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FLODRAW 2.2 User Manual (Condensed Version) Copyright (c) 1990 by George Freund Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 - Introduction to FLODRAW ......... 2 CHAPTER 2 - Getting Started ................. 4 CHAPTER 3 - Entry Menu ...................... 11 CHAPTER 4 - The Edit Screen ................. 17 CHAPTER 5 - Draw Mode Editing ............... 25 CHAPTER 6 - Using FLODRAW ................... 29 CHAPTER 7 - Symbol Libraries ................ 34 CHAPTER 8 - PCX File Conversion ............. 38 - 2 - CHAPTER 1 - Introduction to FLODRAW Introducing FLODRAW FLODRAW is a diagramming program specifically designed to help you create high level systems flowcharts. Although originally designed for computer systems diagrams, FLODRAW was designed for free format diagrams to allow as much flexibility as possible. This flexibility allows you to use FLODRAW for other types of diagrams like electrical schematics and organization charts. FLODRAW is easy to use. FLODRAW uses a grid of tab marks that are visible on the horizontal and vertical ruler lines to place your symbols on the diagram. The symbols are designed to merge at the tab marks so your diagram is always aligned correctly. Cursor key commands let you jump easily from tab to tab so you can build your diagram quickly. FLODRAW documents can be saved, printed, and edited again. All FLODRAW document files are compressed to use minimum space on your disk. FLODRAW supports the following three formats for printing documents. Portrait 8.5 x 11 inches Landscape 11 x 8.5 inches (printed sideways on 8.5 x 11) Large landscape 16 x 11 inches (printed on two 8.5 x 11) The large landscape format can also be used to print 14.5 x 11 inch diagrams on wide carriage printers. Portrait and landscape are terms that refer to how a rectangular page is oriented. Portraits are upright. Landscapes are sideways. Hardware and Software Requirements FLODRAW requires: An IBM Personal Computer, PC-XT, PC-AT, PS/2 or close compatible. Some "compatible" PC's that are not 100% compatible with IBM may exhibit some minor irregularities such as a wandering cursor point in draw mode. 512k of memory. A color graphics adapter with either a color or black and white monitor. FLODRAW does not support the EGA or VGA, although FLODRAW will work with these monitors in CGA mode. FLODRAW does not support Hercules Graphics boards, but FLODRAW will work with a Hercules board using a CGA emulation program like HGCIBM, a shareware program from Athena Digital. Any version of IBM PC-DOS from 2.0 through 3.3 or a compatible DOS. - 3 - FLODRAW has printer drivers to support the following printers: EPSON MX, FX, and LQ IBM ProPrinter HP LaserJet and DeskJet printers Toshiba P321, P341, and P351 Gemini Star 10-X Printers that are compatible with one of these printers or printers that can emulate one of these printers will also work using the appropriate FLODRAW printer driver. FLODRAW Distribution Disks The shareware version of FLODRAW 2.2 is distributed with two 360k disks or one 720k disk. The two 360k disks have the following names. Program Disk - This disk has all the files you need to run the tutorial, view the sample diagrams, and create your own flowchart diagrams. Library Disk - This disk has additional libraries, the FLODRAW utilities, and the sample template files. In this manual, we will refer to the distribution disks as the Program Disk and the Library Disk. - 4 - CHAPTER 2 - Getting Started Installation The program INSTALL.EXE is on the FLODRAW Library Disk. INSTALL guides the installation or upgrade of FLODRAW 2.2. It is a series of menus and prompts that will copy the FLODRAW files from the distribution disks to your system. The following procedure tells you how to start the INSTALL process. 1. If you are upgrading your FLODRAW system, or you are installing FLODRAW on a hard disk system, you are ready to start the installation at step 3. 2. If you are installing on a floppy system, you will need two blank formatted disks, one for your program disk and one for your library disk. If you have not reviewed the sample diagrams, you will need another disk for the sample diagrams. If your floppy drive is a 720k drive, you will have enough room to combine your program disk and library disk on one floppy disk. 3. Boot your system, then put the FLODRAW Library Disk in drive A. 4. Type A:INSTALL at the DOS prompt. 5. Now, follow the prompts from the install program. 6. At the completion of the install program, all FLODRAW files have been copied to your system. Special Installation for Single Floppy Systems The INSTALL program was designed to install FLODRAW on a hard disk system or a floppy system with at least two floppy disks. If you have a floppy system with only one floppy disk, use the following procedure to install FLODRAW on your system. This requires a lot of disk swapping, so it's important to pay attention to the prompts from DOS while the copy function is in process. If your floppy drive is a 3.5 inch (720k) drive, you will have enough room to combine your program disk and library disk on one floppy disk. Here is the procedure for installing FLODRAW on a single floppy system. 1. Put the FLODRAW Program Disk in drive A. Copy the files on the Program Disk to your own program disk using the command COPY A:FLODRAW.* B: 2. Put the FLODRAW Library Disk in drive A. Copy the template files on the Library Disk to your own program disk using the command COPY A:FLODRAW.T#? B: - 5 - 3. Put the FLODRAW Library Disk in drive A. Copy the FLODRAW libraries to your own library disk using the command COPY A:*.LIB B: 4. Put the FLODRAW Library Disk in drive A. Copy the FLODRAW utilities to your own library disk using the command COPY A:*.EXE B: 5. This completes the installation on a single FLOPPY system. To run FLODRAW, put your own program disk in drive A and type FLODRAW. After the program has loaded and read the FLODRAW system files, the entry menu will appear. You can then remove the program disk from drive A and insert a data disk for your diagrams. Two Extra Steps for Hard Disk Users If you have installed FLODRAW on a hard disk, there are two extra steps to complete the installation process. These two steps will allow you to use FLODRAW on any drive or directory on your system. These steps require that you edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT file with a word processor or text editor. Step 1: A Default FLODRAW Directory The default directory is the directory FLODRAW looks for when it can't find the system files or libraries in the current directory. To establish a FLODRAW default directory, add a SET command to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to put the FLODRAW default directory in the system environment. The SET command must have the following format. SET FLOPT=directory path For example, say you installed the FLODRAW system files and libraries in a directory called FLO on your hard disk C. Let's say the directory FLO is an entry in your root directory, so its path looks like C:\FLO. To establish the directory FLO as the default directory for FLODRAW, you would add the following command to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. SET FLOPT=C:\FLO The next time you boot your computer, the SET FLOPT command in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file will put the default directory in your system environment. If FLODRAW can't find the option file or library file in the current directory, it will look for those files in the default directory C:\FLO. Step 2: Add FLODRAW to your PATH This step makes the FLODRAW program available to DOS from any directory in your system. Your AUTOEXEC.BAT file may already contain a PATH command. If it does, add the directory containing FLODRAW.EXE to the path. - 6 - For example, say you have installed FLODRAW.EXE in the directory C:\FLO. Your AUTOEXEC.BAT file might have a PATH command that looks like this: PATH=C:\BIN;D:\UTL;C:\WORD Now, add the directory that contains FLODRAW.EXE to your AUTOEXEC.BAT PATH command so the new PATH command looks like this: PATH=C:\BIN;D:\UTL;C:\WORD;C:\FLO The next time you boot your computer and run FLODRAW, if your DOS system can't find FLODRAW in the current directory, it will look for it in C:\FLO. DEMO - a FLODRAW tutorial The DEMO tutorial on the FLODRAW Program Disk is one of the optional files in the installation procedure. If you did not install the tutorial on your system, you can use the original FLODRAW Program Disk to run the tutorial. The DEMO tutorial was designed to introduce you to the important features of FLODRAW in 20 minutes. Follow these instructions to take the DEMO tutorial. If you've installed FLODRAW on a hard disk, change the current directory to the directory that contains the tutorial file. If you have a floppy system, put your program disk in drive A. If you are using the original FLODRAW Program Disk, put the original Program Disk in drive A. Type FLODRAW DEMO. Your computer will load FLODRAW into memory. FLODRAW will read the system files, and then read the DEMO file. Now, just follow the instructions that appear on the screen. Examples of FLODRAW Diagrams The Program Disk contains a number of files you can read and edit with FLODRAW. The files with filenames beginning with SAMPLE are examples of diagrams created with FLODRAW. The sample diagrams are also optional files in the installation procedure. If you did not install the sample diagrams on your system, you can use the original FLODRAW Program Disk to look at the sample diagrams. Loading Diagrams on Your Hard Disk System If you have installed FLODRAW on a hard disk system, change your directory to the directory that contains the sample files. Then use the following command to load a SAMPLE diagram file. Type FLODRAW filename to load the file into FLODRAW. For