1st Canadian Shareware Disc/1st_Canadian_Shareware_Disc_1991.ISO/graphics/cgp124/manual.doc

Text File | 1991-01-03 | 22KB | 539 lines

                        The Children's Graphics Program
                                 Version 1.24




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.  The macros can
be drawn in one of five sizes -- small, medium, large, extra large, and very
large. All these figures and macros can be drawn in one of four colors (back-
ground or none, red, blue, and white).  Actually the red and blue colors are
magenta and cyan but these terms are usually not recognized by children.  Once
the drawing is complete your child can color-in the drawings by painting them
in one of five colors.

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

This software comes with six example drawings.  These are draw1, draw2, draw3,
draw4, draw5, and draw6.  You may load them using the FILE option which is
located in MAIN MENU.  You may use these drawings to practice deleting or
painting.  Draw3, Draw4, and Draw6 are animated drawings -- try them!

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

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

  MAIN MENU OPTIONS:
    1-GRAPH
      Graph Options:
        1-DRAW
          Draw Options:
            1-LINE
            2-BOX
            3-CIRCLE
            4-MACRO
            5-END
            6-ARC
            7-TEXT
        2-PAINT
        3-DELete
        4-CLOAK
        5-END
        6-ANI. MARK
        7-ANIMATE
        8-EXPORT
        9-COPY
    2-FILE
      File Options:
        1-SAVE
        2-GET
        3-DIRECTORY
        4-


                                      -1-î




        5-END
    3-ERASE
    4-PRINT
    5-END

FINDING THE INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions are always found on line one above the drawing box.  If the
cursor is visible its 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 will
always be shown on the last row, below the drawing box.

MOVING THE CURSOR
The cursor is a round flashing object that appears in the GRAPH and DRAW
options.  Its sole purpose for existing is to show you your location
in the drawing box.  It will not show on your printed drawings.

The cursor can be moved using the keyboard or the mouse.  If you don't have a
mouse you must use the keyboard.

  KEYBOARD
  First, let's assume that you don't have a mouse.  You may move the cursor
  one pixel at a time by using the appropriate arrow key.  If you want to move
  in larger steps in the vertical direction, use the PGUP or PGDN keys.  To
  move in larger steps horizontally you must first press the CONTROL key then
  the left or right arrow key before releasing the CONTROL key.

  MOUSE
  Now lets assume you have a mouse and have loaded its driver software.  The
  only way you can move the cursor now is to move the mouse.  You'll find that
  this is much easier and faster than using the keyboard.

MAIN MENU
In this menu your options are 1-GRAPH, 2-FILE, 3-ERASE, 4-PRINT, and 5-END.
Choose one of these options by pressing the number corresponding to the desired
option.  For example, if you want to create a graph press the "1" key on the
keyboard.

In this menu the mouse does not function.  All selections must be made from
the keyboard.

  GRAPH
  When you choose this menu from MAIN MENU you'll find that your options
  are 1-DRAW, 2-PAINT, 3-DELete, 4-CLOAK, 5-END, and >.  Choose > to see the
  additional options.  These are <, 6-ANIMATE MARK, 7-ANIMATE, 8-EXPORT, and
  9-COPY.  Choose < to see the first 5 options again.

  If you don't have a mouse, select the options by pressing the appropriate
  number key or the > or < key.  If you do have a mouse you may also select an
  option by placing the mouse directly over the desired option and pressing the
  left button.  Pressing the right button is equivalent to choosing END.

    DRAW
    Choose this menu from the GRAPH menu when you want to draw something in
    the drawing box.  Your options in this menu are 1-LINE, 2-BOX, 3-CIRCLE,
    4-MACRO, 5-END, 6-ARC, and 7-TEXT.


                                      -2-î





    If you don't have a mouse, select an option by pressing the number key
    that corresponds to the desired option.  If you do have a mouse you may
    select the desired option by placing the cursor directly over the option
    and then pressing the left button.  To see options 6-ARC and 7-TEXT you'll
    have to select >.  To see the first five options again you'll have to
    choose <.

