Kids Cube/Top 100 Kids (CCD)/Top 100 Kids (CCD).img/top100ed/childgra/manual.doc

Text File | 1992-01-19 | 23KB | 564 lines

                 THE CHILDREN'S GRAPHICS PROGRAM
                           Version 3.0



INTRODUCTION
Although anyone may find it useful, this graphics program was
designed especially for children.  With this software your child can
draw lines, circles, boxes, arcs, text, or other figures we call
macros.  You can create your own macros or choose one of the
macros that is programmed or built into the software.  The
programmed macros can be drawn in one of four sizes -- small,
medium, large, and extra large.  When the drawing is complete
your child can color-in the drawings by painting them in one of 16
colors.

By placing animation marks in the drawings at strategic locations
you can also animate your drawings.  This is a little more
complicated and may require parent's assistance.

This software comes with some example drawings.  Some of these
drawings are already painted and animated for demonstration
purposes.  These are listed as DRAW1C.CGP, DRAW2C.CGP,
DRAW3C.CGP, and so on.  Others are just line drawings which
your child can paint.  These are listed as DRAW1.CGP,
DRAW2.CGP, etc.  Think of them as pages in a coloring book.
You may load these files using the FILE option which is located in
MAIN GRAPHICS MENU.

DRAW2C.CGP is an animated cartoon that clearly demonstrates the
animation capabilities of this software.  This drawing is
demonstrated when the software starts up.  To exit the animation
demonstration just press the ESC key or the right mouse button.

One of the most powerful features of this graphics package is its
macro capability.  You can make a drawing, store it as a user-
defined macro then recall it and place it in your drawings anywhere
you want.  You will find some user-defined macros on the disk
that have already been created for you.  These can be recalled
through the MACRO option in the DRAW menu.

The following paragraphs describe the operation of this program in
detail.


                            -1-

OVERVIEW
This section shows you the logical breakdown of the various
options.

  MAIN GRAPHICS MENU
  GRAPH
      DRAW
          LINE
          BOX
          CIRCLE
          MACRO
              Choose a Programmed Macro
              Choose a User-defined Macro
              Store Existing Drawing as Macro
          ARC
          TEXT
      PAINT
      DELETE
      CLOAK
      AMARK (ANIMATE MARK)
      AMATE (ANIMATE)
  FILE
      STORE
      GET
      EXPORT
      DIRECTORY
      CHANGEDIR  (CHANGE DIRECTORY)
  ERASE
  PRINT




FINDING THE INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions are usually found on the top two lines above the
drawing box.  If the cursor is visible it's position will be shown on
line 2 with the x-position first and the y-position shown last.  The
x-position increases from left to right while the y-position increases
from top to bottom.  The options that you may choose from will
always be shown on the last row, below the drawing box.



                            -2-

USING THE MOUSE
You must use the mouse to select options and move the cursor.
The left button is used in place of the return key to accept or
answer yes.  The right button is used in place of the ESC key or
to answer no.  You may use the right button to escape from
options before completing them.  This software requires a mouse.




CHOOSING AN OPTION
You must use the mouse to choose options.  To select an option
just move the mouse left or right until the arrow is pointing to the
option you want then press the left button.  Note that this arrow
only appears when its time to select an option.  You can only
move this arrow left or right.




MOVING THE CURSOR
The cursor is a small cross that appears when its time to place an
object in the drawing box.  Its sole purpose for existing is to show
you your location in the drawing box.  It will not show on your
printed drawings.  Use the mouse to move the cursor.  Just move
the mouse and the cursor will follow.




MAIN GRAPHICS MENU
In this menu your options are GRAPH, FILE, ERASE, and PRINT.
Choose one of these options using the procedures described above.



GRAPH
Choose this option from MAIN GRAPHICS MENU.  The GRAPH
menu has six options.  These are DRAW, PAINT, DELETE,
CLOAK, AMARK, and AMATE.  Press ESC or the right mouse
button to returned to MAIN GRAPHICS MENU.


                            -3-

DRAW
Choose this option from GRAPH MENU when you want to draw
something in the drawing box.  Your options in the DRAW menu
are LINE, BOX, CIRCLE, MACRO, ARC, and TEXT.  Press ESC
or the right mouse button to return to GRAPH MENU.

The default color for all the components in the DRAW menu is
black, except for TEXT.  This makes it simple for children to use.
You can draw in other colors if you hold down the c key while
selecting the option.  However, if later want to paint the multi-
color drawing you'll have to specify the boundary color along with
the paint color.  This is explained in the PAINT portion of this
manual.