example, to read the first sample diagram, type FLODRAW SAMPLE.01 Another way to load a file is to use the "Load new file" function on the entry menu as described below. - 7 - Loading Diagrams on Your Floppy System If you have a floppy disk system put the program disk in drive A. Type FLODRAW to load the FLODRAW program. When the entry menu appears, remove the program disk from drive A and insert the data disk with the sample diagrams. At the entry menu press F1 for the "Load new file" function. When prompted for a file name, move the directory bounce bar to SAMPLE.01 and press Enter. Looking at the Sample Diagrams FLODRAW will read the sample diagram file into memory and then display the file on the edit screen. While you're in the edit screen, you can press Alt-N to load the next diagram in the sample diagram series. This works since the diagrams are a multiple page diagram. You can switch back and forth between multiple page diagrams using the commands Alt-N and Alt-P. Examples of FLODRAW Libraries All the files ending in LIB are library files. The library files contain the symbols you use while editing your diagrams. The Program Disk contains the default flowchart library. The Library Disk contains all the libraries included with the FLODRAW system. Loading a New Library with a Hard Disk System If you're a hard disk user, use this procedure to load a new library. Change the directory to the directory that contains your sample files or diagram. Type FLODRAW filename to load FLODRAW. You can use one of the sample files or start a new diagram. After your diagram has been loaded, press ESC to return to the entry screen. Press F9 on the entry screen to get the "Load New Library" menu. FLODRAW lists the libraries in the current directory in the directory display on the right side of your screen. If there are no libraries in the current directory, FLODRAW will look in the default directory. Move the bounce bar to the library you want to load and press Enter. FLODRAW will load the new library and return you to the entry screen. Now press ESC to return to your diagram. Press F10 to try out the new symbols. Loading a New Library with a Floppy Disk System If you're a floppy disk user, use this procedure to try a new library. - 8 - Put your program disk in drive A. Type FLODRAW to load FLODRAW. Press F9 on the entry screen to get the "Load New Library" menu. FLODRAW will list the libraries in the current directory in the directory display on the right side of your screen. Move the bounce bar to the library you want to load and press Enter. FLODRAW will load the new library and return you to the entry menu. Put your data disk in drive A. At the entry menu press F1 for the "Load new file" function. When prompted for a file name, enter the name of a new diagram or move the directory bounce bar to the name of an existing diagram you want to edit, and press Enter. FLODRAW will load your diagram and take you to the edit screen. Now, press F10 to try out the new symbols on your diagram. HELP Screens While you're still getting familiar with FLODRAW, you can call up a HELP screen for help with most functions in the program. A help screen of program keys is available from the TEXT or DRAW mode edit screens. Press Alt-H to call the HELP screen. You can also transfer from the help screen to the help menu by pressing H from the help screen. When you're finished with the help screen, press any key to return to the program. Starting the FLODRAW Program Let's assume that you have booted your computer and that you have installed FLODRAW on your system. If you have a floppy disk system, put the program disk in drive A. If you have a hard disk system, change the default directory to the directory that has your diagram or to the directory you want to contain your new diagram. At the DOS prompt enter the command, FLODRAW After your system has loaded FLODRAW into memory, FLODRAW will load the FLODRAW system files into memory. FLODRAW will look for the FLODRAW system files in the current directory. If you have a hard disk and have done the two extra steps for hard disk users, FLODRAW will look in the default directory for the FLODRAW system files. The system files are: FLODRAW.CHR - A file containing the one character symbols represented by the keys Ctrl-A through Ctrl-Z. - 9 - FLODRAW.LIB - A library file of symbols that you can put in your diagram by using the symbol menu function on the TEXT edit screen. FLODRAW.OPT - A file containing the configuration of options like printer driver, screen colors, etc. After the FLODRAW program and system files have been read into memory, they are no longer needed on your disk. When the entry menu appears, you can use the "Load new file" function to load your diagram. If you want to load an existing file, use the cursor keys to move the directory bounce bar to your file and press Enter. If you want to start a new diagram, just enter the name of your new diagram at the cursor location and press Enter. You can bypass the entry menu if you enter the diagram name following FLODRAW on the DOS command line. Prefix the drive letter if your diagram is not on the default drive. For example, let's say you want to create a diagram called MY_CHART.01. And you want to keep the diagram on the data disk in drive B. You would enter the following command. FLODRAW B:MY_CHART.01 Since this is a new diagram, FLODRAW will prompt you for the page format before taking you to the edit screen. Press F1 for a standard 8.5 x 11 inch page. Now you're ready to draw a diagram. Customizing FLODRAW.OPT FLODRAW.OPT is the FLODRAW system file that contains your option selections. When FLODRAW starts, this is one of the files that FLODRAW reads from the current directory. FLODRAW uses this file to decide which options you want to use. Before you begin using FLODRAW to create diagrams, use the setup option screen to customize the setup option file for your own use. To do this, start FLODRAW (just enter the command FLODRAW). When the entry menu appears, press F8 to select the setup option screen. Right now, let's just set these options: printer model - press F2 on the setup option screen. font - press F6 on the setup option screen. color - press F8 and F9 on the setup option screen. When you're more familiar with the program, you may want to try changing some of the other options. After you've selected your printer model, font, and color, press F10 to save the option file. Now FLODRAW will be able to load your saved options every time you use the program. - 10 - FLODRAW File Naming Conventions FLODRAW uses the following naming conventions for its files. System files - All FLODRAW system files have the base name of FLODRAW. Diagrams - For single page diagrams, you can use any valid DOS filename and extension. Multiple page diagrams must have an extension of a two character page number 01, 02, ... up to 99. Library files - FLODRAW requires library files to have a file extension of LIB. Symbol files - The utility program FLOLIB.EXE requires that symbol files have an extension of SYM. - 11 - CHAPTER 3 - Entry Menu The Entry Menu Screen The entry menu is the first screen you see after the FLODRAW title screen. The screen is divided into four sections described below. The Menu The menu is divided into file and system functions. File functions are performed on the file that you are currently editing. System functions pertain to general system services like flagging files for printing. The Current File This section tells the current drive, path, file loaded, and alternate file loaded if there is one. When you are working with a portrait format diagram, you can load a second or alternate portrait diagram and switch back and forth between them on this screen or on the edit screen using Alt-F1. The Error Line The program reports errors on the line below the current file box. Directory Display The right side of the entry menu displays the files in the current directory in alphabetic sequence. You can browse the list of files using the PgUp and PgDn keys. Subdirectories, executable files, and some FLODRAW system files are not displayed in this directory. Selecting Entry Menu Functions The entry menu contains many functions that are not available on the TEXT or DRAW edit screen. These functions are described below. Load New File [F1] Use this function to load a new diagram. The "Load new file" function will prompt you for the filename to load. If the file is in the directory, you can select it by moving the highlighted bounce bar on the directory display to your file and pressing Enter. If the file is a new file, type the name at the cursor location and press Enter. If you are creating a file that doesn't exist on the directory, then enter the name of the file at the cursor location. When you enter the filename , you can also enter the drive id if the file is not on the default drive (for example, B:). If the file does not exist, the program will prompt you for the page format before taking you to the edit screen. Three page formats are available: Portrait - This format is 8.5 x 11 inches. - 12 - Landscape - This format is also 8.5 x 11 inches, but printed sideways. Large landscape - This format is the same size as two portrait format diagrams side by side, 16.5 x 11 inches. If you have a wide carriage dot matrix printer, you can use the large landscape format to print one page diagrams that are 14.5 x 11 inches. See Chapter 6 for more information. Care in Using the Landscape Format The landscape format can have print clarity problems because the line spacing has been reduced in an attempt to retain the same aspect ratio for graphic symbols as in the portrait format. You can prevent print clarity problems on dot matrix printers in landscape format if you follow this rule: Avoid using the font menu in FONT DRAW mode when you have a diagram in landscape format. The large landscape format