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PC-Draft II (tm)
User Manual
Release 3.2
(C) Copyright 1986,1987,1988 - All Rights reserved
Natural Software
19 South fifth Street
St. Charles Illinois, 60174
(312) 377-7320
LICENSE
THE PC-Draft II SOFTWARE AND MANUAL IS COPYRIGHTED, ALL RIGHTS ARE RESE-
RVED. YOU HAVE PURCHASED A LICENSE TO USE THIS SOFTWARE ON ONE MACHINE AT A
TIME. YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO MAKE COPIES OF PC-DRAFT II FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE
OF BACKING UP YOUR SOFTWARE AND PROTECTING YOUR INVESTMENT FROM LOSS.
Note: this copy of PC-Draft II is being distributed as ShareWare. This
means that you may copy the disk just as you received it and you may give
it to others for their trial use. You are also permitted and encouraged to
upload this version to electronic bulletin board services. You may not,
however resell or collect any fee for the distribution of PC-Draft without
the permission of Natural Software. (This does not include the normal fees
for using bulletin boards.) If you continue to use PC-Draft II after your
trial use, you must pay the purchase price as detailed below.
WARRANTY
THIS SOFTWARE WILL PERFORM AS DESCRIBED HEREIN ONLY IF PROPERLY APPLIED.
OUR LIABILITY TO YOU IS LIMITED TO REPLACING THE SOFTWARE (FOR REGISTERED
USERS). WE HAVE NO LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGE OR LOSS, INCLUDING
SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL, CAUSED BY THIS SOFTWARE, DIRECTLY OR
INDIRECTLY.
YOU AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE BY YOUR DECISION TO USE THIS
SOFTWARE.
i
Table of contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Shareware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
What registered users get . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
MicroSoft Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Other Mice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Files used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
File Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Starting PC-Draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Cursor Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Cursor Increment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Suspend Cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Change Cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Menu Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Display Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The Drawing Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Moving around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Direct Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Using markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Setting markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Jump to marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Clearing the Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Erasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Undo Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Saving Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Directory Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Ending PC-Draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Drawing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Multi-Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Free Draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Ellipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Arc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
ii
Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Drop Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Object Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Transfer to Font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Zoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Goodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Just paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
SpraY Can . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Kursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Mouse cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
grId . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Quick view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
sNap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Loading Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Selecting Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Creating and changing Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Saving Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Saving Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Retrieving Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Using Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Creating, changing Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Saving Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Using Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Creating Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Suspend Cursor Increment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Relative [+/-] Cursor Increment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
.MAC file structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Importing text files: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Editing Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Saving Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
loading Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Graph Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Drawing graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Drawing Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
iii
Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Printer resolution modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
IBM dot matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Epson dot matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
HP LaserJet+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
IDS Microprism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
C.Itoh 8510-1550 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
GEM .IMG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Print current screen window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Print full drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Print partial screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Screen Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The PIX graphics language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Starting PIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Trace mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Exit PIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
PIX Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Assign (LET) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Increment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Decrement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Cursor Movement Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Gotoxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Screen moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Drawing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Arc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Non Drawing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
File Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Program Control Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Other Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
PC-Draft commands not supported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Summary of PIX commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Summary of Drawing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
iv
Introduction
PC-Draft II is a high resolution pixel oriented drawing and graphing
utility, which is designed to facilitate a variety of drawing and drafting
needs. Some of PC-Draft II's features:
o You can produce drawings up to 1280 by 700 dots using IBM's
color graphic adaptor high resolution graphics mode (640 x
200 dots per screen). Such a drawing will more than fill an
8-1/2 x 11 inch printed output (at 150 dots per inch resolu-
tion).
o Built-in functions allow you to draw circles, lines, boxes,
arcs and curves; draw bar, line and pie graphs; create
patterns with which to fill areas; cut and paste objects and
save objects to files for later use.
o PC-Draft is both menu driven and command driven -- all
drawing commands may be selected from the menus or may be
entered by a single keystroke command such as [C] to draw a
circle or [L] for line.
o You can zoom in to precisely edit one pixel at a time.
o You can record graphic keyboard macros saved in files for
later playback and for animation effects.
o You can load and edit fonts.
o You can print your drawings on a variety of printers includ-
ing those compatible with IBM and Epson Dot matrix, HP
Laserjet+, and HP DeskJet printers. Also you can save the
output to the printer in a file for later batch printing.
o You can save portions of the screen or full drawings in GEM
.IMG file format. These can then be directly imported into
such Desk Top Publishing programs as Ventura Publisher and
WordPerfect 5.0.
o Drawing and Pic files may be saved in compressed format to
save disk space.
o You can set up to ten place markers anywhere in the drawing
to jump to.
o Drawing grids are displayable at any spacing with optional
"grid-lock" (Snap).
Introduction Page 1
o A pop-up status panel shows x and y cursor position, posi-
tion of the screen window in respect to the full drawing
area, the current pattern, the current cursor increment
value, and more.
o An undo function repairs damage done by your last command.
o A preview function displays the entire drawing on the
screen.
o A graphics presentation language called PIX performs all PC-
Draft II commands from a script you write without displaying
any cursor or menu interaction. PIX allows you to create
animated sequences of: loading screens, drawing forms and
graphs and adding text and more.
o Another program: CAPTURE.COM allows you to capture screen
images from other programs (both text and graphic screens),
to be loaded into PC-Draft for enhancement and printing.
o The latest additions to the Font, Macro, and Object lib-
raries are included.
Shareware
PC-Draft II is copyrighted. It is not a public domain
program. It is being distributed as Shareware, which means
that unmodified copies of the software and documentation may
be freely copied and shared. We ask in return that should
you find PC-Draft II to be useful, you become a registered
user. You become registered by sending $50.00 to:
Natural Software
19 South fifth Street
St. Charles Illinois, 60174
Or call with your VISA or MasterCard number: (312) 377-7320.
The file: ORDER.FRM on the disk can be printed and used as
an order form.
What do you get by becoming registered?
What registered users get
o The latest version of the software without the introductory
ShareWare screen.
Page 2 PC-Draft II
o Free telephone support: You can talk directly to the author
(Mike Allen). Many of the features in this latest version of
PC-Draft came directly from suggestions and wishes from
users. You can also communicate with the author via
compuserve. Send an EMAIL message to Mike Allen (PID:
70047,744)
o The latest additions to the Font, Macro, and Object
libraries: They require too much disk space to distribute
with the Shareware version. And, as a registered user you
will be notified when new libraries become available.
o A collection of drawings made with PC-Draft II which you can
incorporate into you own work.
o A typeset quality user manual profusely illustrated with
drawings made with PC-Draft II and full of helpful hints.
o As a registered user you will be informed of new versions of
PC-Draft.
The shareware philosophy is to pay smaller amounts for well
crafted and useful software from developers who cannot spend
the millions of dollars on packaging and marketing necessary
to compete with the large software development companies.
You benefit by being able to try a wider variety of software
products to find the ones that suit your particular purpose.
And the trial is free. The shareware developer benefits from
being able to distribute his work to a wider audience than
would be possible through normal channels.
Your share of the responsibility for shareware to continue,
and to support the development of more and better products
is to distribute your shareware programs to others and
become a registered user of those products you like and use.
System Requirements
PC-Draft II is compatible with the IBM PC, XT, and AT and
"true compatible" microcomputers with at least 384k of
memory and with MS-DOS or PC-DOS versions 2.0 or later. An
IBM or compatible Color Graphics Display adapter is re-
quired. PC-Draft II performs direct access of the display
buffer at address B8000 hex. PC-Draft II will not work with
monochrome displays or foreign display interface boards such
as Hercules. (However, it will work with one of the share-
ware CGA emulators such as HGCIBM or SIMCGA. Look for them
on your BBS.)
Introduction Page 3
If you have a problem with your display, you might try
pressing the [Ctrl + F1] key combination to cycle through
the different colors. The is particularly necessary on the
PC-Jr.
PC-Draft II is memory hungry. For the sake of speed, an
entire bit mapped drawing is kept in memory, rather than
being paged to and from disk. If you like to load lots of
stay resident utilities, you better have a 512k machine, or
unload them before running PC-Draft II. The PC-Draft II
program itself occupies about 85k. As you move the screen
window to new portions of a large drawing more memory is
allocated, 16k per screen. If you start with less than 128k
available, you will surely get an error message: Out of
memory!, then all you can do is save your drawing and quit
PC-Draft II.
Terminology
Brackets are used to indicate keystrokes. For instance:
[Ctrl + PgUp] means to press the Control key and the PgUp
keys together. Whereas: [F3][P][S] means to press those keys
in sequence. The four arrow keys on the numeric keypad are
indicated as: [v][<][>][^]. Filenames are given in all
uppercase such as: PATTERN1.PAT.
Installation
If you are using a hard disk, create a sub-directory for PC-
Draft II with the following sub-directories: PAT, MAC, FON,
OBJ, PIC, DWG, SCR. If you are using DOS 3.2 or above,
simply use the XCOPY command to copy all files from all sub-
directories to your pc-draft sub-directory on your hard disk
as follows:
CD \
MD PC-DRAFT
CD PC-DRAFT
XCOPY A:*.* /S
The sub-directory names correspond to the default filename
extensions for the various files PC-Draft II uses and will
help keep things organized.
If yours is a floppy based system, simply make a backup copy
of the distribution floppy for use.
Page 4 PC-Draft II
The executable PC-Draft program consists of the main pro-
gram: DRAFT2.EXE and a configuration file: DRAFT2.CFG. This
configuration file must both be on your current directory.
If you are using a floppy disk based system, you must leave
the diskette containing DRAFT.CFG in the disk drive when you
exit PC-Draft.