    After you choose one of these seven options you will be asked to choose
    a color.  Your color options are: 0-None, 1-Blue, 2-Red, or 3-White.  If
    you do not have a mouse, choose the color by pressing the corresponding
    number key.  If you do have a mouse, choose the color by pressing the right
    button until the desired color is written on line 2 above the drawing box
    then press the left button to accept it.

      LINE
      When you choose to draw a line you will first be asked to choose a color.
      After you have chosen a color you will be asked to move the cursor to
      where you want the line to start then press ENTER.  If you have a mouse,
      you may press the left button instead of pressing ENTER.  Once you've
      done this, move to the position where you want the end of the line and
      accept this point in the same manner.

      Now that you've chosen the color, the starting point of the line, and the
      ending point, the line will be drawn.  After the line is drawn you will
      be placed back in the DRAW menu.  You may then choose another figure.

      BOX
      When you choose to draw a box you will first be asked to choose a color.
      After you have chosen a color you will be asked to move the cursor to
      where you want one corner of the box to be then press ENTER.  If you have
      a mouse, you may press the left button instead of pressing ENTER.  Once
      you've done this, move to the position where you want the opposite corner
      to be and accept this point in the same manner.

      Now that you've chosen the color and two opposite corners, the box will
      be drawn.  After the box is drawn you will be placed back in the DRAW
      menu.  You may then choose another figure.

      CIRCLE
      You'll first be asked to choose a color in the manner described above.
      After you've chosen a color you'll be asked to enter the radius.  This
      radius must be 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.

      After you've entered the radius from the keyboard, you'll be asked to
      position the cursor where you want the center of the circle to be and
      press ENTER.  If you don't have a mouse use the arrow keys to position
      the cursor then press ENTER.  If you do have a mouse position the cursor
      with the mouse then press the left button.  After you've done this you'll
      be returned to the DRAW menu.

      MACRO
      Macro refers to a command that draws a complex figure for you automati-



                                      -3-î





      cally --- a house for example.  You may either enter the name of the
      Macro or enter ? to see a list of macros to choose from.  When in the
      Macro selection screen, select a Macro by highlighting the desired Macro
      then pressing ENTER.  You can highlight your selection by using the up
      or down arrow keys, by pressing the key corresponding to the first letter
      of the Macro, or by using the mouse.  If you use the mouse you may select
      the Macro by pressing the left button after it is highlighted.

      Once you've chosen a Macro and it's color you will be asked to choose a
      size.  Your choices will be: 1-SMALL, 2-MEDium, 3-LARGE, 4-EXtraLaRGe,
      and 5-VERYLarge.  If you don't have a mouse, choose a size by pressing
      the corresponding number key.  If you do have a mouse, choose a size by
      pressing the right button until the desired size is written on the second
      line above the drawing box then accept it by pressing the left button.

      END
      Choose this option to return to the GRAPH MENU.

      ARC
      You'll first be asked to choose a color in the manner described earlier.
      After you've chosen a color you'll be asked to enter the aspect ratio.
      This is the ratio of y-axis pixels to x-axis pixels.  Since we know that
      the y-axis pixels are 1/.833 times further apart than the x-axis pixels,
      to get a circle we will have to choose the aspect ratio to be 0.833.

      Next, we are asked to choose the radius.  If the aspect ratio that we
      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.  In other words it is always measured along
      the longest axis as measured in pixels.

      After you've entered the radius from the keyboard, you'll be asked to
      enter the start angle in degrees.  This is the angle at which the
      computer starts drawing the arc.  Next you'll be asked to enter the end
      angle for the arc.  You can see that with these two values you can cause
      the computer to draw a half or quarter arc.

      Finally, you'll be asked to position the cursor where you want the center
      of the arc to be and press ENTER.  If you don't have a mouse use the
      arrow keys to position the cursor then press ENTER.  If you do have a
      mouse position the cursor with the mouse then press the left button.
      After you've done this you'll be returned to the DRAW MENU.