does not have this problem since it is printed as a double portrait. Preview Diagram [F2] Use this function to see a bird's eye view of the entire diagram. A window frame inside the preview screen shows you which part of the diagram appears on the edit screen. You can use the cursor keys to move the window frame around the diagram. Exit the preview screen by pressing ESC. Save File with Same Name [F3] Use this function to save the current diagram with it's original name. Save File with New Name [F4] Use this function when you want to create another version of the file you are editing. The program will prompt you for the new filename. This function does not change the name of the file you are editing. Print Current File [F6] Use this function to print the current diagram. This function will present a print menu with the following options. Change printer [F5] Change printer model by pressing F5. Start printing [F6] After you check that the printer is on and the paper is lined up correctly, press F6 to start printing. Pause printing [ESC] At anytime during printing, you can press ESC to have FLODRAW pause the print function. FLODRAW will stop sending data to the printer and ask you if you want to stop printing. If you answer Y, FLODRAW will send a form feed to the printer and exit the print function. - 13 - Print Flagged Files in Directory [F7] Use this function to flag the diagrams in the directory for printing, or to print all files in the current directory that have been flagged. This function is useful when you have several diagrams to edit and print. This function will present a print menu with the following options. Toggle print flag on directory [F1] Pressing F1 will set up a bounce bar on the directory display. Use the cursor keys to position the bounce bar on the file you want to flag, and press Enter to toggle the print flag on or off. When you have flagged all the files you want to print, press ESC to return to the print menu. The flag appears on the directory as the letter P after the filename. Change printer [F5] Change printer model by pressing F5. Start printing [F6] Pressing F6 starts the search for files to print. If you are editing a file, it will be erased during the print flagged files process. Pause printing [ESC] At anytime during printing, you can press ESC to have FLODRAW pause the print function. Setup Options [F8] Use this menu to change the default options for the program. When you set the options in this menu, they are used by the program until you reset them or leave the program. If you save the options with F10, the saved options will be loaded as the default options the next time you load the program. The following options are available in the Setup Options menu. Set Tabs on Ruler Lines [A] This option allows you to change the position of the horizontal and vertical tabs on the editing ruler lines. Pressing F1 to change the position of the horizontal tabs presents you with an edit screen. You can use all the cursor commands to move the cursor to a tab location. Press F1 to put a tab at that horizontal location. Press F2 to clear the tab. Vertical tabs work the same way. Press ESC to exit. Don't forget to save your new tab configuration with F10. Select Lines with/without Arrowheads [B] This option determines whether arrowheads are placed at the end of lines when using the line menu in TEXT mode. Select arrowheads with F1, no arrowheads with F2. This option can be overridden when you are using the line menu in text mode. - 14 - Select Arrowhead [C] This option selects the size and shape of arrowheads drawn on your diagrams. The current arrowhead selection is shown at the top of the menu. Press the function key next to the arrowhead you want to use. Select Default Font [D] This option selects which of the six standard size fonts you normally want to use when entering text. The current font selection is shown at the top of the menu. Press the function key by the font you want to use to change the selection. Although the fonts F4 and F6 look the same, F6 is slightly narrower. When you're using the small landscape format diagram, FLODRAW will override your default font and automatically select the F6 font. Your default font will return when you load another diagram. Select Printer [E] This option selects the default printer driver. The current printer driver is shown at the top of the menu. Press the letter key by the printer you want to use to change the selection. Select Auto or Manual Printing [F] This option selects manual or automatic update of the print flag on the directory display. If you select automatic, the print flag will be turned on whenever you save your diagram. You can edit any number of files in one session, saving the files when you finish editing them. When you've finished editing all the files, you can then use the "Print flagged files" function on the entry menu to print all the files at one time. Define Paths for Changing Directory [G] You can define paths of directories where you keep your FLODRAW diagrams and assign them to function keys. Then you can change directories by just pressing a function key when you use the "Change directories" function on the entry menu. Select Colors for Entry Menu Screen [H] You can select the colors used in the Entry Menu screen. Select black and white by pressing M or the default color selection by pressing C. To change colors on the screen, press the function key next to the description of the area you want to change. The color bar at the bottom of the menu shows the colors you will toggle through as you continue to press the function key. Select Colors for Edit Screen [I] You can select the colors used in the Edit screen. Press the function key corresponding to the part of the screen you want to change. There are only 4 colors available on the edit screen. - 15 - Load File with/without Template [J] You can select whether you want FLODRAW to merge a template file into your diagram whenever you start a new diagram. If you select "with template", the template files must be in the current directory or the default directory. Select COPY/MOVE Start Location [K] You can select whether you want FLODRAW to prompt you for the upper left corner of a COPY or MOVE block. If you do not want FLODRAW to prompt you, FLODRAW assumes that the cursor is already at the upper left corner of the block when you start a COPY or MOVE function. Save Setup Options on FLODRAW.OPT [F10] Press F10 to save your option selections on the file FLODRAW.OPT. FLODRAW will look for this file in the current directory when you start FLODRAW and use your saved options to set the configuration. Load New Symbol Library [F9] Use this function to load another library of symbols. FLODRAW will look for libraries in the current directory. If there are no libraries in the current directory, it will look in the default directory. FLODRAW will prompt you for the symbol library name. Enter the name without the LIB extension. Change Drive/Directory [F10] This function has the following options. Change drive [F1] The program will prompt you for the drive-id letter. The directory display will show the files in the current directory. If you are editing a diagram, save the diagram before using this function. Change directory [F2] This option lets you change the current directory. Enter the directory path at the cursor. The current directory path will display at the bottom of the screen and the directory display will show the files in the directory. If you are editing a diagram, save the diagram before using this function. Define a new path [F3] You can save paths of often used directories. First select the function key you want to assign to the path. You can select any key from F5 to F9 as long as it hasn't already been assigned. Then enter the directory path. FLODRAW will display the files in the directory display until you exit this function. Press F10 to save this path definition in the option file. - 16 - Delete a defined path [F4] You can free up a function key for a defined path so you can assign it to another path. Just select the function key with the path definition you no longer need. Switch Files [Alt-F1] Use this function to switch to the alternate buffer when you have a portrait format diagram loaded. You must have at least one portrait format diagram loaded to use this function. If you load a portrait format file, and then press Alt-F1, you will switch to the alternate buffer. You can then load another portrait format diagram using the load new file option. Or, instead of loading a new file, you can transfer to the edit screen and use the alternate buffer as a scratch pad. Erase a Page File [E] This function is available to allow you to erase a page file from a multiple page diagram. This function physically erases the page that you select, and renumbers the extensions of any other files with the same filename so that the page numbers are sequential. Help Screen [H] Help is available on the entry menu by pressing H. Help screens are available within most functions by pressing Alt-H. Exit to DOS [X] This function will prompt you if you haven't saved your work. If you reply Y to the prompt, the program will exit to DOS, and you will lose any changes you made since the last time you saved this file. Return to Edit [ESC] Use this function to return to the edit screen. - 17 - CHAPTER 4 - The Edit Screen The editing screen provides a window to an area in your diagram. While you are in the window, you can draw dots, lines and circles, symbols, and write text. There are two modes of editing available, TEXT mode and DRAW mode. This chapter discusses TEXT mode. The TEXT mode edit screen lets you work with character areas. The character area is the area defined by the TEXT mode cursor. In addition to writing text, you can draw symbols from the symbol library, and you can draw lines with the cursor keys. The