MicroSoft Mouse If you have a mouse compatible with Microsoft's Mouse
driver software, PC-Draft will automatically use the
mouse if the mouse driver is loaded.
Be sure the mouse driver is properly loaded (either with the
CONFIG.SYS DEVICE=MOUSE.SYS command, or from the keyboard
(or in your AUTOEXEC.BAT) run the MOUSE.COM program.
Mouse movement emulates the arrow keys, the left button
simulates the [F2] key (to pop-up the menus), the right
button simulates the [Enter] key (to terminate drawing
commands and to select drawing modes when in zoom mode), and
both mouse buttons pressed together simulates the [Esc] key
to exit from a menu or process.
Other Mice Most other brands of mice should work as described above if:
1. They can be configured to emulate Microsoft's Mouse
driver or:
2. You can setup your mouse to:
a. convert movement into the appropriate arrow key.
b. simulate the [Enter] key with the right button.
c. simulate the [F2] key with the left button.
d. simulate the [Esc] key with both buttons (or the
third button?).
Please let us know if you have a problem with your mouse.
If you do not have a mouse and intend to do much work with
PC-Draft, it is strongly recommended that you get one.
You'll love the difference. Some commands described below
were specifically designed for mice. They do not work too
well without a mouse.
If you are using the cursor keys instead of a mouse, it is
strongly recommended that you use one of the many shareware
or public domain keyboard speedup programs available. This
will make cursor movement around the graphics screen much
nicer. If you have an IBM AT, look for SETKEY.COM on your
Introduction Page 5
bulletin boards. If you have and XT or compatible, look for
QUICKEY.COM. Both of these were published in PC Magazine and
can be down loaded from their BBS. Also the shareware
programs:
FASTKEY.COM from:
Biologic Corp.
P.O. Box 1267
Manassas, Virginia 22110
and KBFIX2.COM from:
Skip Gilbrech
90 Lexington Ave. #10-G
New York, NY 10016 ( Compuserve: 71445,534 )
Printers
The current version of PC-Draft II will work with several
families of printers for graphics output; Some printers
which claim to emulate the IBM Graphics or Epson dot matrix
do not support all resolution modes, so you will have to
experiment to see which is appropriate for your brand.
Refer to the READ.ME file on the disk for information about
additional printer support.
Files used
The only necessary files used by PC-Draft are the main code
file: DRAFT2.EXE and the configuration file: DRAFT2.CFG.
all other files are optional.
File Names
The file naming conventions used are also optional. However,
it is recommended that you follow them. When PC-Draft saves
a file of a particular type, say a font file for instance,
it uses the appropriate filename extension unless you
override it by entering a different extension. This helps
prevent accidental data loss by overwriting files and by
loading the wrong type of file.
Page 6 PC-Draft II
The default filename extensions are:
Screen dump files: filename.PIC
Drawing files: filename.DWG
Pattern files: filename.PAT
Font files: filename.FON
Object files: filename.OBJ
Macro files: filename.MAC
Graph Point files: filename.PTS
PIX program files: filename.SCR
GEM IMG files: filename.IMG
Introduction Page 7
The Basics
There are a few basic things you must know to start using PC-Draft and
begin making your own drawings. This chapter will give you a quick over-
view. Each drawing command and other parts of the PC-Draft system will be
dealt with in more detail in later chapters.
Starting PC-Draft
To start PC-Draft, type the command: DRAFT2 with the files
DRAFT2.EXE and DRAFT2.CFG on the currently logged drive. The
Copyright notice will appear for a moment, then it will
display the graphics screen.
Cursor Movement
The cursor will appear as a small cross in center screen.
Press the cursor movement keys on the numeric keypad (or
move the mouse) to move about the screen.
Initially, the cursor will move 8 dots for each key pressed.
As you move the cursor you will notice that the X and Y
location is shown in the control panel at screen right. Also
shown is the current cursor increment value. With a mouse,
the cursor moves smoothly along with the mouse movement. You
may find that for precise positioning, the arrow keys give
you more control.
Cursor Increment The amount the cursor moves (in dots or pixels) is
called the cursor increment. To change the cursor
increment value, enter a number (using the top row of
number keys, or press [Num Lock] to use the numeric key
pad keys). For instance, enter 24 to cause the cursor
to move 24 dots for each cursor movement keystroke.
You will quickly get into the habit of adjusting the cursor
increment value to a larger number to quickly move to a new
position on the screen, then to a smaller number (try 1) for
detailed work.
Suspend Cursor Pressing the [S] key Suspends the current cursor increment
value, causing the cursor to move one dot at a time.
Pressing [S] again restores the increment value. This
allows you to quickly change from coarse to fine movements
and is also useful when creating graphics keyboard macros as
described below. Note that while in the [W]rite mode, you
can suspend cursor increment by pressing [Alt + S].
Page 8 PC-Draft II
Change Cursor There are two cursor types (three if you have a mouse).
Initially, the cursor appears as a small cross. Press [K]
([K]ursor) to change the cursor to a full screen cross.
This cursor type is helpful when positioning lines and
objects in line with other elements in your drawing. Press
[K] again to toggle between the two cursor types. If you
have a MicroSoft mouse, you can change the mouse cross
cursor to an arrow by pressing [Alt + C]. Press it again to
return to the cross. You can still use the full screen
cursor by pressing [K].
Menu Selections
Initially, the eight main menu selections are displayed
across the top of the screen. To make a selection, press its
corresponding function key. For instance, press [F2] (or
the [/] key) (or left mouse button) to display the pop-up
Draw functions menu.
With the pop-up menu displayed you may now:
1. Press the Escape key: [Esc] (both mouse buttons), to
exit from a menu without making a choice.
2. Select a choice from the menu by:
a. press the [L]etter in brackets for your choice.
b. use the arrow keys: [^] and [v] to move the
reverse video cursor to select your choice. Then
press [Enter] (or the mouse right button) to make
your selection.
3. Press the left or right arrow keys: [<] or [>] to move
to another menu (or move the mouse right or left).
For example; press [F2], then press [B] for the [B]ox
command, then press [Enter]. The Draw menu will disappear.
Now, move the cursor. A box will form with its diagonal
corners determined by the original cursor position and the
opposing current cursor position. When you are satisfied
with the final position of the box, press [Enter] (right
mouse button) to complete the [B]ox command.
Most of the other menus work the same, press the function
key, then up and down arrows, then [Enter].
Display Menu Bar By pressing the [F1] key, you can pop-off the menu bar
Basics Page 9
to allow full screen drawing. When you press [F1]
again, the menu bar will pop-up again. The drawing
obscured by the menu, will be untouched, but inacces-
sible, until you pop-off the menu.
The Control Panel
The panel along the right side of the screen shows:
o The current X and Y cursor location,
o The current cursor increment value (C = 8),
o The current drawing mode,
o The status of the suspend (cursor increment) function,
o The status of the snap function,
o The current paint pattern is shown,
o Below the pattern box, is a box that represents the
full drawing area. Within is a smaller box representing
the current screen window. As you move the screen
window (with [Ctrl + >] for example), the box will show
your current location.
o The number under the drawing box indicates the number
of the current screen window. This is the number you
would enter when using the [.] Move command to jump
directly to a new screen window position.
o The amount of free memory is shown at the bottom. As
you move the screen window to new areas of the full
drawing, you will notice this number getting smaller.
You can pop-off the control panel by pressing [Alt + P] for
full screen drawing.
The Drawing Area
One screen represents 640 pixels or dots horizontally, and
200 dots vertically (with the menu bar and control panel
popped-off). All drawing operations are confined to this
screen area. You can draw a line to the screen edge only.
However, the full drawing area available to PC-Draft is 1280
dots wide by 700 dots vertically. visualize the monitor
screen as a window positioned over a larger drawing area.
You can move this window up, down, left and right to reach
all parts of the drawing. The full drawing size is two
screens wide, and three and one half screens high.
Page 10 PC-Draft II
+----+----+
Initial | 1 | 2 | +----+----+
Screen ---> +----+----+ | 3 | 4 |
Window | 5 | 6 | +----+----+
+----+----+ | 7 | 8 |
+----+----+----+----+
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
+----+----+----+----+
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
+----+----+----+----+
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
+----+----+----+----+
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
+----+----+----+----+
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
+----+----+----+----+
The Drawing Area
Moving around Here's how you move the screen window around the full
drawing. To move the screen window down on the larger
drawing, press the [Ctrl + PgDn] keys together. The screen
moves one half screen width for each window movement. To
move up, press [Ctrl + PgUp]. [Ctrl + >] moves right, and
[Ctrl + <] moves left. When you reach the edge of the
drawing area, you'll know it (beep).
Direct Move Pressing the [.] (the period or shifted [>]) key will pop-up
a prompt box asking for a screen window number. You can
enter a number from 1 to 28 to directly move the display
window to a new area of the larger drawing.
The full drawing is logically divided into 28 sections. Each
section represents one forth of one screen's area.
When PC-Draft is first started, drawing sections 1, 2, 5 and
6 are displayed. To move the screen window to the bottom
right of the drawing area; press [.] and enter 23 to display
drawing sections 23, 24, 27 and 28.
Home Press [H] to move the cursor to center screen.
Using markers
Sometimes you would like to set a marker at one point in
your drawing to be able to return to the same position after
performing some other activity. PC-Draft II provides a
Basics Page 11
facility for up to ten separate markers that you can set,
change, and move to.
Setting markers First move the cursor to the position you wish to mark.
Then: Press [Shift + any function key]. For example
[Shift + F1].