LINE
Use this option to draw a line between any two points in the
drawing box.  Move the cursor to where you want the line to start
then press the left button.  After you do this, move to where you
want the end of the line and accept this point in the same manner.
The line will be drawn in black.

You can draw the line in any color if you hold down the c key
while you select LINE with the mouse.  If you do this, you'll be
asked to choose a color for the line before it is drawn.

You'll find the colored line option useful when you want to hide
unwanted lines.  For example, when you place a macro in an
existing drawing, the lines in the macro and existing drawing will
overlap.  You can remove these lines by drawing over them with
lines which are the same color as the background.  The CLOAK
option from the GRAPH menu can also be used to hide unwanted
lines.  You'll find more information on this in the CLOAK section
of the manual.

BOX
Use this option to draw a box with black lines.  Move the cursor
to where you want one corner of the box then press ENTER.
After you do this, move to where you want the opposite corner and
accept this point in the same manner.  It makes no difference
which corner you start with.

You can draw this box in any color if you hold down the c key
while you select BOX with the mouse.  If you do this, you'll be
asked to choose a color for the box before it is drawn.


                            -4-

CIRCLE
Use this option to draw a black circle.  First, enter the radius
measured in x-axis pixels.  The y-axis pixels are further apart than
those of the x-axis and a circle will have 0.833 times as many
pixels in the y direction.

Now that you've entered the radius using the keyboard, you must
position the cursor where you want the center of the circle to be
and press the left button.  The circle will now be drawn and you'll
be returned to DRAW MENU.

You can draw the circle in any color if you hold down the c key
while you select CIRCLE with the mouse.  If you do this, you'll
be asked to choose a color for the circle before it is drawn.

MACRO
Macro refers to a command that draws a complex figure for you
automatically --- a house for example.  Choose this option and
you'll see a list of three Macro options to choose from.  These
options are CHOOSE A PROGRAMMED MACRO, CHOOSE A
USER-DEFINED MACRO, and STORE EXISTING DRAWING AS
MACRO.  Programmed macros are those that are programmed into
the software and cannot be changed.  The user-defined macros are
those that you can create and delete.  These are stored as macro
files on your disk.  The third option allows you to store one of
your drawings as a macro file.

Options can be selected from this menu by using either the
keyboard or the mouse.  To use the keyboard, use the up and
down arrow keys to highlight the options you want then press
ENTER.  To use a mouse, move the mouse up or down to
highlight the option you want then press the left button.

CHOOSE A PROGRAMMED MACRO
If you choose to select a programmed macro another menu will be
shown with a list of macros to choose from.  Select a programmed
macro by highlighting the desired macro using the technique
described above then pressing ENTER or the left mouse button.
Next, you must choose a size from the list at the bottom of the
graphics screen.  Your choices are: SMALL, MED, LARGE, and
EXLRG.  Finally, move the cursor to where you want the macro
drawn then press the left mouse button.  The programmed macro
will now be drawn with the size and location you have selected.
Like the other draw options, it will be drawn in black.


                            -5-

Like the other components, this macro can be drawn in colors
other than black if you press the c key while choosing MACRO.
You'll be given a choice of color before the macro is drawn.

CHOOSE A USER-DEFINED MACRO
The USER-DEFINED MACRO option allows you to place a
previously designed macro into your current drawing.  When you
choose this option, you'll be shown a list of these macros to choose
from.  Highlight the desired macro using the arrow keys or the
mouse then press ENTER or the left mouse button.  Next, select
a location for it to be drawn.  Do this by placing the cursor over
the desired location then pressing the left mouse button.  The
macro will be drawn at this location and you'll be returned to the
DRAW menu.

STORE EXISTING DRAWING AS MACRO
The STORE EXISTING DRAWING AS MACRO option allows you
to store your drawing as a macro file.  You must not have any
animation marks or other user-defined macros in this drawing.
After you select this option, type a name for the macro file but do
not include an extension.  For example, suppose you have a
drawing of a dog.  Do not type DOG.MCR for the filename.  Just
type DOG.  A MCR extension will be automatically added to the
end.

ARC
This option allows you to draw complete or partial arcs.  After
choosing this option you must first enter the aspect ratio.  This is
the ratio of y-axis pixels to x-axis pixels.  Since we know the y-
axis pixels are 1/.833 times further apart than the x-axis pixels, to
get a circle we'll have to choose the aspect ratio to be 0.833.

Now choose the radius.  If the aspect ratio that you chose above is
less than one, the radius will be measured in x-axis pixels.  If the
aspect ratio is greater than one, the radius will be measured in y-
axis pixels.  After you've entered the radius from the keyboard,
you must enter the start angle in degrees.  This is the angle at
which the computer starts drawing the arc.  Next, you must enter
the end angle for the arc.  You can see that with these two values
you can cause the computer to easily draw half or quarter arcs.