layout of the editing screen is the same for both TEXT and DRAW modes. Here is a description of the editing screen. Ruler Lines These are the measuring lines at the bottom and right hand side of the screen. They measure the text character rows and columns that are available on the diagram. Tabs are marked on these lines with the letter t. Menu Lines Two menu lines are at the bottom of the screen. The menu lines define which functions are available at any time. Error line The error line overlays the horizontal ruler line. The ruler line returns after the next key press. ESC Key The ESC key always takes you back to the previous menu. By pressing the ESC key, you can work your way back to the entry menu. TEXT Mode Editing Now, let's look at the features of the TEXT mode edit screen. The Cursor The TEXT mode cursor is a little box about the size of a character. The gaps in the little box show where lines are drawn when you use the cursor to draw lines in text mode. You can move the TEXT mode cursor all around the edit window using the horizontal and vertical cursor keys. Drawing with the Cursor You can draw lines in TEXT mode by holding down the Shift key and pressing one of the cursor keys. Lines generated this way and with the line drawing function run through the gaps in the center of the TEXT mode cursor. To erase small areas in TEXT mode, use the space bar. - 18 - Using the Tab Keys The Tab key is located above the Ctrl key on the left side of the keyboard. Pressing the Tab key moves the cursor to the next horizontal tab position on the right. Holding down the shift key and pressing the Tab key moves the cursor to the next horizontal tab position on the left. Pressing Alt-U moves the cursor to the next tab up and pressing Alt-D moves the cursor to the next tab down. If you tab to a location, FLODRAW remembers that tab location. You can move the cursor to draw lines or enter text, but when you tab again, FLODRAW starts your tab from the last tab location. Moving the Window around the Diagram You can use the PgUp or PgDn keys to move the window up or down the diagram. Or you can use the gray plus (+) key or gray minus (-) key on the right side of the keyboard to move the window right (+) or left (-). If your keyboard does not have the gray keys, you can also use Alt-R to move right and Alt-L to move left. Functions Available in TEXT Mode The TEXT mode menu displays the functions available in TEXT mode. Keypresses that are not listed on the menu lines can be found on the help screen. Press Alt-H for the help screen. Switching to DRAW Mode [F1] The F1 key will toggle you back and forth between TEXT mode and DRAW mode. You can tell which mode you are in by the shape of the cursor. Preview Diagram [F2] The F2 key will show a view of the entire diagram. This feature is the same as discussed with the entry menu. Save Function [F3] In TEXT mode this function has two options: one option saves a symbol and one option saves a file. Save Symbol [F1] Use this option to create your own symbols. This option is described in detail in Chapter 7. Save File [F3] Use this option to save the current diagram. To save your diagram while working, just press F3 twice from the edit screen menu. - 19 - Font Menu [F4] The font menu displays a menu of font sizes. You can select from small, normal, and large size fonts by pressing the function key shown on the menu. After you select a font size, you will see the font menu for the selected font size. The font menu displays the active font and, for the normal and small fonts, the available fonts. If you have selected the normal font size, FLODRAW will use your selected font when you return to the edit screen. When you select either the small or large font, the mode changes to DRAW so you can adjust the cursor position for the change in font size. After you have adjusted the cursor position, press F1 to change the mode to CHAR mode before typing text. The small and large fonts can only be used while you are in the font menu function. The smallest font has capital letters only but includes all other characters. The large fonts have capital letters only. Font Mode [F1] There are three modes available on the font menu. Pressing F1 changes the mode. When you are in DRAW or CHAR mode, you must keep the cursor more than one character from the edge of the page. Font TEXT - This is the same as TEXT mode on the edit screen. The program determines how the characters are aligned on the screen. Font DRAW - This mode allows you to move the cursor one pixel at a time. You can determine how the characters will be aligned. Font CHAR - This mode leaves the cursor aligned as you set it in DRAW mode, but now the cursor keys move the cursor one character at a time. Auto Function [F5] Each of the auto functions inserts specific data into your diagram. FLODRAW knows that this data requires special maintenance, and so it maintains it for you. For example, if you select the date function, FLODRAW puts the current date on your diagram prefixed by an identifying flag. Whenever you save your diagram, FLODRAW will overlay the date with the new current date. The time function works the same way. The page function is useful when you have multiple page diagrams. When you insert the page number function in your diagram, FLODRAW will take the page number in the file extension and load it as the page number of your diagram. For example, if you have a diagram file called MY_CHART.01, FLODRAW will load the number 01 as the page number in your diagram. The pages-of function works in a similar way and lets you specify how many pages are in your diagram, like "page 01 of 02". If in our example, we had a second file called MY_CHART.02, FLODRAW would load the number 02 as the pages-of number. If you change the file extension, or add or remove pages from a multiple page diagram, the page numbers will change automatically. All you have to do is reprint the pages. - 20 - The filename function insures that you will always have the name of your file shown on your diagram, even if you rename your file. Line Function [F6] This function draws a line between two symbols. This function works by looking for starting and ending points along the direction of the line. The lines can be drawn in eight directions as shown by the arrows on the "Line" function menu. If the "Arrowhead" option is on, the arrowhead will be drawn at one end of the line in the direction shown on the menu. If the "Line" option is on, the line will be solid instead of dashed. Block Functions [F7] Block functions operate on a block of the diagram which you define by marking the upper left corner and the lower right corner. The function will prompt you to move the cursor key and press the function key in order to define the boundary of the block you want to operate on. The following options are available. Mirror [F1] This option reverses the image of the block. Rotate [F2] This option rotates the image 90 degrees. Due to the aspect ratio of the screen, the image shape is distorted when you use this feature. Move [F3] This option moves a block from one location to another. If you have to rearrange large areas in your diagram, there are two ways you can do this depending on the format of your diagram. Let's say you want to interchange two areas marked A and B on the diagram. Area A is the top half and area B is the bottom half. If you are editing a portrait format diagram, you can use the alternate buffer area if you have to rearrange large areas of the diagram. Use the "Move" function to move area A to the alternate buffer. Then return to the diagram and move area B to the top of the diagram. Finally, go back to the alternate buffer and move area A to its new location in the diagram. If you are editing a landscape diagram, the alternate buffer area is not available. Instead, we can save each area in the diagram as a symbol, erase the diagram, then merge the symbols we saved back into the diagram in their new locations. Copy [F4] This option copies a block from one location in the diagram to another. This function can also copy a block between two portrait format diagrams as described in the "Move" function. - 21 - Delete [F5] This option deletes a block in the diagram. Small [F6] This option reduces the image of the block to 1/4 size. Big [F7] This option expands the image of the block to 4 times size. Merge File Function [F8] This function merges a symbol or other file into your diagram. The "Merge" function will read a file from the disk and merge it into your diagram. There are two options to determine how the merged file will be positioned on your diagram. Upper Left Corner [F3] Use this option to position the upper left corner of the merged file at the cursor location. Center [F7] Use this option to position the center of merged file at the cursor location. Remember that the center of the symbol is defined when you create the symbol using the "Save symbol" option. UNDO [F9] When you see the F9UNDO function on the menu line, it means you can undo the last function you performed. The UNDO function is removed from the menu line if you write text or draw lines on the diagram. Symbol Menu [F10] This function displays up to eight symbols from the symbol library that is currently loaded. The options for this function are as follows. Symbols [F1 through F8] Each function key represents the symbol shown beneath it on the menu line. If you press one of the function keys, the symbol will be centered at the location of the cursor on the screen. The program will locate the cursor according to the first cursor location defined for that symbol. The symbols in the symbol menu are normally shown reduced to 1/16 their original size. However, FLODRAW displays a size factor to the right of the function key so you can tell what the size of the actual symbol will be. The size factors have the following meaning. - 22 - 1X - Full size 2X - 1/4 size 4X - 1/16 size (normal reduction) UNDO [F9] After you draw the symbol, you can "undraw" the symbol if you change your mind. You might want to use a different symbol or change the location. More symbols [F10] Pressing F10 displays the next eight symbols in the symbol library. After you get to the end of the library, you will start again with the first eight symbols in the library. Additional symbol menu keys are described below. Ctrl-F10 - Backward menu browse Ctrl-Home - Go to beginning of symbol menu Ctrl-End - Go to end of symbol menu Exit the Symbol Menu [ESC] Pressing ESC takes you back to the TEXT mode edit screen. While you're in the symbol library, you can use any of the tab keys and cursor keys. You can also enter text. If you need to generate lines between symbols, you can call up the line menu from within the symbol menu by pressing Alt-F6. You can also generate lines without using the line menu. The keys Ctrl-F1 through Ctrl-F8 represent the keys F1 through F8 on the line menu. These keys are also available from the TEXT edit screen. Switch Files [Alt-F1] This key is available only when you have a portrait format diagram loaded. With portrait format diagrams you can load two diagrams and use this key to switch between them. You can switch to the alternate diagram even if you don't have one loaded. This allows you to use the alternate diagram area as a scratch pad. You can design symbols on the scratch pad, and then copy them onto your diagram. You can also exit to the entry menu of the alternate diagram and save your scratch pad using the "Save with new name" function. Multiple Page Diagram Key Commands FLODRAW has special keys to support multiple page diagrams. These keys are available on the TEXT edit screen. They will only work with files that have sequentially numbered file extensions, like 01, 02, etc. - 23 - Load Next Page [Alt-N] This key will load the file with the next sequential page number in a multiple page diagram. Load Previous Page [Alt-P] This key will load the file with the next lower page number in a multiple page diagram. Insert Next Page [Alt-I] This key will insert a new page with the same file name and give it a file extension that is one higher than the current extension. If there are already higher file extensions for this file name, FLODRAW will bump them up by one. Before doing the insert, FLODRAW will show you a diagram explaining which file will be inserted, and which files will be renamed, if any. Inserted pages will always be in portrait format. HELP Screen of Cursor and Tab Keys [Alt-H] The HELP screen for the TEXT edit screen shows the special keys you can use for editing in TEXT mode. Special Text Key Functions Alt-E erases the entire diagram. FLODRAW will prompt you before erasing to make sure that you really want to erase your diagram. Alt-J (try remembering J for join) tells FLODRAW to superimpose the next symbol, merge, or copy function instead of covering. Alt-J does nothing itself, but will provide a warning message that the next symbol will superimpose (If you're in the symbol menu, this warning message will be covered up by the menu line). This function is useful when you don't want the empty area of a symbol to blank information on your diagram. Using Special Characters The keys Ctrl-A through Ctrl-Z are used to put special characters on your diagram in Text mode. The special characters are defined in a file called FLODRAW.CHR that FLODRAW loads at start-up. FLODRAW will look for FLODRAW.CHR in the current directory. If FLODRAW can't find it in the current directory, it will look in the default directory if you have one. Note: FLODRAW will warn you if it can't find the special character file. Just press any key to bypass the warning. The special characters are available with the six normal size fonts and the three small fonts. Special characters included with FLODRAW are foreign alphabet characters and small shapes like boxes and circles. You can see a menu of special characters by pressing Alt-K (remember Karacters). - 24 - Defining Your Own Special Characters You can change the design of some or all the special characters if you like. Use FLODRAW to edit the file FLODRAW.CHR. This file contains a pattern that has all the special characters. You can edit each of the characters in the pattern. When you have finished editing the characters, save the file. The pattern in FLODRAW.CHR is outlined by a box. The box outline is not part of the pattern. The pattern consists of 9 rows of characters with 26 characters in each row. The 26 characters in each row are the characters that FLODRAW will insert on the screen when you press the keys Ctrl-A through Ctrl-Z. The key for each character is shown above the box outline. Each row corresponds to one of the six normal size fonts and the three small fonts. The fonts are described to the right of the box outline. Special characters are not available with the large fonts. - 25 - CHAPTER 5 - Draw Mode Editing The DRAW mode editing screen has the same layout as the TEXT mode editing screen, but there are some differences in the cursor and how it is used. These differences are described below. Cursor The DRAW mode cursor is a small arrow that points to the upper left. The tip of the cursor is a blinking dot. The blinking dot is the current cursor location. Cursor Movement You can move the cursor with the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal cursor keys. The diagonal cursor keys are the Home, PgUp, End, and PgDn keys. The cursor must stay within the current window. If you need to move the window to another location in your diagram, you must toggle to TEXT mode, move the window, then toggle back to DRAW mode. Drawing with the Cursor Drawing freehand with the cursor is the same as drawing lines in TEXT mode. While holding down the Shift key, press one of the cursor keys. To erase, toggle the F8 key from WRITE to ERASE. The cursor will change to an arrow with an E on its tail. The cursor will now work as an eraser. Functions Available in DRAW Mode The following functions are available in DRAW mode. Several are similar or the same as functions that are available in TEXT mode. Switching to TEXT Mode [F1] The F1 key will toggle you back and forth between TEXT mode and DRAW mode. You can tell which mode you are in by the shape of the cursor. Preview Diagram [F2] The F2 key will show a view of the entire diagram as discussed in the entry menu. Save Function [F3] Unlike TEXT mode, there is only one option in DRAW mode. Save file [F3] Use this option to save the current diagram the same as in TEXT mode. Just press F3 twice from the DRAW screen menu. - 26 - Arrowhead Function [F4] This function will draw an arrowhead in any one of eight directions. Press F4 to get the arrowhead menu. The arrowhead menu shows a function key for each of the eight arrowhead directions. Move the cursor to the location in the window where you want the point of the arrowhead to appear, and then press the function key for the arrowhead. Circle [F5] This function draws a circle or ellipse using points you mark inside the window. The actual circle or ellipse can extend outside the window. The function will prompt you to move the cursor to the center of the circle and press F5, or select the ellipse option with F6. Let's consider the circle first. The "Circle" function works like this. After you've selected the center of the circle, the program will mark that location with a flashing dot. The program will then prompt you to move the cursor to the edge of the circle and press F5. The edge can be in any direction. It doesn't have to be along the horizontal axis, although that's usually the most convenient. The program will draw the circle. You now have four options. You can draw another circle using the same center, just by moving the cursor to the edge of a new circle and pressing F5. You can UNDO your circle by pressing F9, and then redraw the circle by moving the cursor to the edge of the circle and pressing F5. You can press ESC once to start another circle somewhere else in the window. You can press ESC twice to return to the DRAW screen menu. If you select the "Ellipse" option, you will need to define the height and width of the ellipse in addition to the center. The function will prompt you to move the cursor to the center of the ellipse and press F6. After you've marked the center of the ellipse, the program will prompt you to move the cursor to the top of the ellipse and press F6. You are actually marking the height, so you don't have to worry about centering the cursor on the vertical axis. The program will remember the spot even though it doesn't mark it with a flashing dot. The program will prompt you to move the cursor to the side of the ellipse and press F6. After you press F6, the program draws the ellipse. - 27 - Line Function [F6] This function draws a line between two points in the window. The line will be a straight line or dashed line depending on how the F10 LINE/DASH option is set. The LINE or DASH option will appear when you select this function. The function will prompt you to move the cursor to the start of the line, and then press F6. The starting point will flash on the screen until the line is completed. The function will prompt you to move the cursor to the end of the line and press F6. The program will then draw a line between the two points. Now, you have several options. You can continue drawing a line using the last point as the first point of the next line. Just move the cursor to the end of the new line and press F6. The program will draw a line between the end of your last line and your new point. You can repeat this as often as needed. You can UNDO the line you just drew by pressing the F9 key. Your first point will still flash, so just move the cursor to a new end point and press F6. Press ESC once if you