Jump to marker Press [Alt + the function key]. For example to jump back to
the position set with [Shift + F1], press [Alt + F1].
If you have moved the screen window to another area of the
full drawing, from where a marker is set, the screen window
will be moved as necessary to return to where the marker is
set. This provides a convenient way to jump to all parts of
a large drawing.
Clearing the Screen
To clear the current screen window (not the whole drawing),
press the [F9] key. A warning pop-up will ask if you're
sure. Press the [Y] key for [Y]es, if you are.
To clear the entire drawing, press [Ctrl + F9]. A warning
pop-up will ask if you're sure. Press the [Y] key for
[Y]es, if you are.
Erasing
Since this is a pixel (raster) based graphics program,
erasing selected image areas is not as easy as it would be
in an object based CAD package where you can erase selected
operations rather than areas of the screen. Here are a few
different ways to erase:
o Use the [E]rase command to remove the image as you move the
cursor. The size of the erase box is controlled by the
current cursor increment value. Make this value larger to
erase larger areas. (The Replace drawing mode must be on.)
Note: if you do not have a mouse, erasing with the cursor keys is
not as smooth an operation. Suspend the cursor increment value
(with the [S] key), then as you move the erase box, you will
remove all pixels in your path.
o Select the Transparent drawing mode (with [F5]), then re-
trace the image to be erased.
Page 12 PC-Draft II
o Select an all black pattern (with [F4], usually pattern
number 1), then with the [R]ectangle command, surround the
area to be erased. The drawing mode must be set to Replace.
(The Replace drawing mode must be on.)
o Surround the area to be erased with the [W]indow command,
then press [F9] to clear the current window.
Undo Command
Whenever you have performed some drawing operation that
changed the drawing in a way you did not expect (you
goofed), you can press [U] to Undo. You can only undo the
previous operation such as [B]ox or [P]aint, you cannot undo
changes made before the last one. This is especially handy
when your [P]aint operation spills outside of a bounded area
unexpectedly.
Saving Your Work
Once enough of your masterpiece is constructed to make you
nervous about losing your work, you should save it to a file
on disk. You can save the current screen window to a .PIC
file or you can save the entire drawing to a .DWG file.
1. Press the [F3] key to pop-up the File menu.
2. Select [S]creen to save just the current screen window (just
what is currently displayed).
Or, select [D]rawing to save your drawing that may consist
of several screens worth. (Only those screens that you have
visited will be saved. If you have not moved from the
initial screen window, the drawing file will be the same
size as a screen ".PIC" file.)
3. Then, select the operation from the next pop-up: [S]ave.
4. you will be asked whether you want to save it in [C]ompres-
sed or [N]ormal format. If you choose Normal format, the
image will be saved without compression. An un-compressed
.PIC file is a straight byte for byte dump of the high-
resolution screen buffer and is compatible with many other
graphics programs. If you choose Compressed format, the file
will take less disk space (saving an average of 66%).
Basics Page 13
When you read in a .PIC or .DWG file, PC-Draft will detect
whether the file has been compressed or not and load it
properly.
Note: The I/O time is increased for saving and loading compressed
files. You might want to use normal format while you are working
on a drawing to maintain the speed advantage, then save it in
compressed format only when you are finished making changes.
The compression method is very rudimentary. A trade-off had
to be made given code space limitations and permissible I/O
delays. You can achieve a much greater compression and
saving of disk space if you use ARC.EXE to archive your
drawings (sometimes greater than 90%).
5. Then, enter a filename in the next pop-up. Enter any valid
DOS file path specification, including drive and sub-direc-
tories unless you want to save the file on the currently
logged drive and path.
You need not enter a filename extension. PC-Draft will
automatically add the appropriate extension for you if you
leave it off. Simply enter a filename such as: "DRAWING1"
or "A:SUBDIR1\DRAWING1"
PC-Draft will save your drawing as: DRAWING1.DWG (or:
DRAWING1.PIC if you selected to save the screen). (See note
below for directory searches.)
6. Press [Enter] to complete the operation.
Once you've done this a few times, the operation of saving
and retrieving screen and drawing files should become easy,
intuitive and obvious with the help of the pop-up prompts.
The method is the same for other file operations such as
saving and retrieving patterns, fonts, objects.
Directory Search When entering a filename for any file operation, you
can obtain a directory search by pressing either the up
or down arrow keys [^] or [v]. Any existing files with
extensions that match the current default will be
displayed in the file path name window. For example,
when you are retrieving a screen file, press the [^]
key in response to the filename prompt, the name of the
first file with a .PIC extension will be shown. Press
the [^] to show the next (if any) .PIC file, and so on.
When the file you want to retrieve is shown, press
[Enter] to retrieve it.
Page 14 PC-Draft II
To search the directory other than the current one, enter
the DOS path information, for instance to refer to the
directory containing pattern files, enter: "FON\", then
press [^] or [v]. (You must have the '\' at the end.)
Other useful keys to use when entering filenames:
o [<] and [>] move the cursor non-destructively.
o Backspace [<-] moves left destructively.
o The [End] key clears the field from the cursor position
to the end.
o The [Esc] key restores the field to its original
contents.
Ending PC-Draft
Press [F10] to exit PC-Draft. If you have made changes to
your drawing but not saved it yet, a warning pop-up will ask
if you want to. Similarly, changes to the current font,
pattern and/or graph point values, will be checked and you
will be warned before actually exiting to DOS. If everything
is safely saved, when you press [F10] you will immediately
be returned to the DOS prompt.
Basics Page 15
Drawing Commands
This chapter discusses each drawing command in detail. PC-Draft provides
both a menu based and a command based user interface. When you begin to
learn how PC-Draft works you might find the drawing menu useful in select-
ing the various commands. But as you become more proficient, you will
probably find the single key command method easier and faster.
Each basic drawing operation can be specified in two ways.
You can press [F2] (or mouse left button) to choose from the
Draw menu, or you can press the mnemonic character associat-
ed with the command. For example to select the line command
either press [F2] then press [v] enough times to move the
menu selection bar down to the "[L]ine" choice, then press -
[Enter] or you can choose from the menu by pressing:
[F2][L][Enter] or don't use the menu at all: simply press
[L] (the single key command mode).
Most drawing operations follow the same sequence of opera-
tions:
1. Position the cursor to a starting anchor point.
2. Select the drawing command.
3. Move the cursor to the desired ending point.
4. Press any key other than cursor movement or numeric key
to complete the operation.
Remember, at any time while moving the cursor, you can fine tune
cursor movement or speed up cursor movement by pressing the
numeric keys to change the current cursor increment. Also you
can press the [S] key to [S]uspend the cursor increment for fine
work, and the [K] key to change cursor type.
Line The basic element of most of your drawings is the line. The
method for drawing lines is typical of most of the other
drawing commands as well, involving these four steps:
1. Move the cursor to one end of the future line.
2. Press [L] to start the line.
3. Move the cursor to the other end.
4. Press [Enter].
I think you get the idea.
Multi-Line If you want to draw several connected line segments,
use the [M]ulti-line command. Press [M] to start, move
the cursor to the end point, press [Enter] to anchor
that end, move to the next end point, press [Enter],
and so on. Press [Esc] to end the multi-line command.
Page 16 PC-Draft II
Free Draw The [F]ree draw command lets you draw free form lines. A
continuous series of connected lines are drawn as you move
the cursor. The coarseness of the line is determined by the
value of the cursor increment (or how fast you move the
mouse). Set the cursor increment value to 1 (or [S]uspend)
to draw free form lines dot by dot (or move the mouse slowe-
r).
Box Press [B] to begin the [B]ox command. The starting position
is one corner of the box, the ending cursor position is the
opposite corner.
Rectangle This is similar to [B]ox, but the rectangle is filled with
the current fill pattern. The [R]ectangle command is useful
for erasing areas of the drawing, by selecting a completely
blank pattern as the current fill (and the [R]eplace drawing
mode). See below for how to select patterns.
Circle Press [C] to draw a circle. The starting position is the
center of the circle. Move the cursor outward to establish
the diameter and press [Enter].
Ellipse From the keyboard you start the ellipse command with [Alt +
E]. As you move the cursor, the area of the ellipse is
indicated by a rectangle. Move the cursor outward to es-
tablish the size of the ellipse and press [Enter]. Why use
the rectangle instead of the ellipse shape? We decided that
drawing, erasing, and re-drawing the actual ellipse shape as
you move the cursor was too slow, interfering with the
normal flow of drawing.
Note that from the drawing commands menu, you select the
ellipse command with the [I] key.
Curve This command works a little differently than the above two-
point commands. You specify a series of points on the screen
through which a smooth spline curve will be drawn. Position
the cursor to the starting point for the curve, then press
[V] for cur[V]e. Now, move the cursor to the next point,
press any key to set a new point. A straight line will be
temporarily drawn between points to help you keep track of
the shape of your image. Continue entering points (up to 20
points are allowed) until you have defined the shape of the
curve. To draw the curve, press the [Esc] key.
Paint Position the cursor within a bounded area on the screen.
Drawing Commands Page 17
Press [P] to [P]aint the area with the current fill pattern.
See below for how to select and edit patterns. Note that the
selected area must be tightly bounded by white dots. A
single missing dot provides an escape route for the pattern
to fill adjacent areas.
Arc Drawing arcs is a two step process:
1. Draw a circle where you want the arc with the correct
diameter.
a. Position the cursor to the center of the arc.
b. Press [A] to start the arc command.
c. Move the cursor outward to establish the diameter.
(A full circle will be drawn temporarily.)
d. Press [Enter] to set the diameter.
