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ProCAD Electronic Demo V1.0 =========================== Demo User Guide =============== By Derek Pell 1994 ================== Contents ======== Section 1...............1%...............Forward. Section 2...............7%...............Accessory software. Section 3...............12%..............Recommendations./HD users. Section 4...............16%..............ProCAD key board overlay. Section 5...............19%..............Icon / tool bar. Section 6...............31%..............Symbol libraries. Section 7...............35%..............The file selector. Section 8...............38%..............Menu bar functions. Section 9...............84%..............Zoom editor Section 10..............98%..............PCB design Process. Section 1 - Forward. ==================== Hello and welcome to ProCAD Electronic. Before I explain to you how to use ProCAD I would first like to thank you for your interest in my software. For those of you who don't know, (which will be most) programming programs like ProCAD is now my profession, which I work hard at so your support is appreciated. ProCAD has been designed to be user friendly and easy to use, this users guide covers all aspects of using ProCAD. That includes the straight forward to the more complexes aspects, which the latter I would maintain are still easy to use. Please read the whole of this users guide, if you are still not sure of any operation inside ProCAD or have a problem related to my software please call me on 0983 826006 and I will always be pleased to help. I have tested ProCAD very thoroughly as have my Bata test users and we fill confident that the software is free of bugs. However if you think you have found something suspicious please let me know and I will endeavour to clarify or sort out any finer points. Upgrades will be available if such a circumstance should prove to warrant it. Section 2 - Accessory software. =============================== Custom Library Creator (CLC) ============================ This program will enable you to make your own ProCAD symbol libraries or even edit and add new symbols to the default library. Every aspect of the library formation is included. i.e. Symbols, symbol names, section titles and custom icon bar of your own design. In addition to this a brush grabbing and save facility has also been included, for symbols which are physically too big to fit in a library. (Maximum lib. symbol size just fits in the ProCAD window.) The CLC uses pre-drawn iff screens to make the symbols and brushes, for this job I recommend D-Paint III or the ProCAD zoom editor. It is also worth noting, with the CLC, ProCAD can be configured to tackle almost any CAD application. E.g. electrical, mechanical, hydraulics, pneumatics etc. PCB Design Libraries ==================== These libraries together with the PCB tools and operation built into ProCAD enable you to design and print out PCB track and component layouts. The libraries carry a collection of commonly used components packages, including surface mount and various track and pad configurations, (equivalent to the etch resist transfers used to make PCB's.) This system can produce single or double sided boards, (one layer at a time), construction layout plans for final assembly. Even a component legend if required. Because of the vast range of component packages currently in use, I recommend that the PCB libraries should be used in-conjunctions with the Custom Library Creator to give infinite coverage of all components. For this purpose both the PCB libraries and the CLC come on the same disk which is available for purchase at the fee of £10.00. Please note. These two items are a pair and can not be purchased separate. ProCAD Electronic Extras Disk ============================= This is a handy little something extra to have in your ProCAD collection. It contains a selection of commonly used 74 series (TTL) / 4000 series (CMOS) and micro processor/support IC symbol libraries and brushes In short this disk is likely to save you some serious work, a bargain at £5.00! Accessory Price List ==================== ProCAD CLC & PCB Design Libraries Disk............£10.00. Extras Disk.......................................£5.00. Please add 50p to the total to cover postage and packing. IMPORTANT!!!! Please PRINT your name and address clearly. Finally when ordering please let me know which workbench version you are using or which Amiga computer you intend to use ProCAD on. To order please send a cheque or post order, amounting to the above fees. Made payable to: D J Pell. 58 Ash Road Newport Isle of Wight PO3O 2AG. Tel. 0983 826006. Section 3 - Recommendations =========================== ProCAD pushes the Amiga's chip memory quiet considerably if you only have 512k of chip memory. I therefore recommend you start each session with this program from a cold boot. The Work Bench ============== The workbench on this disk is fairly limited, but you will be able to change the printer preferences and some of the work-bench preferences too. Hard Disk Users =============== If you have a hard drive you will be able to install ProCAD to your drive using the installation program provided with the full version. Compatibility ============= You should be able to load your ProCAD screens into most graphics supporting programmes, such as Kind Words 2&3, Words Worth, Final Copy II and all desk top publishing programs. All you need to