                            -6-

Finally, you must move the cursor to where you want the center
of the arc to be and press the left mouse button.  After you've
done this the arc will be drawn and you'll be returned to DRAW
MENU.

You can draw the arc in any color if you hold down the c key
while you select ARC with the mouse.  If you do this, you'll be
asked to choose a color for the arc before it is drawn.

TEXT
Choose this option if you want to type some text in your drawing.
This option supports most ASCII characters including the number
characters 0 through 9.  You are limited to 22 characters each time
you use this option.  You can choose to print the text in one of the
16 colors that is normally reserved for painting.

This DRAW option with its variety of components, including
TEXT, should provide you with all the tools you need for drawing.
Now lets return to the GRAPH menu and learn how to paint your
drawings.  Return by pressing the ESC key or the right mouse
button.


PAINT
This option from GRAPH MENU allows you to fill in an enclosed
area with one of 16 colors.  After choosing PAINT, you must
choose the fill color.  The paint will fill all the area surrounded by
black lines.  If the area is not completely surrounded by black, the
paint will spill over outside the area.  If the paint spills you can
correct it by going to the delete option and deleting it.

After you select the color, move the cursor to a point within the
boundary and press ENTER or the left mouse button.  The area
within the black boundary will now be filled with the color
previously selected.

If your drawing contains multi-colored lines you'll need to specify
the boundary color along with the paint color.  To do this, hold
down the c key when you select PAINT from the GRAPH menu.
You'll be asked to choose a boundary color also.  Remember that
the area to be painted must be completely surrounded by this color
or the paint will spill out.


                            -7-

If you try to delete a border while it contains paint it will make
quite a mess; therefore, delete its paint first.  If you want to paint
your drawing it is best to wait until all your drawing is finished.
This allows you to make changes in lines, boxes, circles, macros,
and arcs without having to delete the paint first.

If you ever have trouble painting an area with one color try
painting it with another color first.  Then, try it again with the
color you want.  This problem could occur after cloaking an area
within a painted area.  You may find it difficult to fill the cloaked
area with paint.  If so, try the technique I just mentioned.


DELETE
Use this option to delete individual elements in your drawing.  The
last thing drawn will begin to flash and you must answer the
question "Do you want to delete this?".  Use the left button for yes
and the right button for no.  Choose yes and the drawing will be
redrawn without that object.  Choose no and the next object will
flash.  This continues until you either choose yes, press the ESC
key to escape, or all objects are flashed.

When deleting a painted area, the entire paint does not flash.  Only
a small circle located around one pixel in the painted area will
flash to indicate which painted area is being referenced.  When
deleting a user-defined macro, a circle (larger than the one for a
painted area) will flash around the starting point of the macro.


CLOAK
The purpose of cloaking is to hide a piece of a drawing without
deleting it.  This is sometimes easier than going through the delete
process.  For creating an animated drawing it is an absolutely
essential option.  You'll also find this option helpful for hiding
unwanted lines that occur when you draw one figure over another.

This option works by hiding everything within a boxed area that
you define.  You must first place the cursor on one corner of the
cloaked area and press the left mouse button.  Next, place the
cursor on the opposite corner of the area and accept it.  Whatever
is within the box drawn with these opposite corners will be hidden
from view but not deleted.


                            -8-

Note that the CLOAK option hides elements be covering over them
with the default, gray background color.  If you've already colored
your drawing before using this option you'll need to repaint the
area that has been cloaked.  If you have trouble repainting the
cloaked area, try painting it with another color first.  Then, repaint
it with your desired color.


ANIMATE MARK
Choose this option if you want to store the current drawing to be
used later as an animation screen.  Whatever is in the drawing at
the time you click on this option will become a screen in your
animation.  After you mark a screen for animation you can make
changes to the drawing then mark it again.  Don't forget to use the
CLOAK option to hide parts of the drawing that you don't want to
show in the next animation screens.  Do not eliminate the pieces
with the DELETE option if you're animating.  Once they are
deleted, they are gone forever.  They will not show in the
animation.

You can put up to seven animation marks in one drawing.  Also,
these marks can be deleted just like any other drawing element.


ANIMATE
Use this option to animate your drawing if you have placed
animate marks in the drawing as it was created.  To stop the
animation press ESC or press the right mouse button.

There are several drawing supplied on this disk that are already
animated.  Retrieve them using the FILE option from MAIN MENU
and try them.

This concludes the discussion of the GRAPH options.  Now we'll
return to MAIN GRAPHICS MENU.  You can return by pressing
the right mouse button or the ESC key.