2. Now draw a box around the portion of the circle you
want to retain as the arc:
a. Position the cursor to one corner of the box.
b. Move to the opposite corner surrounding the selec-
ted portion of the circle.
c. Press [Enter] to complete the arc command.
Text To add text to your drawing, position the cursor and press
[T] to enter [T]ext mode. The cursor will become an under-
line and what you type next will be shown using the built-in
IBM graphics font. You can use backspace and the [<] and [>]
Page 18 PC-Draft II
arrow keys for simple editing and the [Enter] key to move to
the start of the next line.
To exit text mode, press [Esc].
Note: that this mode always positions the text on an 8 dot
boundary both vertically and horizontally. To position the
text between this 8 dot grid, first type the text, then exit
text mode and use the [O]bject and [D]rop commands to move
it to a new location.
As you type, the cursor will wrap to the next line when you
reach the right edge of the current window. You can set a
smaller window with the [Alt + W] key to restrict the text
to a selected area.
Another way to add text is to import from an ASCII text
file. You do this by adding two characters to your text
file, a 'T' at the beginning and a '%' at the end. this
makes the file a valid PC-Draft Macro file. Refer to the
Macro section for an example.
Write Pressing [W] places you in [W]rite mode. The cursor changes
to a box the size of the currently loaded graphics font.
When first started PC-Draft does not have a font loaded. To
experiment with [W]rite mode, press [F3][F][R] to retrieve a
font. In the filename pop-up prompt box enter: FON\EURO and
press [Enter]. The eurostyle font will be loaded from the
font sub-directory: FON. Now enter [W]rite mode. You can
move the box cursor with the arrow keys and enter text in
your drawing.
While in [W]rite mode you can suspend cursor increment by
pressing [Alt + S], since the [S] key is used to write S's.
Object By Object, we mean a portion of the drawing, a bit mapped
image. The [O]bject command allows you to grab an area of
the drawing from within the current screen window. Once you
have grabbed an area, you've got an object which can then be
[D]ropped (re-drawn) in a new position. Also objects can be
saved in a file (.OBJ files) to create a library of objects.
And, of course, object files can be retrieved to be added to
other drawings.
This command works like the [B]ox command. Position the
cursor to one corner of the area to be grabbed. Press [O].
Then move the cursor to the opposite corner of the area and
press [Enter] to grab it.
Drawing Commands Page 19
Note: The [O]bject and [D]rop commands allow for copying areas
of the screen. If you want "Cut and Paste" -- deleting the
original object area, use the "blank pattern" method for erasing
as described in the previous chapter. So, you would: grab an
[O]bject, erase it with [R]ectangle, then [D]rop the object.
Drop Object When you have an Object currently in memory either by using
the [O]bject command or by retrieving it from an .OBJ file,
you use the [D]rop command to re-draw the object in the
current drawing.
When you press [D], the cursor takes the form of a box the
size of the current object. Move the box to the position in
your drawing where you want the image and press [Enter].
Object Functions When you have an Object in memory as discussed above,
you can manipulate it in several ways. All of the
following commands are accessible only by selecting
[O]bject from the Draw menu:
r[O]tate turns the current object 90 degrees clockwise. Rotate twice
to turn the current object upside down,
[R]everse reverses the object from left to right,
[E]nlarge doubles the width of the current object,
[C]ontract halves the width of the object,
[L]arge doubles the height of the current object,
[S]mall halves its height.
Although nothing seems to happen on the screen, the current
Object will be affected in memory, which you can see by
[D]roping it.
Note: that for the sake of processing speed, objects are stored
and manipulated on byte boundaries. If you do not get the result
you want with one of the object commands. (Perhaps a part of the
object is truncated.) Try re-grabbing the object with a greater
margin (of blank space) around it. Then the manipulating commands
will not affect the edges.
Transfer to Font This command ([X]fer) is like the [O]bject command.
With [X]fer, you grab an area of the drawing to be
copied to a specific character in the current graphics
font. When you press [X], the cursor becomes a box the
size of the current font. Move the box to the image to
be grabbed and press the key for the character to copy
Page 20 PC-Draft II
to. For example, to grab an image to use for the A
character, press [A]. You can then move to another area
and grab again for another character. Press [Enter] to
exit this mode.
Note: that you cannot [X]fer to numeric characters (0 to 9), or
the [S] key because these keys are used to change the cursor
increment value. First [X]fer the image to another temporary
character. Then use the font copy function: [F10] (from the font
editing window) to copy from the temporary to the one you want.
Zoom [Z]oom allows you to edit a portion of your drawing at the
pixel level more easily by enlarging the dots. Position the
cursor in the center of the area to zoom and press [Z]. When
the box appears, you can move the cursor with the arrow
keys. The [Ins] key (mouse right button) toggles pixels on
or off. When the cursor is over a blank space, pressing
[Ins] will turn on the pixel there. When the cursor is over
a pixel already on, pressing [Ins] will turn it off.
The [F9] (mouse left button) key lets you cycle through
three drawing modes:
o Press [F9] once to draw pixels as you move.
o Press [F9] again to erase as you move.
o Press [F9] again and you are back to the original
state, no change will be made as you move the cursor.
While in Zoom mode these function keys perform new func-
tions:
[F1] shifts the zoomed image left one pixel.
[F2] shifts the zoomed image right.
[F3] fills the zoomed area (all white).
[F4] clears the zoomed area (all black).
[F5] reverses each pixel in the zoomed area.
[F8] will print the screen with the zoom window.
Goodies
The following additional commands are accessible by menu
from the goo[D]ies sub-menu. To see these selections, press
[F2][D].
Just paint Press the [J] key to begin the Just Paint mode. In this
mode, as you move the cursor, a trail of the current pattern
is left. The size of this trail is determined by the current
cursor increment value. Like the Spray Can command, this
works best with a mouse.
Drawing Commands Page 21
To end Just Paint mode press [Esc] or both mouse buttons.
SpraY Can Each time you press the [Y] key a random spray of pixels is
painted within the bounds of the current cursor increment
value using the current pattern. As the key is repeated,
more pixels will be filled in. This command is more useful
(easier to use) if you have a mouse, because you can move
the mouse as you hold down the right button to spray in a
continuous line, whereas, without the mouse, the cursor
jumps by the current cursor increment value.
If the current drawing mode is Transparent, the Spray Can
command will always fill approximately 50% of the area (if
you hold the [Y] down) since as new random pixels are drawn
they will cancel out existing pixels.
When the drawing mode is set to "replace", blank pixels in
the current pattern also affect (erase) the underlying
image. If the drawing mode is set to "overlay", only "on"
pixels in the pattern are painted. You can see how this
works if you:
1. Select the solid pattern (pattern 0).
2. Select the Replace drawing mode.
3. Use the [R]ectangle command to draw a solid box.
4. Select another pattern with some empty space such as
lines.
5. Start the Spra[Y] command, and draw the spray across
the solid box. You will notice that the pattern is
slowly etched into the solid area.
6. Now, change the drawing mode to Overlay and try step 4
and 5 again.
Kursor This toggles the cursor shape back and forth from the small
x to the full screen cross.
Mouse cursor If you are using a MicroSoft compatible mouse, this command
changes to the arrow cursor. From the keyboard press [Alt +
C]. Select this command again to return to the normal
cursor.
grId To aid in positioning the cursor in line with other elements
in your drawing, press [I] to draw a grid. The grid will be
spaced horizontally and vertically according to the current
cursor increment value. For example, before pressing [I],
enter [48] to set your cursor increment to 48 pixels, then
when you press [I] a 48 by 48 grid will appear.
Page 22 PC-Draft II
Note: When the grid is on, the drawing mode is always set to
Transparent. This is so that the grid does not interfere
with the actual drawing. However, you must be careful when
you add drawing elements with the grid on, that you account
for transparent mode. Also, when you grab an object with the
grid on, the grid will be grabbed as well, so again, be
careful. Remember this is a pixel graphics program not an
object oriented CAD package where true layering would be
more possible.
The grid is always drawn in relationship to the full drawing
area rather than just the screen. This means that as you
move the screen window the grid is redrawn and adjusted for
that window with its starting point remaining at the upper
left corner of the full drawing area.
Quick view This displays the full drawing in one screen window to give
you an overall view. From the keyboard press [Q]. Press the
[Esc] key to return to the normal drawing.
sNap When you press [N] to turn snap on, the cursor will snap
into position on a grid intersection (whether grid is on or
not). The grid intersection in question is determined by the
current cursor increment value in relationship to the upper
left corner of the full drawing area (as is true for the
grid command above). This means that even if you have grid
on, if you then change the cursor increment, then you turn
snap on, the cursor will snap to the new cursor increment
grid, not the grid displayed.
Snap is one command that does not work well with the mouse,
use the cursor keys instead.
Color This changes the foreground color to one of the possible 15
standard IBM Color Graphic Adapter colors. From the keyboard
press [Ctrl + F1]. Each time you execute this command, the
color is cycled to the next in the list, eventually repeat-
ing.
Window The [W]indow command allows you to designate a rectangular
area of the screen to contain subsequent drawing operations.
Once you have created a smaller than normal window (normally
the drawing window is the full screen), the cursor will not
move outside the borders of your window and lines and fills
will not spill out. You specify the area of the window
similar to the way you draw a box. Position the cursor to a
staring corner, press [Alt + W], move to an opposite corner,
press [Enter]. To undo the window, press [Alt + W] again.
This command is not on the menu.