want to start a new line somewhere else. Press ESC twice to return to the DRAW screen menu. Block Functions [F7] Block functions in DRAW mode operate on an area in the window. You define the area by drawing a freehand boundary around it with the cursor. The function is used like this. First this function will prompt you to select an option of move, copy, or delete by pressing the F3, F4, or F5 key. The function will prompt you to draw around the area using the shift key and the cursor keys. You can draw around the area in any shape you like, but the line you draw must completely enclose the area. After drawing around the area, press the option function key. The function will prompt you to move the cursor to a point inside the area you enclosed. This reference point will determine how to locate the area. Press the function key after you have moved the cursor. If you are using the Delete option, this completes the deletion. Move the cursor to the target area and press the function key. The enclosed area will be moved or copied to the target area. The program will align the reference point in the enclosed area with the location of the cursor. Press ESC once to return to the block menu, twice to return to the DRAW screen menu. The following draw mode block functions are available. - 28 - Move [F3] - This option moves an area from one location in the window to another. Copy [F4] - This function copies an area from one location in the window to another. Delete [F5] - This function deletes an area in the window. UNDO [F9] When you see the F9UNDO function on the menu line, it means you can undo the last function you performed just like in TEXT mode. The UNDO function is removed if you draw a line with the Shift and cursor keys. HELP Screen of Cursor Keys [Alt-H] The HELP screen for DRAW edit mode describes the keys you can use for editing in DRAW mode. You may want to refer to this screen until you become more familiar with FLODRAW. - 29 - CHAPTER 6 - Using FLODRAW Using the Tab Key The Tab key is only available in TEXT edit mode. Using the Tab key is the easiest way to ensure that your symbols will be aligned correctly. The tab locations form an invisible grid on your diagram, and as long as symbols are entered on the tab locations, they will appear aligned and evenly separated. Here are some general rules about how FLODRAW uses the tabs. When FLODRAW inserts a symbol, it remembers where the cursor was when the symbol was inserted. We'll call the location that FLODRAW remembers the original cursor location. This allows you to insert a symbol in your diagram, enter text in the symbol, or draw lines between symbols. Then when you use a Tab key, the next tab location will line up with the last symbol that you inserted. Editing commands that move the window, like PgUp, Home, Alt-S, etc., reset the original cursor position. You can change the original cursor position by moving the cursor with the cursor keys to a new position and pressing Alt-W (neW position). This position does not have to be on a tab mark. The next time you press a Tab key, FLODRAW will tab starting from this new position. When you press the Tab key, FLODRAW moves the cursor to the original cursor position and then looks for the next available tab in the direction indicated by the your Tab key press. FLODRAW ignores the tabs on the vertical ruler line when you tab left and right. And likewise, it ignores tabs on the horizontal ruler line when you tab up and down. When FLODRAW loads your program, it will position the cursor at the first tab location in your diagram. If you want to start from the center of the line, use Alt-C (Center tab) to move the cursor to the tab location in the center of the line. If you need to align the cursor with a tab location, just move the cursor near the tab area and press Alt-G (Get nearest tab). FLODRAW will position the cursor at the nearest intersection of the horizontal and vertical tabs and reset the original cursor location. Starting Your Diagram with a Template A FLODRAW template file contains a title block or skeleton diagram that you use to initialize a new diagram. When you select the page format for a new diagram, FLODRAW merges the template file into your empty diagram. For example, you may want all your diagrams to have a title box in the upper left corner of the diagram. The title box may contain a brief description, name of the author, date, filename, and page number. You can create a template file that contains this title box. Each time you create a new diagram, FLODRAW will merge the template file into your diagram. This will help insure that all your diagrams use the same title box. - 30 - You can set the option file to use template files as your default procedure for new diagrams. Select J on the Setup Option menu and follow the instructions on the template option screen. You can select the setup option menu with F8 from the entry menu. FLODRAW recognizes one template file name for each of the page formats: FLODRAW.T#1 - for portrait diagrams. FLODRAW.T#2 - for landscape diagrams. FLODRAW.T#3 - for large landscape diagrams. If you are using template files, FLODRAW will look for the template file in the current directory. If it can't find the template file in the current directory, it will look in the default FLODRAW directory if you have one. When you load a new diagram, FLODRAW will prompt you for a page format. If your default procedure is to use template files, the template file names will show on the right side of the menu next to the corresponding page format. When you select a page format, FLODRAW will load the template file. If you want to override the default procedure for template files, you can press F10 to toggle the template files on or off. When you toggle the template files off, the template file names are removed from the menu. Three sample template files are included on the Library Disk to show you how the template files work. You can edit these files or create your own as long as you give them the template file names as described above. Drawing Organization Charts You can draw organization charts using one of the flowchart box symbols, but for fancier charts you might want to use the organization chart library on the Library Disk. To show how to draw organization charts quickly, here is the procedure to draw a simple two level chart. Our example has a president at the top level and two vice-presidents at the second level. First we'll draw the boxes, then the connecting lines, and finally, we'll fill in the text. We'll use the box symbol from the flowchart library. We'll draw the chart using the TEXT mode edit screen. Remember that most of the symbols have been designed so that the lines drawn with the TEXT mode cursor will connect correctly with the lines of the symbol. Draw the box for the president. Press F10 to for the symbol menu, then F10 again for more symbols. Position the cursor at the location for the first chart entry by pressing Alt-C for center, then Alt-G to get the nearest tab. Press F1 to draw the box from the symbol menu. Draw the box for the first vice-president. Press Alt-D to tab down to the second level. - 31 - Tab left to position the cursor for the first box on the second level, and press F1 to draw the box. Draw the box for the second vice-president. Tab right twice and press F1 to draw the second box. Draw the lines connecting the boxes using the Shift key and the TEXT mode cursor. Now finish by adding text to the boxes. Printing Diagrams FLODRAW uses the entire area of a diagram as the drawing area. This means you must allow for your own margin space at the top, bottom, and sides, if you expect to see margins on your printed diagram. For example, if you want a 1 inch margin on the left side of the diagram for a 3 hole punch, you would leave the first 10 columns of the diagram blank. Since row 1 is at the top of the page, you will normally start your drawing several rows below 1 to give your diagram a margin at the top of the page. Make sure the print head is aligned with the top of the paper, so that the first several blank rows will provide the margin you expect. The one exception to this is if you are using the HP LaserJet printer with the reduced print option. This print option is only available on the LaserJet printer driver, and it provides a wide margin around the page. If you select this option, you can use the entire print area for your diagram. Printer Support FLODRAW supports the printers listed below. If your printer is not mentioned here, check your printer manual to see if your printer emulates one of the printers that FLODRAW can use. Many printers provide emulation modes for the EPSON MX, FX, or IBM ProPrinter. Print time depends on how much is on your diagram. Diagrams that are very "busy" will take longer to print than diagrams that have lots of space. EPSON FX FLODRAW was originally designed to work with the FX printer's CRT graphics mode (640 dots per 80 character line). It's the fastest print mode for a dot matrix printer and the print quality is very good. It's called single strike on the print menu. The bold strike uses quad density (1920 dots per 80 character line), but takes 3 times as long. However, the print quality is very good. EPSON L\LQ If you have an Epson LQ printer, you can select either a fast or slow print speed. - 32 - The slow speed is a FLODRAW emulation of an Epson FX 80 and provides a good quality print, but at a very slow print speed. This emulation uses triple density bit mode (1440 dots per 80 character line). The fast speed is the Epson LQ printer emulation of a 9 pin printer. Since the character size on the LQ printer is taller than the character size on the 9 pin printer, FLODRAW compresses the print lines to fit them on one page. When compressed, the text on your diagram may be hard to read. FLODRAW does not have to compress the print lines