know to achieve this is a little knowledge of ProCAD's screen files. All file are saved with an info. file, do not delete this as it is needed to reload your schematic. The four pages themselves are save as follows. SchematicName_1.Iff SchematicName_2.Iff etc. These screen can be loaded directly into any program which is capable of importing Iff files. Also see the 'Invert function in section 8. Section 4 - Key board overlay ============================= These keys will be covered as appropriate throughout this user guide, this section is intended to serve as a quick reminder. Some keys work with specific tools and hence can only be used in those corresponding operations. [ Key ] Mode/Tool Function ============================================================================= L.Amiga [A] Any where Switch to workbench (toggles). F10 All Toggle icon bar up/down. F1-F5 Text pen Recall last text entries. (5). L.Amiga [S] All except Zoom editor Save schematic. Shift+L.mouse All except Zoom editor Ignore grid snap setting. [C] Symbol only Cycle through last 6 symbols. [A] Symbol/Brush Rotate symbol/brush axis. [T] All except Zoom editor Adjust pad and track settings. Cursor keys All Scroll around work area. Space +L.mouse Pencil/Zoom pencil Put solder joint at pointer. Space +L.mouse PCB pen/Zoom PCB Pen Put solder Pad at pointer. Right mouse key All except Zoom&Grab Brush Provides access to menu bar. Enter/Return All except Zoom editor Clear current tool. Section 5 - Icon Bar/Tool Bar ============================= Symbol Icons ============ These are used to select the library symbols, simply keep clicking on the appropriate icon until the symbol that you need appears. All the common component symbols (and more) have been included. When you have the right one pull the mouse away from the bar. The left mouse button rotates the symbols forward while the right rotates them backwards. To place a symbol on the screen simply move the symbol to the required place and press the left mouse key. The symbol will snap to the nearest grid point if the grid snap setting is on. By holding ether shift key while clicking the left mouse key to lay a symbol, the grid snap setting will be ignored and the symbol placed exactly at the mouse position. This is handy as it save you having to turn off the grid snap. Pressing the return key will abort each function or swap the current symbol with the mouse pointer. Symbol Cycling ============== By pressing the 'C' key while a symbol is selected you can cycle through the last six symbols selected. This is very useful when laying out complicated networks. Tool Icons ========== The seven tool icons on the right of the bar are pencil, PCB pen, text pen, fill area, rubber, zoom editor and undo. Pencil.... This is a simple elastic line or shape drawing tool. Just click on one point and stretch the line or shape to the other point. The type of line or shape drawn by this tool is selected using the 'Pencil' menu which we will come to in section 8. This tool is also used to lay a solder joint or node to show where components connect to each other. This is done by moving the mouse pointer over the connection point and holding down the space bar as you click the left mouse button. The pencil tool responds to the grid snap setting, so if this is on, the line or shape will jump to the nearest grid point. By holding ether shift key while clicking the left mouse key to lay the line or shape the pencil will ignore the grid snap setting. PCB pen.... You have a choice of two PCB tracking pens, the first works exactly the same as the 'Pencil' tool above and is referred to as '1 Click Stretch'. The second is also similar in operation to that of the pencil, but here there are four click points. I suggest you have a play with this tool, once you get used to the feel of it, it is quite easy to use especially with the grid snap on. This pen is referred to as '4 Click Stretch. This tool is also used to lay a solder pad at the current mouse position. To do this simply move the mouse pointer to the track termination point. Hold in the space bar and click the left mouse. A solder pad will appear, this is not fixed in position to the mouse key is released. While the key is held in the pad can be moved around the work area. The pad size and type (standard or IC) can be changed by using the Track Tool adjust interface which is activated by pressing the 'T' key. This can also be activated from the 'Preferences' menu. The track tool adjust interface also set the current PCB tracking pen, the track width for the '1 Click Stretch' pen and the PCB pen grid snap setting. The grid snap setting for this tool has been kept separate from the normal preference menu grid snap because in practice you often find that it is necessary to operate this tool with the grid snap off. As with the normal grid snap it is not necessary to keep turning it off, you can hold in the shift key with any function of this tool to ignore the grid snap setting. See Section 8 'Preference' menu for more information on the track tool adjuster. Text Pen.... This is for labelling your schematics. Type in the text, push return and then use the mouse to position the text. The font used for this can be changed form the menu. Any font can be used providing it is present in the 'fonts' directory. See the hard drive section in section 3 of this user guide. The last five text entries can be re-called by using keys F1 to F5 while the text pen