Drawing Commands Page 23
Patterns
Patterns are created as 8 by 8 pixel grids which are repeated to fill
areas. PC-Draft keeps 8 patterns resident in memory at a time which are
used by the [R]ectangle and [P]aint commands to fill areas and by the
spra[Y] and [J]ust paint commands. Patterns are stored in .PAT files in the
PAT sub-directory. You can create your own patterns or edit those that come
with PC-Draft. The Patterns may be seen on the Pattern menu by pressing
[F4].
Loading Patterns
Press the sequence: [F3][P][R] for "File menu, [P]atterns,
[R]etrieve". Then in the filename prompt box, enter: [PAT\],
then press [^] or [v] to step through the directory of pat-
terns. Press [Enter] to retrieve a pattern.
Selecting Patterns
Press [F4] to display the list of current patterns. Either
press the number of the pattern you want, or move the arrow
cursor to point to it, then press [Enter] to make it the
current pattern.
Creating and changing Patterns
Once you have selected a pattern as "current", return to the
pattern pop-up by pressing [F4], then press [E] to edit the
current pattern. Within the pattern editing box, you will
see happy faces representing pixels that are "on". The
cursor position is shown as a small box when over an "off"
pixel and as a solid face when over an "on" pixel.
You can move with the arrow keys (or mouse) and toggle
pixels on and off with the space bar (mouse left button).
Editing A Pattern
Saving Patterns
If you create your own patterns, you must save them in a
.PAT file. Press [F3][P][S] for: "File menu, [P]atterns,
[S]ave". Enter a filename (no extension, PC-Draft will add
.PAT as the default extension).
Page 24 PC-Draft II
Objects
Above we discussed Objects and how to grab an area of the drawing as an
object with the [O]bject command and then [D]ropped in a new position.
Objects can also be saved in a file for later retrieval.
Saving Objects
To save your current object (after you have performed an
[O]bject command), press [F3][O][S] for: "File menu,
[O]bject, [S]ave". Then enter a filename (PC-Draft will add
the default .OBJ filename extension).
Retrieving Objects
PC-Draft comes with several example object files in the OBJ
sub-directory. Press [F3][O][R] to retrieve an object. In
the filename prompt box enter: [OBJ\] and press [^] or [v]
to step through the object directory. Press [Enter] to
retrieve.
Objects Page 25
Fonts
With PC-Draft you can load, edit and create a variety of fonts. Each font
is stored as a file with a .FON extension. Fonts may consist of characters
or may be all symbols.
Using Fonts
You can load an existing font by pressing: [F3][F][R] for:
"File menu, [F]ont, [R]etrieve". In the filename prompt box,
enter: "FON\" and press [^] or [v] to step through the font
directory. Press [Enter] to retrieve.
Once you have loaded a font, when you press [W] (for
[W]rite) the cursor becomes a box the size of the font. Some
fonts contain only a subset of the alphabet. So, if nothing
happens when you try to type a character in [W]rite mode,
perhaps the current font has no character defined for that
key. Try uppercase. To leave [W]rite mode, press [Enter] or
[Esc].
Creating, changing Fonts
Press [F6] to pop-up the font editing window. You will see
the filename of the current font on the top line followed by
the current key shown in brackets (also on the top line).
The current range of characters in the current font is shown
on the next two lines in the window as, for instance:
"START: A", "END: Z". This means that this font contains a
character for each keyboard character between uppercase A to
Z. It is important to make the distinction between font
characters and keyboard characters. With some fonts loaded,
for example, pressing the [A] key may draw an Apple rather
than an 'A'.
Also shown at the top of the font window is the current
font's height and width. These are expressed in pixels. The
maximum character height is 32 pixels. The maximum width is
48.
Warning: you should not change the height and width of an
existing font. Set these values only when you are creating a
new font. If you do change these in an existing font, you
will get scrambled images when writing with that font. The
same applies to the range of characters in a font. Do not
change this after the font is defined.
Page 26 PC-Draft II
The "SPACE:" field indicates the amount of space needed for
the particular character currently displayed. By varying
this from character to character, you can create proportion-
ally spaced fonts. For instance, in a font whose size is 32
dots high by 24 dots wide, the 'I' character may need 8 dots
of space, while the 'M' character would need 24 dots. To
change this value press [F6].
When you press any character key that falls within the range
of the current font, that character will be displayed for
editing. You can move the cursor with the arrow keys. Simi-
lar to the [Z]oom command discussed above, the [F9] key
(mouse left button) controls the editing of pixels:
o Press [F9] once to draw pixels as you move.
o Press [F9] again to erase as you move.
o Press [F9] again and you are back to the original
state, no change will be made as you move the cursor.
In this mode, the [Ins] (mouse right button) key will
toggle the current pixel.
The usage of the other function keys is shown in the Font
window:
[F1] Shifts the current character left one pixel.
[F2] Shifts it right.
[F3] Fills the entire character.
[F4] Clears it.
[F5] Reverses each pixel.
[F6] Allows you to change the character size of the font
and/or the space for the current character.
[F7] Allows you to change the range of characters included
in this font.
[F8] Prints the screen, including the font window.
[F9] Toggle the setting or clearing of pixels.
[F10] Allows you to copy the image from another charac-
ter to the current one.
Note: that you can copy images drawn on the regular drawing
area into specified characters in the font with the [X]fer
command described in the Drawing Commands section above.
Saving Fonts
To save a font, press: [F3][F][S] for "File menu, [F]ont,
[S]ave". And enter a filename. PC-Draft will automatically
add the .FON file extension.
Fonts Page 27
Note: that fonts do not necessarily have to contain characters.
They provide a convenient way to store a group of symbols or
objects, so that they are available in memory all at once. For
example the font file: FLOW.FON contains objects designed to draw
flow charts:
Page 28 PC-Draft II
Macros
The Macro feature of PC-Draft provides a way to store a sequence of key-
strokes in a .MAC file for later playback. This is another way to create a
library of images. MAC files are stored as normal ASCII text files and can
be edited by your favorite text editor. As well as a way of saving drawing
commands, macros can be used to provide a variety of interesting animation
effects.
Using Macros
To start the playback of a macro (for example use one of the
samples supplied with PC-Draft), press [F3][M][R] and in the
filename prompt box enter: [MAC\] and press [^] or [v] to
step through the MAC directory. Press [Enter] to start. The
sequence of keystrokes stored in the selected macro file
will be immediately played back.
By changing the current cursor increment value, and then
replaying the macro, you can redraw a given shape larger or
smaller (as long as the cursor increment value was not
changed within the macro itself).
Creating Macros
To start creating a new macro, press [F3][M][S], and enter a
filename. When you press [Enter] to return to the drawing
screen, each keystroke from that point on will be recorded
and saved in the specified file.
To end the recording of keys, press [%] (the percent symbol
key). The .MAC file will be closed. You can then replay the
macro in different positions, and with different cursor
increment values.
Suspend Cursor Increment
It is useful to be able to move one pixel at a time within a
macro without actually changing the cursor increment value
so that the macro can be replayed for different sized
objects. This can be accomplished with the [S]uspend command
to temporarily cause the cursor to move one dot at a time.
Macros Page 29
Relative [+/-] Cursor Increment
Similarly, you can use the [+] and [-] keys to increment and
decrement the cursor increment value to make changes rela-
tive to the value in effect when the macro is started.
.MAC file structure
Macro files are created as standard ASCII text files and may
be edited with your ASCII text editor (even EDLIN!). .MAC
files simply consist of each keystroke as entered during
their creation. Control keys are represented by their
keyboard scan value as an ASCII character preceded by a "^"
character.
The common PC-Draft keystrokes are as follows:
[F1] = ^; [^] = ^H [Ctrl + PgUp] = ^(value 132)
[F2] = ^< [v] = ^P [Ctrl + PgDn] = ^v
[F3] = ^= [<] = ^K [Ctrl + <] = ^s
[F4] = ^> [>] = ^M [Ctrl + >] = ^t
[F5] = ^? [Home] = ^G
[F6] = ^@ [End] = ^O [Enter] = (value 13)
[F7] = ^A [PgUp] = ^I [Esc] = ^[
[F8] = ^B [PgDn] = ^Q
[F9] = ^C
[F10] = ^D
For example the shadow box macro: SHADOW.MAC is:
B^Q^M^M^M^HS^P^P^P^P^MR^M^M^M^M^M^MS^PR^K^K^K^KS^H^ H^HS^H%
Note that the macro file must end with the "%" terminator
character.
Importing text files:
You can import text from a standard ASCII text file into the
graphic screen. To do so, you must do three things:
1. Add the character "t" as the first character in the
file. This will tell PC-Draft II to enter text mode.
2. Add the character "%" to the end of the file. This
tells the macro function that the end of the macro has
been reached.
Page 30 PC-Draft II
3. Rename the file so that its extension is .MAC.
Actually what you do is convert the text file into a PC-
Draft II macro file. Now, to import the text:
1. Set the window size as appropriate for the text in the
position you want within the graphic screen area with
the [Alt + W] command.
2. Position the cursor to the upper left corner of the
window.
3. Load the macro by pressing: [F3][M][R] and entering the
name of your text file.
That's it. The text will be imported into the window area,
wrapping around as necessary. If your text file is too long
for the window size, you will have to put up with a lot of
beeping as the macro tries to write characters at the end of
the window.
Macros Page 31
Graphs
PC-Draft's graphing function allows you to automatically create line, bar
and pie charts. While this function is not as sophisticated as you might
find in business graphics programs dedicated to that purpose, PC-Draft
provides the means to enhance your graphs with labels, pattern fills, etc.
in a much more flexible and free form way. You are the artist. PC-Draft is
the tool.