if you have selected the 12 inch form option. If your diagram does not take up the full page length, you may select a stretch option that does not compress the print lines. FLODRAW will show you a boundary line on the Text Edit screen near the bottom of the page. If your diagram does not exceed the boundary and you have selected the stretch option, FLODRAW will print your diagram without compressing the lines. If you exceed the boundary, FLODRAW must compress the lines to fit the diagram on one page. To use the stretch option with the fast print speed, select F on the setup options menu for the miscellaneous printer options. Then select F2 to toggle the LQ fast print stretch option on or off. If you want to make this a permanent option, when you return to the setup option menu press F10 to save your selection. EPSON MX FLODRAW uses the double density bit mode on the MX printer (960 dots per 80 character line). This produces a "rough" print which is acceptable for draft quality. IBM ProPrinter FLODRAW uses quad density (1920 dots per 80 character line) for both single strike and bold strike on this printer. So the print time will be the same. If you have a ProPrinter, try both modes and select the one you like best. Print quality is very good. Toshiba P321/341/351 FLODRAW uses triple density (1440 dots per 80 character line). Print quality is very good. If you have a Toshiba 24 pin printer with IBM ProPrinter emulation, you can use the IBM ProPrinter emulation to print your diagrams at a faster print speed. Change the FLODRAW printer option to "IBM ProPrinter - bold strike". Then change your printer to the IBM ProPrinter emulation mode. Star Gemini 10x Similar to the Epson MX, it produces draft quality output. - 33 - HP DeskJet/LaserJet This printer driver supports the HP family of printers that use the HP Printer Command Language (PCL). This includes the DeskJet models and the LaserJet models. There are two print options available with the LaserJet: reduced and full/reduced. Both produce excellent print quality. The reduced print option prints a diagram reduced in size about 20% compared to the full option. The reduced option uses a printer resolution of 100 dpi. The full option uses a printer resolution of 75 dpi. When you select the full/reduced option, the edit screen will show dotted margin lines on the right side of your diagram. The landscape format will show a dotted margin line on the bottom and right side of the diagram. To use the full option, your diagram must not cross the dotted margin lines on your diagram page. If you do cross the margin lines, the printer will have to use the reduced option to print the complete diagram. If you do not cross the margin lines, the printer will use the full option (hence "full/reduced"; it could be either depending on whether or not you cross the margin lines). The margin lines are only visible if you selected the full/reduced option on the printer selection screen. Printing with Wide Carriage Printers FLODRAW supports two sizes of dot matrix printer carriages. The standard carriage size is for 80 columns and prints on 8.5 inch paper. The wide carriage size is for 132 columns and prints on 14.5 inch paper. You can select the carriage size on the printer selection screen by pressing the F2 key. The F2 key toggles the carriage size between standard and wide carriage. Save your selection on the option file by pressing F10. You can override the carriage size at print time by pressing F2 on the print screen. The F2 key on the print screen will also toggle the carriage size between standard and wide carriage. If you select the wide carriage, use the large landscape format and keep your diagram within the first 132 columns. If you exceed 132 columns, FLODRAW assumes you want to print a 160 column wide document, and it will print it on two 8.5 x 11 inch portrait format pages. FLODRAW will show you the 132 column boundary on the text edit screen to help you keep your diagram within 132 columns. Options for A4 and 12 Inch Form Lengths Many European users require a form length different from the 11 inch standard in the USA. Option F on the setup option menu provides a menu of miscellaneous printer options. Selecting the F3 option provides a menu to select a form length of either 11 inches, 11 2/3 inches (also called A4), or 12 inches. This form length option is only for dot matrix printers. - 34 - CHAPTER 7 - Symbol Libraries What are Symbols and Symbol Libraries? Symbols are graphic images that may be used repeatedly when drawing a diagram. FLODRAW makes it easy to draw diagrams that use repeated symbols. For example, drawing an electrical diagram may require the same drawing of a resistor many times. By having the resistor symbol already stored in the computer's memory, you can call it up whenever you need it. This saves the time of drawing it or copying it each time you need a diagram of a resistor. A symbol library is a collection of symbols in one file. A symbol library usually contains symbols that are related or used in the same application. For example, the symbol library called FLOCHART.LIB contains symbols that are used to draw computer system flowcharts. A utility program called FLOLIB.EXE is used to collect the symbol files into a single file. Creating Symbols If you are already in the edit screen of a diagram, you're ready to start. If you aren't working on a diagram, and just want to create symbols for later use, start FLODRAW and use the name of any file, say TEMP. We won't save TEMP. It will just provide us with an area to work in. If you are working with a portrait format diagram, you can toggle to TEXT mode and press Alt-F1 to switch to the alternate buffer. This provides you with a large scratch pad to design your symbol, so you don't overwrite your diagram by mistake. After you've created the symbol and saved it from the alternate buffer, you can copy it to your diagram using the "Copy" function or merge the saved symbol into your diagram using the "Merge" function. You can design your symbol using the drawing tools in FLODRAW. Let's say you want to create a library of furniture symbols. One of the symbols you will need will be a chair. So, in our example, you will draw a symbol of a chair and call it CHAIR.SYM. Symbols must have an extension of SYM to work with the utility program FLOLIB.EXE. After you have drawn the symbol for the chair, toggle to TEXT mode if you're not already in TEXT mode. Press F3 for the "Save" function. Then press F1 for the "Save symbol" option. The "Save symbol" option will prompt you for the following five steps. The upper left corner of the symbol. Symbols are always stored as rectangular blocks. Move the cursor to the upper left corner of the symbol. The cursor position will define the top left corner of the symbol. Then press F1. The first cursor location in the symbol. When FLODRAW draws the symbol on a diagram, it moves the cursor to this location inside the symbol. This is handy to write text inside the symbol. You can have the cursor appear at the first character location for text. If you want the cursor to remain in the same location after the symbol has been drawn, set the first cursor location the same as the middle of the symbol described in the next step. If you don't care where the cursor appears, you can let the first cursor location be the same as the upper left corner. - 35 - Press F1 to continue after setting the first cursor location. The middle of the symbol. This is a reference point for locating the symbol. When FLODRAW draws the symbol on your diagram, it will align the middle of the symbol with the location of the cursor on the edit screen. The middle of the symbol is usually at the midpoint of the symbol, but it doesn't have to be. Press F1 to continue. If you're creating a symbol that's designed to be repetitive, as in a border or a line, you can put the first cursor location on the extreme right side of the symbol. Put the middle of the symbol at the extreme left side of the symbol. When you're ready to use the symbol from a library, you can "walk" the symbol from left to right just by repeating the symbol. The horizontal line symbols in the HIPO library are designed this way. The lower right corner of the symbol. The cursor location will define the bottom right corner of the symbol. Then press F1. The name of the symbol. In our example, we would enter CHAIR.SYM. And our symbol for the chair is saved as CHAIR.SYM in the current directory. To verify that you have successfully saved the symbol the way you wanted to save it, use the "Merge" function. Select the merge option to center the symbol, and move the cursor to an empty area of the diagram or scratch pad. When prompted for the name, enter CHAIR.SYM. You should now see your symbol displayed on the diagram. Editing Symbols You can edit a symbol by merging it into a diagram, or by editing the symbol file itself. In either case, when you save the symbol, you have to use the "Save symbol" option of the "Save" function in TEXT mode, and you will have to enter all the locations required by the "Save symbol" option. If you try to use the "Save file" option, you will save the whole diagram. The FLOLIB Utility Program The program FLOLIB.EXE is used to maintain FLODRAW libraries. This program has two command line formats. You can request documentation on the two formats by typing FLOLIB at the DOS prompt. Format 2 is recommended since it gives you complete control over creating and maintaining a library. Creating a New Library If you have a hard disk system, FLOLIB should be in the FLODRAW directory so you can run it from any directory in your system. If you have a floppy disk system, copy FLOLIB to the disk where you will maintain the library. The symbol library can be as large as 24k which is large enough for forty-eight 500-byte symbols, although most symbols are only several hundred