can modify a macro file using any ASCII text editor. Appendix C of the "AutoSketch Reference Manual" describes the commands that macro files use. If you use the SET command to set system variables that use specific data types, this information might be helpful: - For the Boolean data type, 1=On and 0=Off. - For the Real data type, you can use any number (including decimal numbers, exponential notation, and architectural units), such as 3, -5, 1/2", .0987, 10.0, 1.345e2, and 10.51. - For the Integer data type, you can use whole numbers only, such as 1, 8, and -16. - For the String data type, you create a list of text characters (where a character can also be a number). 2.9.3 New SET Variables We added some new SET variables to the AutoSketch Macro Language after the "AutoSketch Reference Manual" went to press. These new variables are described below. VARIABLE NAME DATA TYPE DESCRIPTION ------------- --------- ------------------------------- ARCMODE Boolean Arc Mode On/Off BUTTONDIR String Location of button bitmap files CAPTIONHELP Boolean Caption Help On/Off COORDTYPE Integer Coordinate display type 0 = Absolute Coordinates 1 = Polar Coordinates 2 = Relative Coordinates 3 = Last Point Coordinates 4 = No coordinates DIMSLIDE Boolean Dimension slide mode On/Off ENTHILIGHTON Boolean Highlight selected entities On/Off FILLMODE Boolean Fill/Outline pattern-fill entities On/Off FRAME Boolean Display curve frame On/Off POPUPS Boolean Show/Hide pop-up toolboxes On/Off PRINTTOFILE Boolean Print to file On/Off SAVETODOS Boolean Save drawing to AutoSketch DOS Version 3.0 file format during SaveFileAs command SMARTCURSOR Boolean SmartCursor(R) On/Off TEXTMODE Boolean Draw/Outline text entities On/Off TOOLBOXES Boolean Show/Hide all toolboxes On/Off UNDODIR String Undo file directory UNDOON Boolean Undo On/Off WINDOWCENTERX Real Drawing x coordinate for center of current view WINDOWCENTERY Real Drawing y coordinate for center of current view WINDOWSIZE Real Height of current view in drawing units 2.9.4 New Macro Commands We added some new macro commands to the AutoSketch Macro Language after the "AutoSketch Reference Manual" went to press. These new macro commands are described below. COMMAND NAME DESCRIPTION ------------ -------------------------------------- ButtonEditor Displays the Button Editor dialog box. CreateToolbox Displays the Toolbox Editor dialog box. EditToolbox Displays the Toolbox Editor dialog box. Game Displays the AutoSketch game. Note: Actions you make in the Button Editor, Toolbox Editor, or AutoSketch game cannot be recorded in a macro. Information Displays the About AutoSketch information box. OpenToolBox Displays the Open Toolbox dialog box. Actions you make in this dialog box cannot be recorded in a macro. Preferences Opens the AutoSketch Preferences dialog box. SetPrintName Opens the Print Filename dialog box. ToggleCaptionHelp Toggles Caption Help on or off. TogglePopups Shows or hides pop-up toolboxes. ToggleSmartCursor Toggles the SmartCursor on or off. ToggleTextMode Toggles between displaying text entities or their outlines. ToggleToolboxes Shows or hides all toolboxes.