Creating graphs involves three steps:
1. Enter a set of value pairs (for X and Y graph axis).
2. Select the type of graph: Bar, Line, Points, or Pie.
3. Draw the graph (similar to the [B]ox command or the
[C]ircle command for pie charts).
Editing Points
Press [F7] to pop-up the graph menu. Then press [E] to edit
points. Enter values for each element in your graph. Normal-
ly the values on the X axis would be equal for equally sized
Bars in a Bar graph for example. So, enter a 1 for each
element down the X column. The first X axis entry of zero
signals the end. If your graph has 8 elements, the ninth
entry in the X column should be zero. If your Y values are
decimal, enter them without the decimal point. For instance,
enter 12.34 as 1234, and then 56.00 as 5600.
Saving Points
You can save your graph data to a .PTS file by pressing:
[F7][S] and specifying a filename.
loading Points
Similarly, you load previously saved graph data with:
[F7][L].
Graph Type
Specify the type of graph you want to draw by pressing
[F7][T]. Then select either [B]ar, [L]ine, [D]ots, or [P]ie.
Page 32 PC-Draft II
Drawing graphs
Once you have entered or loaded point values and selected a
graph type, you can draw your graph anywhere in your draw-
ing. For graph types other than Pie, position the cursor at
one corner of a rectangular area, press [G], then move the
cursor to the opposite corner and press [Enter].
PC-Draft automatically scales the graph to fill the rectan-
gular area specified. To overlay two or more sets of graph
point values:
1. Draw a bar graph for the first set of points.
2. Turn off the Graph s[C]ale by pressing: [F7][C] so that
the scale indicator shows: [OFF]. This will cause PC-
Draft to use the same scale established from the
previous graph.
3. Load the second set of point values.
4. Select the drawing mode: [F5][O]verlay (see below).
5. Draw the graph for the second set of points in the same
location as the first.
For the Pie graph type, move the cursor to the center of a
circular area, press [G], and move the cursor outward to
size the pie chart.
Graphs Page 33
Drawing Mode
The drawing mode determines what happens pixel by pixel when you draw over
existing (set) pixels. When first started PC-Draft is in [R]eplace drawing
mode.
To change drawing mode, press [F5] to pop-up the drawing
mode menu. Then press the letter in brackets for the mode
you want, or press [^] or [v] to move the pointer and press
[Enter] to make your selection.
The effect of each drawing mode is as follows:
[R]eplace: The resulting pixel equals the drawing pixel.
[O]verlay: The resulting pixel is changed only if the
drawing pixel is "on".
[T]ransparent: The resulting Pixel is made the opposite of
the drawing pixel. This is "XOR" mode.
You might want to experiment with the drawing mode to see
how it affects other operations such as spra[Y] can, [J]ust
paint and [P]aint.
Page 34 PC-Draft II
Printing
PC-Draft will print your drawing using a variety of IBM or Epson compatible
dot matrix printers or a laser printers compatible with the Hewlett Packard
LaserJet+ (Note that this includes HP's DeskJet printer).
You can print a portion of the current screen window, the
whole screen or the entire drawing. The printing function is
evoked by pressing the [F8] key. If you press [F8] with a
pop-up menu "up", you will print the screen with the menu
pop-up included. Otherwise, the menu bar and control panel
will not be printed.
When printing, you will be asked for a filename (after
specifying printer type and resolution mode). If you wish to
dump the printer control bytes to a file for later printing,
enter the filename to use. You may include the optional
drive and path designations. If you wish to immediately
print, simply press the Enter key. You can later print the
file created by this method from outside of PC-Draft by the
DOS command:
COPY /B PRTFILE PRN
Note: that you must use the /B option since the file is a
binary file. For the same reason, do not use the DOS print
command, since the file is a binary file containing byte
values which may be interpreted by the Print program as
tabs.
This feature was added to enable you to incorporate PC-Draft
images into word processors that allow sending files to the
printer in the middle of the word processor document. It is
also handy if you want to print several items at a time but
do not want to wait on the slow speed of the printer. You
can save all the images to files with a common extension
(such as .PRT). Then later print them all with:
COPY /B *.PRT PRN
Printer resolution modes
It is not always possible to get dot matrix printer output
to exactly represent the same aspect ratio as the graphics
screen.
The monitor's (in high resolution 640 by 200 dot mode)
aspect ratio is 2:1. It takes two horizontal dots to equal
Printing Page 35
one vertical dot. A box that is 100 pixels wide by 50 pixels
high will appear square.
Printers compatible with either the IBM Graphic dot matrix
or the Epson dot matrix printers always print with a verti-
cal resolution of 72 dots per inch (this is the spacing
between the pins in the print head). So the perfect horizon-
tal resolution to match the screen appearance is 144 dots
per inch horizontally (144:72 ratio). The Epson FX+ series
printers have this resolution, the IBM dot matrix printer
(and many compatibles) does not.
The 60 dots per inch modes print two vertical dots for each
one in your original drawing in an attempt to get as close
as possible to the 2:1 aspect ratio. 60:36 is close but not
perfect. This mode fits one screen window on eight inch wide
paper.
The 240 dots per inch modes print one vertical dot for every
two in your original drawing. The pixels in alternate lines
are combined. This 240:144 aspect ratio is better than the
normal 240:72, but still does not produce perfectly round
circles.
Each printer has different graphics resolution modes. The
current version of PC-Draft supports up to four modes for
each printer supported.
IBM dot matrix (Same as Okidata Microline 290 series)
Mode [1] prints at 60 dots per inch. (480 dots/8 inch
line.)
Mode [2] prints at 120 dots per inch. (960 dots/8 inch
line.)
Mode [3] prints at 120 dots per inch. (draft mode is
faster, prints every other dot.)
Mode [4] prints at 240 dots per inch (1920 dots/8 inch
line.) this fits two screens wide in 5-5/16
inches.)
There is no mode for this printer that will print round
circles.
Epson dot matrix Mode [1] prints at 72 dots per inch. (4576 dots/8 inch
line.)
Mode [2] prints at 120 dots per inch. (960 dots/8 inch
line.)
Mode [3] prints at 144 dots per inch. (1152 dots/8 inch
line.) This is best for round circles. However,
Page 36 PC-Draft II
you lose 128 dots from the far right of your
drawing unless you have a wide carriage printer.
Mode [4] prints at 240 dots per inch (1920 dots/8 inch
line.) this fits two screens wide in 5-5/16
inches.)
HP LaserJet+ (Also for HP DeskJet)
Mode [1] prints at 75 dots per inch. (600 dots/8 inch
line.)
Mode [2] prints at 100 dots per inch. (800 dots/8 inch
line.)
Mode [3] prints at 150 dots per inch. (1200 dots/8 inch
line.) This fills an 8-1/2 by 11 inch size print-
out.
Mode [4] prints at 300 dots per inch (2400 dots/8 inch
line.) this fits two screens wide in 4.26 inches.)
All modes for the LaserJet print double the number of pixels
vertically to more closely match the proportions of the
screen, so that squares and circles are printed square and
round.
If your drawing is the equivalent of two screens wide, you
should use the high density modes to fit on 8 1/2 inch wide
paper.
If you have a printer that you would like PC-Draft to
support, please send a copy of the dot graphics section of
your printer manual and we will supply you with a printer
driver for your printer and add it to our collection.
IDS Microprism This has only one graphics resolution mode, so we made an
attempt to allow two adjustments:
Mode [1] prints at normal mode.
Mode [2] prints at one half vertical.
C.Itoh 8510-1550 (same as NEC 8023A/B and SONY SMI-720)
Mode [1] prints at 80 dots per inch. (640 dots/8 inch
line.)
Mode [2] prints at 96 dots per inch. (768 dots/8 inch
line.)
Mode [3] prints at 136 dots per inch. (1088 dots/8 inch
line.)
Mode [4] prints at 160 dots per inch (1280 dots/8 inch
line.)
Printing Page 37
GEM .IMG Of great importance to users of DeskTop publishing programs
like Ventura Publisher, is the ability to export portions of
the screen, full screens, and/or full drawings in GEM .IMG
file format. This allows inclusion of graphics created (or
captured) with PC-Draft directly into DTP documents. (Also
works with WordPerfect v 5.0!) Simply print (box, screen or
drawing) using the GEM IMG choice on the printer menu as
your printer choice -- you must give a filename (the
filename should have an ".IMG" extension).
This manual was created using WordPerfect 5.0. The illustra-
tions of PC-Draft screens were made using this method.
Print current screen window
Press [F8] to pop-up the print menu and select [S] for
[S]creen. Then select a printer type. Then select a printer
resolution mode: [1] - [4] from low to high density. Then
(if you want to save the printer codes in a file for later
printing), enter the path and filename of the file to save
the printer data. Or, (if you wish to print immediately),
press the [Enter] key without any filename.
These steps are typical for the other two printing options:
[A]ll and [B]ox.
Print full drawing
Press [F8] to pop-up the print menu and select [A] for
[A]ll. Then select a printer type and resolution mode.
Print partial screen
First position the cursor to one corner of a rectangular
area of the screen to print. Press [F8] to pop-up the print
menu and select [B] for [B]ox. After selecting the printer
type, you then must position the cursor to the opposite
corner of the area to print as if you were drawing a box.
Then select a printer resolution mode: [1] -[4] from low to
high density and press [Enter] (mouse right button) to start
printing.
Page 38 PC-Draft II
Screen Capture
A program called CAPTURE.COM on the distribution diskette, allows you to
capture screen images from other programs, save them in separate files, and
later load them into PC-Draft. This is useful when writing software docu-
mentation. You can add boarders around the screen and print them for later
paste up.