      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.

    PAINT
    Choose this option from the GRAPH MENU when you want to fill in an enclosed
    area with one of the following colors: 0-NONE, 1-BLue, 2-RED, 3-WHiTe,
    4-GRAY, or 5-CHecKerBoaRD.




                                      -4-î





    If you don't have a mouse, choose a fill color by pressing the correspond-
    ing number key for the color listed at the bottom.  If you do have a mouse,
    you may choose a color by pressing the right button until the desired color
    appears on the second line above the drawing box.  Once the desired color
    appears written on that line, press the left button to accept it.
    After you select the fill color you will be asked for the existing
    boundary color for the area to be filled or painted.  If you don't have
    a mouse, choose the boundary color by pressing the corresponding number
    key for the colors listed on the line below the draw box.  If you do have
    a mouse, choose the boundary color by pressing the right button until the
    desired color appears on the second line above the drawing box.  Once the
    desired color appears written on that line, press the left button to
    accept it.

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

    Warning - the area must be completely surrounded by the boundary color
    you specified or the paint will spill over outside the boundary.  If
    you make this mistake you can correct it by going to the DELETE option
    and deleting the paint.

    Try to use a border color that is different than the desired paint color.
    If the colors are the same you cannot change the paint color without
    deleting the old one.

    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 if you 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.

    DELETE
    When you choose the delete option the last thing drawn will begin to
    flash and you will be asked if you want to delete it.  If you choose
    yes, the drawing will be redrawn without that object.  If you choose
    no, 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.  A small
    circle located around one pixel in the painted area will flash.  When
    deleting a graphics copy, a box will flash around the copied area showing
    you the graphics that is to be deleted if you choose to.

    If you have a mouse, pressing the left button is the same as answering yes
    and the right button is the same as answering no.

    CLOAK
    The purpose of cloaking is to hide a piece of a drawing without completely
    deleting it.  This is sometimes easier than going through the delete
    process.  For creating an animated drawing it is an absolutely essential
    option.




                                      -5-î





    This option works by hiding everything within a boxed area that you define.
    You are first asked to place the cursor on one corner of the cloak area
    and press ENTER.  You are then asked to place the cursor on the opposite
    corner of the area and press ENTER.  Whatever is within the box drawn with
    these opposite corners will be hidden from view or changed to background
    color.

    If you find that not all the enclosed drawing becomes hidden, try it again.
    Sometimes it will not take it all in a single step.

    If you don't have a mouse you must move the cursor using the arrow keys on
    the keyboard.  If you do have a mouse you must use it to move the cursor
    and you may use the left button instead of the ENTER key.

    END
    Choose this option to return to the MAIN MENU.

    ANIMATE MARK
    Choose this option if you want to store the current drawing to be used
    later as an animation screen.  This option is be demonstrated in the
    tutorial which is located in the file tutorial.doc.

    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 number
    key 5 or press ESC.

    EXPORT
    Use this option to export graphics to programs written in Turbo Basic.  All
    the graphics within a box that you define will be stored in a file that you
    specify.

    You'll first be asked to place the cursor at the upper left corner of the
    graphics that you want to export then press ENTER.  Next, you'll be asked
    to place the cursor at the bottom right corner of the graphics and press
    ENTER.  You will then be shown the dimension of an integer array required
    to store the graphics.  You'll need this number when its time to place the
    graphics in your new program.

    Finally, you'll be asked to enter a name, with no extension, for a file
    where the graphics can be stored.  After the graphics is stored you'll be
    returned to the GRAPH menu.

    The following is an example Turbo Basic program for placing a drawing
    on the screen.  The array dimension was 100 and the file name was draw10.

    SCREEN 1
    DIM GRAPHICSARRAY%(100)
    OPEN "i",1,"DRAW10.GFL"
    FOR X%=0 TO 100
      INPUT#1, GRAPHICSARRAY%(X%)
    NEXT X%
    CLS
    PUT (50,50),GRAPHICSARRAY%
    CLOSE 1
    END

                                      -6-î





    COPY
    Choose this option from the GRAPH menu by pressing the number key 9.  You
    can use this option to copy graphics to another location in the drawing
    box.