bytes. FLODRAW will allow up to 144 symbols in a library. This section will describe how to create a new library using format 2 of the utility program FLOLIB.EXE. - 36 - Let's call our new library ROOM.LIB. Let's say we've created three symbols for our library: CHAIR.SYM, TABLE.SYM, and SOFA.SYM. We'll use the following procedure with FLOLIB.EXE to create our library. Hard disk users will find it more convenient to keep the symbol files on a separate directory. After you create the libraries, you can copy them to the FLODRAW default directory. If you're a floppy disk user, you can put the three symbol files and the FLOLIB.EXE file on a new disk that we'll call a library disk. If you're going to create your own symbol libraries, you'll find it convenient to have each of your library files with its symbol files and a copy of FLOLIB.EXE on its own disk. Use a word processor or text editor to create a library text file for our new library. Our example library text file will have the following four lines. * ROOM.TXT * Text file for the ROOM library CHAIR TABLE SOFA *END The first two lines are comment lines to identify this text file. The third line contains the names of the three symbol files that we will have in our library. The forth line is the end-of-file marker for the library text file. To create our sample library, run FLOLIB with the following command: FLOLIB ROOM This command executes the FLOLIB utility to create a library called ROOM.LIB using the library text file ROOM.TXT. The text file tells FLOLIB to use CHAIR.SYM, TABLE.SYM, and SOFA.SYM. After you have created the library ROOM.LIB, move it to the FLODRAW directory or your library disk and you are ready to use it. When you want to use these library symbols in a diagram, select the "Load new symbol library" function from the entry menu. This function will prompt you for the library name. Put your library disk in drive A and select ROOM.LIB from the directory listing using the bounce bar. The program will load the library, and you can return to the edit screen to use the symbols in library ROOM. You can also make any library the default library that the program loads at start-up. The default library is called FLODRAW.LIB. All you have to do is use the DOS copy command to copy your library to FLODRAW.LIB. Maintaining Libraries After you have created a library using format 2 of FLOLIB, it is easy to add, delete, or rearrange the symbols in the library. Use a word processor or text editor to edit the library text file and make your changes. - 37 - As an example, suppose you created two new symbols for your library ROOM.LIB. These symbols are LIGHT.SYM and DESK.SYM. Your library text file would now look like this: * ROOM.TXT * Text file for the ROOM library * We added symbols for light and desk CHAIR TABLE SOFA LIGHT DESK *END To add these symbols to your library, copy the symbols to the library directory or floppy disk. Then use the following command to rebuild the library. FLOLIB ROOM FLOLIB will use the symbols listed in the text file to re-create the library ROOM.LIB. - 38 - CHAPTER 8 - PCX File Conversion FLODRAW uses a file format for storing the graphics image that is not compatible with formats used by other graphics programs. One graphics format which is used in many graphics programs is called the PCX format. The FLOPCX Program FLODRAW provides an interface to the PCX format with a stand-alone program called FLOPCX. You will find the FLOPCX program on the Library Disk. FLOPCX is an easy-to-use menu driven program. You can use FLOPCX to convert your FLODRAW files to PCX format so you can import FLODRAW images into desktop publishing programs. FLOPCX will also convert PCX format files created in other drawing programs to FLODRAW files. Installing FLOPCX If you have a hard disk, move FLOPCX.EXE to a directory that is in the PATH command on your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. This will allow you to run FLOPCX from any directory just by entering FLOPCX at the DOS prompt. If you have a floppy disk system, install the FLOPCX program on your library disk or a separate utility disk. After you install FLOPCX on your library disk or a utility disk, you can insert the disk in drive A, load FLOPCX by entering FLOPCX at the DOS prompt, and then remove the utility disk and insert the disk with the files you want to convert. The FLOPCX Menu When you run FLOPCX, it will display a screen with a menu bar at the top. Use the space bar or the cursor keys to move the menu cursor across the menu bar. Press Enter to select the menu entry highlighted by the cursor. When you select an entry from the menu bar, the program will present a sub-menu of selections. The sub-menus work the same way as the menu bar. Press ESC to exit the sub-menu. Exiting FLOPCX To exit FLOPCX from the main menu, move the menu cursor to the Quit entry and press Enter twice. Changing Directories You can change the drive or directory from within the program by selecting the Directory entry. The Directory entry is also available when you are entering the conversion file names by pressing Alt-D. FLOPCX displays the current directory just below the middle of the screen. FLOPCX Parameters There are two parameters in the program that you can modify. FLOPCX displays the setting of these parameters below the current directory display in the middle of the screen. - 39 - The first parameter determines whether FLOPCX will reverse colors when converting the image. Since FLODRAW images are white on black, and desktop publishing images are black on white, you will normally leave this parameter to reverse colors. The second parameter determines whether the program will display the graphics image of an input file when you select the file for conversion. Since this lets you check that you are converting the correct file, you will usually leave this parameter to display the file. To change either parameter, select the Modify Parameters menu entry. FLOPCX will display a sub-menu of four parameter choices, two for each parameter. Move the cursor to the parameter entry you want to select and press Enter. The parameter you select will remain in effect until you exit the program. Converting Files FLOPCX creates a temporary buffer when converting files. This buffer uses additional conventional memory depending on the size of the image. Converting a small symbol will only require an additional 2k. Converting a full page portrait format file will require an additional 244k. If FLOPCX returns the message "insufficient memory", you will have to exit FLOPCX to either reconfigure your computer memory usage or use a computer with more memory. A computer with 512k should have enough memory to handle a portrait size file conversion. Converting a FLODRAW File to PCX FLODRAW files are in two colors with a CGA screen resolution. FLOPCX converts these files to PCX format files with the same resolution. You may have to resize the PCX images when you import them into other applications. To convert a FLODRAW file to a PCX format file, select the main menu entry "Convert" and the sub-menu entry "FLODRAW TO PCX". FLOPCX will prompt you for the name of the FLODRAW file. Enter the file name of the FLODRAW file you want to convert. If you're not sure of the file name, you can use wild cards to search the directory. FLOPCX will then display a list of file names that match the wild cards. Use the cursor keys to move the cursor to the file name you want to select and press Enter. After you have selected the FLODRAW file name, FLOPCX will display the FLODRAW file image in graphics format. If the image is larger than the display window, you can scroll the window by pressing the cursor keys and the PgUp and PgDn keys. Press ESC when you're ready to continue. FLOPCX will prompt you for the name of the PCX format file. After you enter the name of the PCX file, FLOPCX will ask you if your entries are correct. If they are correct, press Y to proceed with the conversion. The conversion will take 1 to 50 seconds depending on the speed of your computer and the size of the file you're converting. When the conversion is complete, press any key to continue. The file you have named as the PCX file can be imported into any program that accepts PCX format files with CGA resolution. - 40 - Converting a PCX File to FLODRAW PCX format files will usually have an extension of PCX. If you try to convert a file that is not a PCX file, FLOPCX will display the message "Format error in PCX file". FLOPCX converts PCX files to FLODRAW files pixel to pixel so that the original image remains intact. Only black and white images can be converted. Depending on the original PCX screen resolution, the FLODRAW graphics image may be larger than the PCX image. Remember that the FLODRAW image will always have a CGA screen resolution. FLOPCX will only allow conversions of PCX files that will fit within the width of a standard portrait format FLODRAW file. FLODRAW portrait format files are 80 characters wide and print on 8.5" x 11". If FLOPCX cannot convert your file, it will display a message requiring your response, and then return you to the file input screen. If the length of the converted FLODRAW file would be longer than a full page, FLOPCX will truncate the file to fit on a page. In this case, FLOPCX will display a message requiring your response, but will then continue with the conversion. The procedure to convert a PCX file to a FLODRAW file is the same as converting a FLODRAW file to a PCX file. When the conversion is complete, the file you have named as the FLODRAW file can be read by FLODRAW. If you want to use the converted image as a symbol file, you can edit the FLODRAW file directly to create a symbol file. But if the converted image is to be used as a full page image, you should merge the file into a new document in order to put your image in a standard FLODRAW format.