There are two versions of the screen capture program:
CAPTURE.COM and CAPTURE2.COM. In an attempt to make these
TSR's compatible with more programs, CAPTURE2 performs more
checks for when DOS is busy to tell when it is safe to write
its bitmap data to the pic file. Also CAPTURE2 uses a
different hot-key combination: [Alt]+[.] (that's the
period key). So...
CAPTURE uses: [Alt]+[LeftShift]
CAPTURE2 uses: [Alt]+[.]
You must experiment, and uses whichever version works with
the program from which you wish to capture screens. Don't
load both into memory at one time! The following discussion
applies to both programs (except for the hot-key).
Capture is a Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) program. When
you run it from the DOS command line, it will announce its
presence and quietly sink into the background and wait to be
called into action (when its "hot key" is pressed).
When you run Capture, you must provide it with the location
and starting file name to use to store the screen images it
captures. For example, if you have installed PC-Draft on
your hard disk in a sub-directory called DRAFT, you might
start Capture with this command:
CAPTURE C:\DRAFT\PIC\SCREENA.PIC
Now Capture will store its screens in the PIC sub-directory.
The first screen it saves will be called SCREENA.PIC, the
second will be called SCREENB.PIC. Each subsequent .PIC file
will increment the character in the filename just before the
extension. These files are graphic pic files compatible with
PC-Draft regardless of whether the original screen was in
text mode or graphics mode.
To activate Capture and save the current screen to a .PIC
file, you press the [Alt + left Shift] ([Alt + .] for
Capture2) keys together. You will hear a beep when Capture
is called. Three beeps means it successfully wrote a unique
file to the specified directory. Only one beep means it was
Screen Capture Page 39
unable to create the file (could not find the directory?).
Only two beeps means it created the file, but could not
write the full 16k screen buffer, (disk full?).
Capture will detect the current video mode and adjust. It
converts text mode screens into bit mapped graphics suitable
for PC-Draft II.
Like any other TSR, Capture may have compatibility problems
with other software, especially other TSR's. If you have
trouble, try installing Capture by itself and adding your
other TSR utilities one at a time after you get Capture to
work.
We strongly recommend the shareware utilities MARK and
RELEASE. They will allow you to de-install Capture (and
other TSR's). Look for them on your bulletin board.
Page 40 PC-Draft II
The PIX graphics language
The PIX.COM program is actually a special version of PC-Draft which reads
its input from a script file of graphic commands instead of responding to
the keyboard. By creating such a file with your favorite text editor, you
are in fact writing a graphics program that will be played out as an
animated sequence of steps as PIX reads the file. PIX allows you to:
o Create a script of graphic commands to be played out in
animation for presentations.
o You can load and display screens and whole drawings created
by PC-Draft.
o You can use (and create) PC-Draft objects and macros.
o You can create new macros with PIX's procedures and looping
for use in PC-Draft.
o PIX has repeat looping and Procedures (subroutines).
o In place of literal values used for the drawing commands,
you can substitute variables.
o You can run PIX in trace mode for debugging.
We have provided some sample PIX programs on your distribu-
tion disk. These files all have the filename extension:
.SCR. To get a feel for what PIX is and its versatility run
the demo program as follows. To start a PIX demonstration,
with the file PIX.COM on the current drive and DEMO.SCR in
the SCR directory, enter the command:
PIX SCR\DEMO
at the DOS command prompt, and sit back and watch.
PIX is a special purpose language with a few simple rules:
o The PIX source file must be created as a standard ASCII
text file by your own text editor. EDLIN (shudder) will
work if you don't have any other.
o Each PIX program statement must be on a line by itself.
o Numbers are always enclosed by parentheses and separat-
ed by commas, such as: (12,34,56,78).
o Numbers are integers (usually used to represent X and Y
locations, Pattern, Color, or Repeat loop index.)
PIX Language Page 41
o Key words such as LINE and CIRCLE can be abbreviated to
their first three characters (LIN and CIR).
o Upper and lower case is not significant. The commands;
LINE, line, Line, and LiN are all equivalent.
o White space (space character) is generally ignored, so
lines can be indented for readability. The exception is
around numbers within parentheses: ( 12, 34, 56 ) is
not legal.
o Any text on a line following a command is ignored,
perfect for comments.
o Any line beginning with a semi-colon is considered a
comment.
o A number or variable on a line by itself is considered
as a change to the cursor increment value, just as if
you had typed in a number while using PC-Draft.
o Values used to refer to cursor positions are always in
relation to the current screen window, not the entire
drawing.
Starting PIX To run PIX simply type PIX at the DOS command prompt
followed by the file name of your script (program). If
you do not specify a script file, PIX will search the
current directory for a script file named AUTO.SCR. If
this file is not found, PIX will ask you for a script
filename. Once a valid script file is found, PIX
immediately begins its performance. When the script has
finished, press the [Enter] key to return to DOS.
Trace mode To run PIX in trace (single step) mode, evoke PIX with
a [T] command line argument. For example, to trace
through the demo script type:
PIX T DEMO
In this mode PIX will display each command line of your
script file and wait for you to press [Enter] before execut-
ing it.
Exit PIX To exit PIX before the script is completed, press any key to
interrupt. PIX will display a pop-up window asking if you
wish to exit. Enter a [Y] to exit or any other character to
continue.
Page 42 PC-Draft II
PIX Commands
Each line in your PIX program represents a PIX command. For
instance the following command line draws a box 20 pixels
wide by 40 pixels high starting at X location 120 and Y
location 10:
Box (120,10,140,50)
You could draw the same box with a series of cursor movement
commands which emulate the way you would draw it with PC-
Draft:
10 Set cursor increment = 10
Gotoxy (120,10) goto starting position
Box Start the box
down Go down 10 pixels
down 10 more = 20
dright 10 down and 10 right
dright Now we're at X=140,
Y=50
end This ends the box command.
Quit Exit PIX
Note that the above is a complete PIX program. The text
following each command is treated as a comment.
Variables Pix allows you to substitute an integer variable in place of
numbers used in the various drawing commands. A variable is
identified by one of the 26 alpha characters [A..Z]. For
instance the same box described above can be drawn using
variable substitution:
Let A = (120)
Let B = (10)
Let C = (50)
Box (a,b,140,c)
PIX Language Page 43
Note that variables can be mixed with numeric values and t-
hat upper and lower case character identifiers are treated
as identical.
Assign (LET) You assign values to variables with the Let statement as
shown:
Let A = (#)
(The equal sign is optional for readability, you could say:
Let A (#)
with the same result.
Increment The following statements increment (by one) the variable B:
Increment B
Inc B
Decrement The following statements decrement (by one) the variable C:
Decrement C
Dec C
Cursor Movement Commands
These cause the graphics cursor to move in the specified
direction relative to the current position. How far the
cursor moves is determined by the current cursor increment
value.
Right, Left, Up, Down, are the vertical and horizontal
moves.
URight, ULeft, DRight, DLeft, are the diagonal moves. For
instance to move the cursor Down and to the right use the
command: DRight.
Page 44 PC-Draft II
Gotoxy Use Gotoxy (x,y) for absolute cursor positioning. This moves
the graphics cursor to X location 140 and Y location 86:
Gotoxy (140,86)
Screen moves
These commands allow you to move around the drawing (like
[Ctrl + >] in PC-Draft:
>up corresponds to: [Ctrl + PgUp]
>down corresponds to: [Ctrl + PgDn]
>left corresponds to: [Ctrl + <]
>right corresponds to: [Ctrl + >]
Or, you can move directly to a screen window number:
Move (#) # must be between [1..28]
Drawing Commands
The following drawing commands perform functions as you
might expect similar to PC-Draft. You can use them with the
corner positions specified as parameters such as:
Box (a,b,140,c)
Or, you can use them as you would with PC-Draft with
relative cursor movements to specify the opposite corner.
Such as:
Box
DRight
DRight
DRight
End
PIX Language Page 45
These commands are:
Box (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Line (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Circle (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Rectangle (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Object (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Graph (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Window (x1,y1,x2,y2)
The Curve, Erase, Multi-line and Free-draw commands work a
little differently. You specify a starting cursor position,
then the command key-word, then a series of points, with the
GOTOXY command. Then end the sequence of points with the END
command. For example to draw a curve:
gotoxy (50,20)
Curve
gotoxy (150,20)
gotoxy (250,120)
gotoxy (350,20)
gotoxy (450,120)
gotoxy (550,20)
gotoxy (550,120)
gotoxy (600,80)
end
or to draw multi-lines:
gotoxy (10,10)
Multi-line
gotoxy (10,20)
gotoxy (25,100)
gotoxy (150,20)
gotoxy (250,100)
gotoxy (300,180)
end
You can Erase in a free form manner described above or in a
straight line, for example:
Page 46 PC-Draft II
Erase (3,100,300,10)
Arc The Arc command requires two sets of points. The first set
establishes the full circle from which the desired arc will
be taken. The second set of points describes the rectangular
area which sets the boundaries for the arc. For example this
draws a quarter circle arc:
Arc (300,100,300,10)(300,100,600,9)
These next commands are single key commands which perform
similarly to their counterparts in PC-Draft. You would first
position the cursor, then call the command. For instance,
with the Paint command, paint a circle:
Circle (135,28,135,95) Draw a circle
Gotoxy (135,28) Return to its center
Paint Fill with current pat-
tern
They are:
Paint
Drop (Object)
Reverse (Object)
Expand (Object) ( double size vertically )
Contract (Object) ( halve size vertically )
Enlarge (Object) ( double size horizontally )
Small (Object) ( halve size horizontally )
Home (Move cursor to center screen)
Kursor (Toggle cursor between small x and large x)
Undo (Undo previous drawing command)
Tog (Toggle chart scale off/on)
The following commands write strings of characters on the
screen. They must be followed by the character string to
write, and therefor cannot have a comment on the same line.