    After you choose the copy option you'll be asked to move the cursor to the
    upper left corner of the graphics you want to move.  Once you have placed
    the cursor press ENTER.  Next, you'll be asked to enter the cursor at the
    lower right corner of the graphics.  Finally, you'll be asked to move the
    cursor to the upper left corner of the area you want the graphics copied
    to then press ENTER.  The graphics will be copied to this new location.

    Be careful where you copy the graphics.  If you copy it over some graphics
    that already exists, it probably will not look quite right.

  FILE MENU
  When you choose this menu from MAIN MENU your options are 1-SAVE, 2-GET,
  3-DIRECTORY, and 5-END.  The keyboard must be used to select these options by
  pressing the corresponding number key.

    SAVE
    Use this option to store or save a drawing to file.  After choosing this
    option you'll be asked to 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.

    GET
    Use this option to retrieve a drawing that you previously saved.  You'll
    be shown a list of existing files and then asked to enter the name of the
    one you want.  If you change your mind after choosing this option, just
    press ESC to quit.

    DIRECTORY
    Choose this option to see all the graphics files on the current directory.
    Press the ENTER key to return to the FILE menu.

    END
    Choose this option to return to MAIN MENU.

  ERASE OPTION
  When you choose this option from MAIN MENU any drawing that exists
  within the drawing box will be completely erased.  After choosing this option
  you may start a new drawing.

  PRINT OPTION
  Choose this option from the MAIN MENU when you want to print your drawing to
  a printer.  This program was not designed with its own print routine.  If you
  want a hardcopy 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 dot matrix printers, called GRAPHICS, usually comes
  with your operating system.  When you get your drawing ready for printing,
  choose the PRINT option from MAIN MENU.  Once in the print routine, wait
  at least 4 seconds, press the SHIFT key then the PRINT key without releasing
  the SHIFT key.  Your drawing will then be printed on your dot



                                      -7-î





  matrix printer.  When its completed press the RETURN key to go back to
  MAIN MENU.

  END
  Choose this option from MAIN MENU to exit the program.  You'll find that
  this option exists in all the menus.  In all other cases it returns you to
  the previous menu.

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 HAVE MADE EVERY EFFORT TO REMOVE ALL BUGS FROM THIS SOFTWARE.  HOWEVER,  I
CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT NONE EXISTS.  THE RISK IS ALL YOURS.  BY USING THIS
SOFTWARE YOU ARE EXPRESSING YOUR WILLINGNESS TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE
RISKS.

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 16.  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.

Andrew Motes, PhD
Parent, Educator, Engineer, Scientist


              _______
         ____|__     |               (tm)
      --|       |    |-------------------
        |   ____|__  |  Association of
        |  |       |_|  Shareware
        |__|   o   |    Professionals
      -----|   |   |---------------------
           |___|___|    MEMBER



This program is produced by a member of the Association of
Shareware Professionals (ASP).  ASP wants to make sure that the
shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve
a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the
member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can
help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but
does not provide technical support for members' products. Please
write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006
or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman
70007,3536.

                                      -8-î





                                REGISTRATION FORM


To:    MOTES EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE
       1632 Brooks St.
       Fayetteville, AR  72701


From:  Name: _____________________________

       Address: __________________________

       City _____________________, State ________________, Zip Code __________

       Additional space for foreign addresses ________________________________


Circle registration option A or B below.

A.  Please register my copy of The Children's Graphics Program (Version 1.24).
Send me a hardcopy manual and a trial copy of SCHOOL-MOM.  I've enclosed the
suggested $15.00 registration fee.

B.  Please register my copy of The Children's Graphics Program (Version 1.24).
Send me a hardcopy manual and my registered copy of SCHOOL-MOM.  I've enclosed
$25.00 for registration of both programs.