window is in view. Fill area.... This tool simply fills a boxed in area and has its main use when ground planes area needed on PCB's. Careful with this as any brakes in the enclosed area will cause the fill to run out and fill the rest of the screen. If you do experience this, (its probably happened to all of us in Dpaint!) just use the Undo icon which I shall come to soon. Rubber.... The rubber rubs out approximately 1 square cm at the current coordinates of the rubber, and should be used when the Undo icon can not be used. The Undo function will also undo any rubbing out. Magnifying glass.... This icon is the door way into the zoom editor discussed in section 9. The zoom editor is very good for precision work and includes all of the tools present on the icon bar as well a the current symbol library. Undo.... This will undo the last error you made while editing your schematic or PCB. There are function where it is absolutely necessary to make the screen contents permanent. E.g. before scrolling, save or print, as a result of this you will not be able to undo the last step after returning from these functions. At times like these you should result to the rubber or the zoom editor. Section 6 - Symbol Libraries ============================ Symbol libraries is more of a global term which includes the default library, the libraries available by the fast library buttons on the main icon bar and the custom library function on the 'Symbol' menu. All these libraries are of the same format, therefore they can all be interchanged and edited with the CLC. Even the default library could be changed if you wished! Fast Library Buttons ==================== These are located at the top left of the icon bar by the ProCAD title, on top of the symbol icons. There are seven buttons, each of which can be assigned to one library. The first button (left) responds to the default library. This too can be assigned to a different library, the difference being the library corresponding to this button is always loaded when you boot up ProCAD, hence the term default button or library. The default button is used to reload the default library after using another library from any of the other library buttons or from the 'Load Custom' function on the 'Symbol' menu. Using this button when a brush has been grabbed will also reload the default library. More about brushes latter. To use the fast library system simply click on a button with the right mouse key. Buttons that have not been assigned to libraries will simply not respond to being clicked on. You can go from one library to the next, you do not have to use the default button first. The question of why call it a fast library system may well be in your mind at this point? Fist using an icon button is quite a bit quicker than finding each library throughout the file selector as you would do from the menu function. Further more if you do not have a hard drive but have a reasonable amount of memory (say 2mb) you can use the 'RamDiskSetup' script file covered in section 3 to put your fast libraries on the Ram disk. If you have a hard drive then you'd probably keep these buttons assigned to hard disk based libraries. See section 8, Menu Bar Functions to assign each button to a corresponding library. The second fast library button on this demo is assigned to a demo custom library, click on it with the right mouse key. Section 7 - The File Selector & Requester ========================================= The file selector is used for nearly all disk based activities such as loading and saving schematics, so its important that you under stand its functions. The file selector works in the normal way we are all accustomed to, that is clicking on directories and files with the left mouse key followed by 'Ok' to load or save the file. There a number of buttons on the right hand side of the file selector, I shall explain the function of each in turn. Ok.... Complete operation, e.g. load/save after selecting file path and file. Cancel.... Cancel operation. Parent.... This is the little round circle button at the top left of the file selector, this moves you to the parent directory of the current directory. Devices.... A list of devices and assigned devices can be listed by clicking the right mouse button once. e.g. df0: df1: etc. just click on the one you require. Sort.... If the sort button is activated the file selector will sort the entries alphabetically every time the directory is read. Set Dir.... This sets the current directory, let me give you an example here, if you wish to make your schematics drawer the current directory you should click on this button with the left mouse key once. Now click on the file you wish to load or save and job will be done as well as making this the current directory. So next time you use the file selector it will open in this drawer first. Section 8 - Menu Bar Functions ============================== To display the menu press the right mouse button with the mouse pointer is positioned any where in the screen drawing area, not when it is over the icons on the bar. The icon bar will slide up and the menu bar will appear. Use the menu in the normal way. Project Menu ============ Clear Pages.... This allows you to clear one or more pages at once, use the screen operations window to chose which pages are cleared. The screen operations window works as follows.... The drawing area is four screens (2 by 2) and the cursor keys are used to scroll around the area. Each screen is referred to as a page in screen operations such as clear page, load or save. Before a page operation is completed the status of each page can be changed. This is done by clicking on the particular page button in the screen operations window, there are three settings: 'Yes' Page will be effected. 