                            -9-

FILE
Select the FILE option from MAIN GRAPHICS MENU when you
need to get an existing drawing, store a drawing for later use, or
change the directory.  Your options in the FILE menu are STORE,
EXPORT, DIRECTORY, and CHANGEDIR (CHANGE
DIRECTORY).

STORE
Use this option to store or save a drawing to file.  After choosing
this option you must type the name of the file where the drawing
is to be stored.  Do not put an extension on the file name.  For
example, do not use something like draw10.dat.  Just use draw10.
The extension is added automatically.

EXPORT
Use this option if you want to export your drawing to another
program that is written in BASIC.  Here is an example PowerBasic
(tm) program for loading a graphics file created by this option and
displaying it on the screen.  Let's assume the graphics file name is
TEST.GFL.

     SCREEN 7
     VIEW
     DIM GRAPHICSARRAY%(27000)
     DEF SEG = VARSEG (GRAPHICSARRAY%(0))
     BLOAD "TEST.GFL", VARPTR (GRAPHICSARRAY%(0))
     DEF SEG
     PUT (1,1), GRAPHICSARRAY%
     END

Although this program was written in PowerBasic you should be
able to convert it to other forms of BASIC.

Future versions of the children's educational program, SCHOOL-
MOM, are expected to have a coloring book option that will use
this program to create coloring book pages.  These pages will be
stored using this EXPORT option.

GET
Use this option to retrieve a drawing you previously saved.  You
are shown a list of existing files to select from.  Select by
highlighting it then pressing ENTER or the left mouse button.


                            -10-

DIRECTORY
Choose this option if you just want to see all the graphics files on
the current directory.  Press the left mouse button to return to
FILE MENU.

CHANGE DIRECTORY
Use this option to change your home directory.  You may find it
useful to store some graphics files in a subdirectory.  In this case
you can use this option to change to that subdirectory.  Once you
choose this option you'll have to type the name of the directory
you want then press ENTER.

That's all the FILE options.  Now lets return to MAIN GRAPHICS
MENU by pressing ESC or the right mouse button.



ERASE
Choose this option from MAIN GRAPHICS MENU if you want to
erase all the current drawing.  Be careful, once you've erased it
you can't get it back unless you stored it earlier.



PRINT
Choose this option from MAIN GRAPHICS MENU to print your
drawing to a printer.  This program was not designed with its own
print routine.  If you want a hard copy of your drawing you must
load your favorite graphics screen dump memory resident program
before you load this program.  A program like this that supports
most printers, called GRAPHICS, usually comes with your
operating system.  To print, choose the PRINT option from MAIN
GRAPHICS MENU.  Next, wait at least 4 seconds, press the
SHIFT key then the PRINT key without releasing the SHIFT key
(if your computer has it, press the PRINT SCREEN key instead).
Your drawing will now be printed on your printer.  When it's
completed, press the ENTER key to go back to MAIN GRAPHICS
MENU.  Read your DOS manual for more information about this
graphics utility.


                            -11-

If you have Word Perfect (tm) you can also use its screen grabber,
called GRAB, to save the screen image to a file then print it from
within a document.




This concludes the discussion of the options.  If you have questions
or suggestions for improving this program please send them to me
at this address:

               Dr. Andy Motes
               1632 Brooks St.
               Fayetteville, AR 72701

I hope you and your children enjoy this program.  A lot of time
went into designing it.  Hopefully it is much easier to use than the
elaborate commercial products that require large manuals. To run
the program just type go then press ENTER.

I'VE MADE EVERY EFFORT TO REMOVE ALL BUGS FROM THIS SOFTWARE; HOWEVER,
I CAN'T GUARANTEE THAT NONE EXISTS.  NEITHER CAN I GUARANTEE THAT A
VIRUS HAS NOT BEEN ATTACHED TO THE PROGRAM SINCE I'VE RELEASED IT.
THE RISK MUST BE ALL YOURS.  BY USING THIS SOFTWARE YOU ARE EXPRESSING
YOUR WILLINGNESS TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE RISKS.  NEITHER
THIS ORGANIZATION OR THE PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH IT ARE RESPONSIBLE
FOR DAMAGES THAT MAY OCCUR AS A RESULT OF USING THIS SOFTWARE.

If you're interested in educational software for children try my
program called SCHOOL-MOM.  It is a menu driven program
with modules for Music Composition, Art, English, Spelling,
Math, Time and Exams.  It's a complete educational tool for kids
age 4 to 14.  You can get it from your favorite shareware dealer,
from the IBMAPP forum on CompuServe, or from me by
specifying it on your registration form.



                            -12-


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