Write <string> (Write "string" using the currently loaded
font)
Text <string> (Write "string" using the IBM regular
font)
PIX Language Page 47
For example:
Gotoxy (135,28) Position the cursor
Write This is my message
Non Drawing Commands
Pattern (#) (Select pattern number [0..9] )
Mode <MODE> (Select Drawing Mode:
"Replace,Overlay,Transparent")
Type <MODE> (Select Graph type: "Bar,Line,Dots,Pie")
Clear (Erase screen)
Quit (Exit PIX)
Color (#) (Select screen color. Colors are as follows:
0: Black 8: Dark Gray
1: Blue 9: Light Blue
2: Green 10: Light Green
3: Cyan 11: Light Cyan
4: Red 12: Light Red
5: Magenta 13: Light Magenta
6: Brown 14: Yellow
7: Light Grey 15: White )
File Commands
Load or Save followed by: ("Screen A:PIC\SAMPLE.PIC")
Load Screen <FilePath>
Save Screen <FilePath>
Load Drawing <FilePath>
Save Drawing <FilePath>
Load Pattern <FilePath>
Load Font <FilePath>
Load Object <FilePath>
Save Object <FilePath>
Load Macro <FilePath>
Save Macro <FilePath>
Load GraphPnts <FilePath>
Page 48 PC-Draft II
Program Control Statements
Procedure <name>
.
. ( Pix commands )
.
Endp ( end proc. )
Procedures must be declared before they are called (at the
beginning of your PIX script). You are limited to a total of
50 named procedures. The number of command lines within each
procedure is limited by memory. Procedures may contain any
PIX commands including Repeat statements. You must end the
procedure declaration with the Endp statement.
Repeat (#) ( loop # times )
.
. ( Pix commands )
.
Endr ( end repeat )
The Repeat statement causes a series of commands to repeat a
given number of times. There is a limit of 50 command lines
within a repeat loop. You must end the repeat loop with the
Endr statement.
Other Commands
End ( terminate a series of cursor moves )
Wait (#) ( # = 1/4 second pause )
Cursor ( toggle visible cursor off/on )
% ( end Record Macro )
; ( comment )
To see how the various PIX commands can be used look at the
example .SCR files provided on the distribution disk.
PC-Draft commands not supported
If you thought something was missing, you're right. Some PC-
Draft commands didn't seem to make much sense to include
within the PIX language. These are:
Grid Snap Print
Xfer Font Zoom Just Paint
spraY can Quick View
Edit Font Edit Pattern Edit Graph points
Save Font Save Pattern Save Graph points
PIX Language Page 49
Summary of PIX commands
Cursor Movement:
right left up down
uright uleft dright dleft gotoxy (x,y)
Screen moves:
>up >down >left >right
Move (#) [1..28]
Functions:
Pattern (#) [0..9] ( pattern number )
Mode {Replace|Overlay|Transparent}
Type {Bar|Line|Dots|Pie}
Clear
Color (#) 0: Black 8: Dark Gray
1: Blue 9: Light Blue
2: Green 10: Light Green
3: Cyan 11: Light Cyan
4: Red 12: Light Red
5: Magenta 13: Light Magenta
6: Brown 14: Yellow
7: Light Grey 15: White
Drawing:
Arc (x1,y1,x2,y2)(x1,y1,x2,y2)
Box (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Circle (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Curve (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Erase (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Free-Draw {gotoxy(x,y)..gotoxy(x,y)..end}
Line (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Multi-line {gotoxy(x,y)..gotoxy(x,y)..end}
Rectangle (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Graph (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Window (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Paint
Home
Kursor
Undo
Write <string>
Text <string>
Tog (chart scale)
Page 50 PC-Draft II
Object Manipulation:
Object (x1,y1,x2,y2)
Drop
Reverse
Expand
Enlarge
Contract
Small
File: (Load or Save followed by: "Screen A:PIC\SAMPLE.PIC")
Load Screen <FilePath>
Save Screen <FilePath>
Load Drawing <FilePath>
Save Drawing <FilePath>
Load Pattern <FilePath>
Load Font <FilePath>
Load Object <FilePath>
Save Object <FilePath>
Load Macro <FilePath>
Save Macro <FilePath>
Load Points <FilePath> ( graph points )
Other:
Wait (#) ( # = 1/4 second pause )
% ( end Record Macro )
; comment
Program Control:
Procedure <name>
.
.
End
Repeat (#) ( loop # times )
.
.
End
Quit ( end PIX )
Variables: 26 integer vars: [A..Z] can be used for any parm.
Let X = # ( assign value )
Inc X ( increment )
Dec X ( decrement )
PIX Language Page 51
Summary of Drawing Commands
A - Arc N - sNap on/off Object Manipulation
B - Box O - Object grab E - Enlarge Object
C - Circle P - Paint C - Contract Object
D - Drop Object Q - Quick View L - Large Object
E - Erase mode R - Rectangle O - rOtate Object
F - Free Draw S - Suspend S - Small Object
G - Graph T - Text mode Alt-E - Ellipse
H - Home U - Undo Alt-P - Control
Panel on/off
I - grId on/off V - curVe
J - Just Paint W - Window on/off - (minus) - decre-
ment cursor inc-
K - Kursor change X - Xfer font rement value
L - Line Y - spraY can + (plus) -
increment cursor
M - Multi-line Z - Zoom increment value
F1 - F Key menu . (period) - Direct
F2 - Drawing menuon/offMove
F4 - PatternsF3 - File menu
Shift F1-F10 - Set
F6 - Font EditorF5 - Drawing modeMarker
menu
F8 - Print
F7 - Graphs menu Alt F1-F10 - Move
F10 - Exit to Marker
F9 - Erase Screen
Ctrl-F1 - change
colorAlt-F9 - Erase Draw-
ing
Page 52 PC-Draft II
Index
Arc 18, 47 Quick view 23
Rectangle 17
Bar Graph 32 sNap 23
Box 17, 46 SpraY Can 22
Printing 38 Text 18
Transfer to Font 20
CAPTURE.COM 39 Window 23
Circle 17, 46 Write (Graphic Font)
Clearing the Screen 12 19
Color 23, 48 Zoom 21
Compressed Files 13 Drawing mode 23, 34
CONFIG.SYS 5 Drop 47
Contract 47 Drop Object 20
Contract Object 20 DWG file 13
Control Panel 10
Cursor Ellipse 17
Command 22 Ending PC-Draft 15
Increment 8 Enlarge 47
Mouse 9, 22 Enlarge Object 20
PIX Command 49 Epson 36
PIX Commands 44 Erase 46
suspend 19, 29 Erasing 12
Type 9 Exit 15
Curve 17, 46 Ending Macros 29
PIX 42
Direct Move 11 Expand 47
Directory 14
Installation 4 Features 1
Drawing File Names 6
Printing 38 Files 6
Drawing Area 10 .FON 26
Drawing Commands .MAC 29
Arc 18 .OBJ 25
Box 17 .PAT 24
Circle 17 .PIC & .DWG 13
Color 23 .PTS 32
Curve 17 .SCR. 41
Drop Object 20 Compressed 13
Ellipse 17 CONFIG.SYS 5
Free Draw 17 DRAFT2.CFG 5
Graph 33 GEM format 38
grId 22 Import ASCII 19
Just paint 21 Importing ASCII 30
Kursor 22 Installation 4
Line 16 Naming conventions
Multi-Line 16 6
Object 19 printing to 38
Paint 17 FON file 27
Index Page 53
Fonts 26 Paint 17, 47
Write command 19 PAT file 24
Free Draw 17 Pattern 24, 48
PIC file 13
GEM 38 Capture 39
Gotoxy 45 Pie Graph 32
Graph 46 PIX graphics language 41
Points 32 Printers 6
Type 32 C.Itoh 37
Graphic Macros 29 DeskJet 37
Graphs 32 Epson 36
GrId 22 GEM .IMG files 38
IBM dot matrix 36
Hercules 3 IDS Microprism 37
Home 11, 47 LaserJet 37
HP LaserJet+ 37 Okidata 36
resolution modes 35
Import text 30 Printing 35
Installation 4 Procedure 49
PTS file 32
Just paint 21
Quick view 23
Kursor 9, 22, 47
Rectangle 17, 46
Large Object 20 Relative Cursor Increment
Laser printer 35 30
Line 16, 46 Repeat 49
Line Graph 32 Replace Drawing Mode 34
Reverse 47
MAC file 29 Reverse Object 20
Structure 30 Rotate Object 20
Macros 29
Markers 11 SCR file 41
Menus 9 Screen
MicroSoft 5 Capture 39
Mode 34, 48 Printing 38
Mouse Search directory 14
buttons 5 Small 47
cursor 9, 22 Small Object 20
driver 5 SNap 23
Move SpraY Can 22
direct 11 Suspend
screen 11 Cursor 29
to marker 11 Text 18, 47
Multi-Line 16, 46 Tog 47
Trace (PIX) 42
OBJ file 25 Transfer to Font 20
Object 19, 25, 46 Transparent Drawing Mode
Object Manipulation 20 34
Overlay Drawing Mode 34
Page 54 PC-Draft II
Undo 13, 47
Window 23, 46
Write 47
Write (Graphic Font) 19
Xfer 20
Zoom 21
Index Page 55