'No' Page will be unaffected. 'N/A' Page is not available. Load only. The operation can also be cancelled at this point. Clicking on 'Ok' will complete the operation. Load.... Load a schematic or PCB layout. Selecting this function will display the file selector, use it to select the file required. All schematics are saved with the .Elec extension, this enables you to recognise ProCAD page files. Having selected the required file click on 'Ok' and the operations window will appear. Use this to select which pages are loaded. Click on 'Ok' and the chosen pages will be loaded. In the 'Examples' drawer on this demo disk you will find some example schematics, PCB layouts and track artworks. Save.... Save the current schematic or PCB layout. When selecting save you will first be presented with the screen operation window where you will be able to select which pages are to be saved. If the current schematic has a file on a disk (e.g. it has been loaded or saved before) the save operation will be automatic as soon as 'Ok' is selected in the screen operations widow. If however there is no current file the file selector will appear. You will now have to use the file selector to find the correct file path and type in a file name. Key board short cut: Shift+[S]. Full version only. Save As.... Same as above except this function always uses the file selector enabling you to save the work area under another name. A new file name will become the current file, hence 'Save' will automatically save the work area under the new file name. Full version only. Delete.... This similar is to the 'Clear Pages function, only this time you can delete pages form files that are stored on disk. If you delete all of the pages in a file the file its self will be deleted. Once again the file selector is used to select the file. Full version only. Add Boarder.... This function draws a box around the outside of the work area so your schematic or PCB is drawn inside the boarder. On page 4, at the bottom right a title box is also included, all you have to do is fill it in with the text pen. Mirror.... This provides a mirror image for PCB's by vertically flipping a page or the whole work area. The PCB tracks are designed from the component side, so by using the mirror function the solder side art work can be obtained. The use of function is explained in grater depth in section 10, PCB Design. Invert.... Some word processors use pen 1, white as the page and pen 0, black as the text. Kindwords II is a good example. This function should be used if you are going to import a ProCAD page into such a word processor. When you have finished drawing use this function to invert the required page and then save it to disk. The page is now ready to import. Reposition.... This function lets you change the position of your actual drawing with respect to the whole drawing area, e.g. centering the schematic in the middle of the work area. The movement is again done by the cursor keys. When you are happy with the new position press the enter key is used to terminate the operation. Printing ======== This function produces some really impressive results. ProCAD makes use of the Amiga's operating system printer device. All printer options may be set using the preference device from the workbench. 1:1 printouts can be achieved for PCB track layout. Colour prints can be obtained if you have a colour printer. In the users guide for the full version I will give you lots of tips on printing including how to get 1:1 & A4 prints. Full version only. Print Pages.... This function prints the drawing area pages separately. The main thing to understand here is the printer options window. This will appear after a printer option has been selected and is the same for both printer options. The page operation buttons are the same as the screen operations window, that is clicking on each in turn will select weather or not the responding page will be printed. Once again as you would expect the 'Ok' and 'Cancel' buttons are present, there are also three other button which I will explain now. Print All.... This function let you print the complete work area onto one sheet of paper. This produces some really impressive prints. About.... Gives a little information about ProCAD. Quit.... On selecting quit will be presented with a confirm window, if the work area has been changed since the last time it was saved you will be asked if you wish to save it first. After saving ProCAD will exit back to the work bench. If you select 'Ok' ProCAD will exit to the workbench without saving. 'Cancel' will cancel the quit option. Colour Menu =========== This lets you change the current drawing colour, all symbols and brushes will be converted to the chosen colour if the 'Adjust Colour' setting on the 'Preference' menu is on. There is however one consideration, brushes bigger than 320x128 pixels, that quarter of a page can not be colour adjusted. For quickness the icon colour buttons may also be used by clicking on them with the left mouse key. The colour buttons double with the fast library buttons. The tick on the colour menu indicates the current colour. Pencil Menu =========== This sets the current shape or line type for the pencil device which is selected from the icon bar. There are six options with 'Line' as the default. Symbol Menu =========== Aspect....[A]. This is an important function as with each selection the symbol or brush attached to the mouse pointer will rotate its aspect, e.g. flip horizontally then vertically then change axis then flip horizontally and vertically again. This will repeat continuously and the quickest way to obtain the right aspect or axis is to use the [A] key. Holding this key will keep this flow of aspects continually repeating. Cycle....[C]. This function will cycle the up to the last six chosen symbols to the current symbol at the mouse coordinates, i.e. you will see the current symbol change. This is particularly useful when drawing complex networks etc. The [C] key provides quick access to this function. Load Custom.... Load a ProCAD custom library. To exit a custom library used the default button on the icon bar, see section 6, Symbol Libraries. The custom libraries are exactly the same as the default library or the fast libraries available using the fast library buttons on the icon bar. To form your own symbol libraries you will need to use the Custom Library Creator. You may also like to try load the demo custom library through this menu function, you will find it in the 'Libraries' drawer. Library Path.... This function enables you assign ProCAD symbol libraries to the fast library buttons on the icon bar. You can even change the default library. Selecting this function will present you with a library assign device. You will see there are seven entries, each has a button to the left hand side of it. Each entry and button corresponds to the respective button on the icon bar, e.g. one to seven running left to right. Click on these buttons to assign a library to the respective fast library button. Now use the file selector in the usual way to select the library to be assigned. The entries which are free will be shown as 'Not Assigned', but all entries may be reassigned at any time. When you have finished click on 'Save' to save the assigned paths. These are stored in the configuration file so all preference settings will also be saved at the same time, a point to remember. Grab a Brush.... Here you have a choice of four options, here and over lay of each. Normal.... This lets you copy a section of the screen so it may be duplicated any where in the drawing area. Using the right mouse button to grab an area will result in completely lifting the brush from the screen. This tool is operated in the same way as the pencil tool. All screen colours are copied into the brush. Pen 1 Only.... The pen only options work the same as above except you are not allowed to lift the brush from the screen, this is for safety, you make a mistake and lose part of your schematic as only pen 1 is copied into the brush. Pen 2 Only.... Grabs a brush of pen 2 colours only. Pen 3 Only.... Grabs a brush of pen 3 colours only. Loading and Saving Brushes.... The Save brush function will enable you to save the current brush. This is a very useful functions as custom brushes can be created in ProCAD or D-Paint if you also have the Custom Library Creator. Once saved you may then load your brushes when ever you need them. There are some example brushes in the 'Brushes' directory on this disk. To load these brushes select the 'Load Brush' function from the menu and then using the file selector select the 'Brushes' directory followed by a brush file. The Custom Library Creator will also let you grab brushes from imported D-Paint screens. The difference between a brush and a library symbol is a brush can be a lot bigger than a symbol. Brushes can only be saved from the full working version. Fonts Menu.... This menu is used to select the font which is to be used by the text icon. This menu can be used to change the current font at any time, even after you have typed in the text. As you will see you have quite a selection, in fact there is no limit on fonts at all! All fonts in the fonts directory will be added to the fonts menu. ColourDel Menu ============== This menu is used to delete a specific pen or colour form a page or the whole drawing area depending on the operations window settings. This operation is the key to designing PCB's in ProCAD. Once a pen has been deleted from a page the Undo function will not return it so do save your work first or at least be sure of what you are doing. The use of this menu will be discussed in section 10, PCB Design. Preferences Menu ================ Most of the functions on this menu toggle on/off and the current preference set-up can be saved to the ProCAD disk, by selecting the 'save Preference' function from the menu. Once you have done this ProCAD configures these preferences for you every time you use it. The setting on this menu are indicated by a small tick on the left of every toggle menu function. Coordinates. This allows the current coordinates of the mouse pointer to be displayed. These coordinates are relative to the left and top edges of the work area, so they also give an indication as to where the screen is positioned over the drawing area. The coordinates count the grid cell position of the mouse pointer rather than the absolute position. If the pointer is halfway between two cells, the cell number and the relative pixel displacement will be displayed in a decimal format. This setting also stipulates weather or not the coordinates are displayed in the zoom editor. Relative.... Specifies weather the coordinates are displayed as relative or absolute cell positions with the pencil and PCB pen devices. The coordinates displayed in the zoom editor also depend on this setting. Scale to mm.... This function will scale all mouse coordinates to millimeters. The zoom editor coordinates will also adjust to this setting. Scale to inch..... This function will scale all mouse coordinates to inches. The zoom editor coordinates will also adjust to this setting. The above two functions can be used with the 'Datum' (see below) to measure distance between two points, i.e. the datum and the mouse pointer. This can be very useful when designing PCB's. Show Memory.... Displays the amount of available chip and fast memory, useful when running ProCAD with other programs or saving schematics to the ram disk. Screen Grid.... Activate the screen grid. The grid image is kept completely separate from the drawing area, so the grid will not be saved with your pages. Change Grid.... Toggle between the two grids, the fine grid being used for schematics and the coarse for PCB construction. Grid Snap.... Lays the current symbol to the nearest point on the screen grid. The grid does not have to be activated to use this function. Pressing ether shift key at the same time as the left mouse button whilst the grid snap is on will cause the grid snap to be ignored. This saves you turning off the grid snap to place components or line in between grid cells. Palette.... This lets you change the colour setting of all four work area pens and the colours of the operations widow, the grid and icon bar. The Reset button will reset the current colour to its default value which is stored in the config. file. Colour Adjust.... This option specifies weather or not symbols and brushes are re drawn in the current colour selected from the 'Colour' menu. If this function is off the symbols will remain the same colour, independent of the current pen. Track Tool.... Selecting this function will allow you to change an number of setting having an affect on the 'PCB Pen Tool' which was covered in Section 5 'Icon Tool Bar'. Here is a list of the button and slider functions. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pad Sliders.. These two sliders let you change the size of the pad diameter and the diameter of the pad hole. The diameter of both the outside of the pad and the hole is displayed in the box under the horizontal slider. There is only one value displayed, but as each slider is adjusted the current sliders value is shown. In addition to this clicking on the button next to the dimension will toggle the value between the outside and the hole of the pad. Track Slider.. This slider enables you to change the width of the track drawn by the '1 Click Stretch' tracking pen. The width is displayed in the box left of the slider, the button underneath the width dimension toggles both pad and track dimensions between metric and imperial displays. 1 Click Stretch / 4 Click Stretch.. Clicking on this button will toggle between the two types of PCB tracking pen. Standard Pad/IC Pad There are two types of pad, standard or IC. The size of the standard pad may be varied by the two slider bars already covered. The size of the IC pad is fixed. Grid Snap On/Off This button turns the grid snap setting for the PCB Pen on and off. This setting is separate from the preference menu setting. See Section 5 for more information on the grid snap setting. Reset All.. This button will reset all of the above setting to the values stored in the ProCAD configuration file. Cancel.. will cancel any changes made and the PCB tool will function as before. Ok.. Excepts the changes made. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Set Datum.... The datum is the point on the work area that the coordinates are relative to. By changing the datum, dimensions can be taken from a specific point on the work area allowing you to be able to measure distances using the coordinates. If you select this function and confirm with 'Ok' move the mouse pointer to the new datum position, once there click the left mouse button. The grid snap setting will also be obeyed if activated, once again the shift key can be held in to ignore this. Clicking the right mouse button will zero the datum to the top left of the work area. Work Bench....L.Amiga+[A] This function will drop you back to the workbench if the workbench has been left open, see 'Boot Settings' below. When you have finished using the work bench press the A key while holding down the left Amiga key to flick back to ProCAD. Printer Prefs.... Using the file selector this function lets you select the printer preference device to use from you printer options window when you select a print function from the 'Project' menu. This is pre-set on your ProCAD floppy disk, but should be set to your graphics printer device in your workbench 'Preference' drawer if you have installed ProCAD to your hard drive. Please remember to use preferences to alter the printer settings requires the workbench to be open. For more information on using preferences for printer settings see the 'Printer' section near the beginning of section 8. Boot Settings.... These are settings which can only take affect when ProCAD boots, with one exception, the workbench setting. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Use Consul Font for Menu.. The consul font is the font that ProCAD uses in the ProCAD window and on the icon bar. This font is proportional and looks nicer than the fixed size fonts, at least I think it does! Anyway the menu can be opened using the consul font if you wish. If however your machine uses system 1.3 you should not turn this function on, I have expained the full reason why in the full users guide. Basically due to a bug in system V1.3 and ProCAD's need to switch fonts at one point in the menu structure memory will be lost to as the fonts are reloaded each time. However with this function left off there is no problem for system V1.3 users any where in the program. Put Libraries on Ram Disk.. You may put the default library and additional libraries on the ram disk by turning on this function. This is done by executing the 'RamDiskSetup' script file which you will find in the 'ProFiles' directory. You may add to this file a list of other libraries you wish to be copied to the ram disk on booting ProCAD by using a text editor, simply copy the entries in the file changing the library paths and names. If you turn this function off the file will not be executed. Put Fonts On Ram Disk.. This is mainly for system V1.3 users, if you use a higher version you should keep this function turned off. If your machine used system V1.3 you will probably need to turn this function, I will explain fully about this function in the full users guide. Please note. this function has been left off on this demo to enable it to work on 1mb machines. Close The Work Bench.. This is a save memory option. If turned on the workbench will be closed on booting ProCAD. This function differs from the above as it will actually turn the workbench on/off without re-booting. There could of course be a limitation on this if you are running low on memory, ProCAD will ignore this setting and keep the workbench closed. To open the workbench you need to have at lest 1mb of chip memory and some free fast memory or enough chip memory to cover the fast memory needed. If your are in some doubt weather you will be able to open the workbench once inside ProCAD, try it, if ProCAD can not open the workbench it will tell you. A500 user will not be able to open the workbench, but A500+ machines upwards with memory expansions should be able to. The amount of other programmes in memory will also affect this function. Also note. If you have launched other workbench programs, such as clocks, virus checkers or an perhaps even a application the close workbench function could well fail as Amiga DOS will not allow the workbench to be closed when workbench programmes are still running in the background. If this happens the close fail will be recorded and ProCAD will continue to function with the workbench open. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Save Prefs.... Saves the preference setting to your ProCAD disk or hard drive. When ProCAD boots it will configure its self to the setting in the 'Pro_Config' file created by this function. Section 9 - The Zoom Editor =========================== To use the zoom editor click on the magnifying glass icon on the icon bar and move the zoom square to the required position to zoom in on. Press the left mouse key and you will then be in the zoom editor over the required area. When selecting the required area the grid snap setting will be obeyed. The zoom edit is completely icon driven. The zoom editor icon bar has two rows of icons. The first top 10 icons are copied from your main icon bar providing access to the current symbol library, symbol selection is exactly the same as ProCAD. The remaining seven tool icons on the right of the bar are pencil, pixel pencil, PCB pen, fill area, exit and keep, exit and discard and undo. There functions are as follows.... Pencil.... This is a simple elastic line drawing tool. Just click on one point and stretch the line to the other point. The type of line drawn by this tool depends on which mouse key is used to click on this icon. Selecting this icon with the left mouse key will result in the pencil drawing solid lines while the right mouse key will instruct it to use a doted line. This tool is also used to lay a solder joint or node to show where components connect to each other. This is done by moving the mouse pointer over the connection point and holding down the space bar as you click ether mouse button. The colour used for drawing depends on which mouse key used to draw with as each button can have different colours assigned to it. This is also the default tool for the zoom editor. Pixel Pencil.... The pixel pencil uses a selection of pre-set block sizes which can be selected by pointing to the required block size on the icon directly under the pixel pencil icon. The pixel blocks are fixed to the edit area by using ether the left or right mouse key. If one mouse key is assigned to colour 0 (the background colour) this tool can be used to rub out mistakes as well as drawing. PCB pen.... The PCB pen is similar in operation to that of the pencil, but here there are four click points. This tool is also used to lay a solder pad at the current mouse position. To do this simply move the mouse pointer to the track termination point. Hold in the space bar and click ether mouse key. A solder pad will appear, this is not fixed in position to the mouse key is released. While the key is held in the pad can be moved around the edit area. Fill area.... This tool simply fill a boxed in area and has its main use when ground planes area needed on PCB's. Careful with this as any brake in the enclosed area will cause the fill to run out and fill the rest of the screen. If you do experience this, (its probably happened to all of us in Dpaint!) just use the Undo icon which I shall come to soon. As will all of these tools the fill colour depends on the mouse key used. Exit and Keep.... This icon is drawn as a magnifying glass and simply exits the zoom editor keeping the changes made in the zoom editor. Exit and Discard.... This icon is drawn as a magnifying glass with a cross over the lens. This exits the zoom editor and discards any changes made in the zoom editor leaving your drawing as it was before. For safety sake this icon has to be confirmed via a confirm window, but be warned, the Undo function on the main icon bar will not bring back your zoom edited image. Undo.... This will undo the last error you made while editing the zoom area. There are function where it is absolutely necessary to make the screen contents permanent. E.g. before scrolling. Lower Icons =========== Scrolling Arrows.... These two icons are used to scroll the zoom editor around the complete work area in all four directions. The cursor keys can also be used for this. Colour Icons.... These next four icons are used to change the colours assigned to the left and right mouse keys. By positioning the mouse pointer over the required colour icon and pressing the required mouse key, the colour will be assigned to that key. The assigned colours are shown in the little block to the far right of the icon bar by the coordinate display. The inner colour is the colour assigned to the left mouse key while the outer colour is the colour assigned to the right mouse key. Brush Icon.... This lets you copy a section of the edit area so it may be duplicated any where in the edit area. Using the right mouse button to grab an area will result in completely lifting the brush from the edit area. Aspect icon.... This icon is drawn as a circular arrow and changes the aspect of symbols and brushes. e.g. flip horizontally then vertically then change axis then flip horizontally and vertically again. This will repeat continuously and the quickest way to obtain the right aspect or axis is to use the [A] key. Holding this key will keep this flow of aspects continually repeating. Text Pen.... This is for labelling your schematics. Type in the text, push return and then use the mouse to position the text. The font used for this can be changed form the menu, hence you will have to exit the zoom editor first and use the magnifying glass icon to zoom in once more. Any font can be used providing it is present in the 'fonts' directory. See hard drive section in section 3 of this user guide. The last five text entries can be re-called by using keys F1 to F5 while the text pen window is in view. Square Icon.... This is a simple elastic square drawing tool who's operation is the same as the pencil. The type of line drawn by this tool depends on which mouse key is used to click on this icon. Selecting this icon with the left mouse key will result in solid lines while the mouse right key will instruct it to use a doted line. Circle Icon.... This is a elastic circle drawing tool who's operation is the same as the pencil. Ellipse Icon.... This is a elastic ellipse drawing tool who's operation is the same as the pencil. Pixel Size Icon.... This icon set the size of block to be used by the pixel pencil icon already discussed. Just click on the required block size inside the icon. Pad Icon.... This icon provides access to the pad adjust interface discussed in section 8, the [P] key will also access this interface. Section 10 - PCB Design Process =============================== The PCB Design Libraries. In order to design PCB's you will need to use the three PCB libraries on you CLC and PCB design disk, two of the libraries contain component package shapes for planning the layout of your PCB. The third contains various track and pad configurations, the computer equivalent of the etch resist transfer sheets. These Libraries are loaded into ProCAD via the 'Load Custom' function on the 'Symbol' menu or you may wish to assign them to the fast library buttons on the icon bar, its up to you. For more information on symbol libraries see Section 8, Symbol menu. The Package Libraries. I have included all of the commonly used component packages. As I'm sure you will appreciate, it is not practical to include every package in a library. For instance you could go to work tomorrow and discover 3-4 packages that you never new existed. The best solution to this problem is for me to explain the principles which I have worked to, and then using the Custom Library Creator you can add your own PCB symbols and brushes to the collection. The Track&Pad Library. Again I have included all the commonly used transfer symbols. You have a choice of different sizes of pads and tracks, where possible I have given a guide to the actual size of the configuration in the title. This library used in conjunction with ProCAD's PCB pen and pad tool should be sufficient for all track layouts. PCB Construction ================ The user guide on the full version of ProCAD comes complete with all the information needed to design PCB's using ProCAD. In addition to this I have also included my own personal tips for designing and making PCB's. End of Document.