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Information about “DANCAD 3D 2 OF 4 (ALSO 701,703,704)”
DANCAD3D is an excellent and versatile drawing program that lets you do
very complex things like stereoscopic 3D wire-frame drawing, or very
simple things like designing letterheads. Draw in two and three
dimensions. Separate groups of lines into "elements" that can be
saved, loaded, magnified, rotated, flipped, offset (moved), and used
over and over again. Keep them as a file on a disk (give them names
like cube, sphere, and cylinder).
DANCAD3D prints surprisingly sharp, crisp lines on Epson/IBM-compatible
dot-matrix printers. Use it for many different
applications, including the following:
~ Mechanical drawings and technical illustrations
~ Business forms of many kinds
~ Page layouts which combine text and drawings
~ Automatic computer slide shows
~ Engineering simulation to verify the fit of three-dimensional shapes
DANCAD3D also supports many plotters, PostScript laser printers, and
image setters such as the Linotronic 300. It works with a mouse, 3-D
track ball, or cursor keys.
DANCAD3D includes the DANMOVIE program, a full demonstration, and its
documentation. DANMOVIE is a very useful engineering tool. With it,
you can program DANCAD3D to make an animated close-up of parts in a
layout drawing. Use this close-up to confirm the fit of moving parts.
Produce an animated perspective view of the entire assembly with all of
the parts in motion.
DANCAD3D.DOC
[ D A N C A D 3 D V E R S I O N 2 . 0 ]
DANCAD3D.COM v2.0
3D CAD CAE Program Brief Documentation
DANCAD3D, 466 Diamond St., San Francisco, CA 94114
Copyright (c) 1986, 1987, 1988 by Daniel H. Hudgins
All Rights Reserved.
Read the disclaimer in this *.DOC file before using the program.
This version of DANCAD3D is dedicated to the thousands of DANCAD3D
users around the world and especially to those that supported its
development with financial and spiritual support and constructive
criticism and view points. And additionally to the dealers that
agreed to sell v1.x and gave me the opportunity to build DANCAD3D into
a useful program.
[DOC-1]
[ D I S C L A I M E R ]
DISCLAIMER
DANCAD3D, including programs, disks, and documentation is
distributed as is, with no guarantee that it will work correctly in
any or all situations. This manual may contain errors and omissions.
In no event will Daniel H. Hudgins be liable for any damages,
including lost profits, lost savings or other incidental or
consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use these
programs and or files, even if the Author has been advised of the
possibility of such damages, or for any claim by any other party. The
program can and will crash resulting in loss of data when operated,
Daniel H. Hudgins shall not be held liable or responsible for any
such loss. Should the program prove defective, you (the user) assume
the entire cost of all necessary repair, servicing, or correction.
All offers are subject to change or withdrawal without notice or
notification of any kind. The use of the program constitutes total
agreement and acceptance of this disclaimer. If you reside in a local
that has laws that require Daniel H. Hudgins to bear liability of any
kind you are disallowed use of this or any other program written by
Daniel H. Hudgins. If you cannot accept the program "as is" and
"where is" and you bought it from Daniel H. Hudgins then return it
within 30 days in unaltered, undamaged, and unused condition for a
refund (less shipping and handling).
If you find a bug in the program let me know about it so that it
can be fixed. I cannot read minds through time and space and your
getting mad and not writing does no one any good. When I release the
program it is working on my equipment, if there is a major problem
with it working on yours you will need to tell me about it for me to
be able to fix it.
[DOC-2]
[ D I S C L A I M E R ]
TRADE MARK NOTICE
A number of Trade Marks are mentioned in this manual and in the
programs and files on the accompanying disks. They belong to there
respective companies and have no connection to DANCAD3D. They are
only mentioned to help you identify the differences between equipment
supplied for use with personal computers and how that affects your use
of DANCAD3D. Among the Trade Marks mentioned are:
IBM, CGA, EGA, MDA, 5152, ProPrinter, PC, PC-XT, PC-AT, PC-DOS are
trademarks and or registered trademarks of International Business
Machines Corporation.
MX-80, LX-80, HI-80, Epson are trademarks and or registered
trademarks of EPSON Corporation.
Hercules are trademarks and or registered trademarks of Hercules
Computer Technology, Inc.
MicroSoft, MS-DOS are trademarks and or registered trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation.
FastTRAP, KeyMAP are trademarks and or registered trademarks of
MicroSpeed Incorporated.
Turbo Pascal are trademarks and or registered trademarks of
Borland International.
PostScript are trademarks and or registered trademarks of Adobe
Systems Incorporated.
Linotronic 300 are trademarks and or registered trademarks of
Linotype Incorporated.
LaserWriter Plus are trademarks and or registered trademarks of
Apple Computer Incorporated.
HP-GL, HP7470A are trademarks and or registered trademarks of
Hewiett-Packard Company.
DANCAD3D, DANCAD87, DANMOVIE, DANGRAPH are trademarks and or
registered trademarks of Daniel H. Hudgins.
[DOC-3]
[ H A R D W A R E R E Q U I R E M E N T S ]
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
* 100% IBM compatible XT, AT, or PS/2 computer.
* 512K to 640K DOS system memory.
* CGA, EGA, HGC, or Hercules video board. VGA also works in EGA mode.
* A HardDisk or other drive of 720KB or more.
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
* 80286 or 80386 cpu running at 10MHz or faster.
* A voice coil harddisk with an access or 28 ms. or faster.
* A three button mouse or 3D track ball.
* A PostScript compatible laser printer or photo typesetter.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Version 2.x of DANCAD3D is compiled from nearly thirty thousand
lines of Turbo Pascal (tm) Borland, and assembly code. Because of the
need to use as much of your computers memory for data storage DANCAD3D
makes great use of overlays. Overlays allow DANCAD3D to work
automatically from macro command files. But since overlays are on a
disk they take time to load. Putting DANCAD3D in a expanded memory
RAM disk makes it work faster. A harddisk is needed for efficient use
of some commands such as dot page files. As a minimum you need all
the files named DANCAD??.??? on one disk. It can be run on a 720K,
1.2M, or 1.44M floppy.
Example: C>REM To use INSTALL.BAT put the letter of your harddisk
C>REM after the command file INSTALL at the prompt with
C>REM with the "first" disk from the pair of disks in the
C>REM A: drive of your computer, and follow the prompts.
C>A:
A>INSTALL C
C>REM To install on your harddisk manually.
C>MD C:\DC20
C>COPY A:\DANCAD??.??? C:\DC20
C>COPY A:\*.PRN C:\DC20
C>COPY A:\*.PLT C:\DC20
C>COPY A:\*.LZR C:\DC20
C>COPY A:\*.FON C:\DC20
C>MD C:\DC20\ALIAS (the alias files come with the manual)
C>COPY A:\ALIAS\*.* C:\DC20\ALIAS
C>REM To install on a high capacity floppy or RAM disk.
C>COPY B:\DANCAD??.??? A:\
C>COPY B:\MYPRINTR.PRN A:\ (use the file for your printer)
There may be some other files you will need to copy from the set
of disks supplied with the manual depending on what you want to
accomplish try using the supplied INSTALL.BAT on the disks for
DANCAD3D disks A, B and for DANCAD87 disks C, D.
[DOC-4]
[ H A R D W A R E R E Q U I R E M E N T S ]
DANCAD3D works with the CGA (Color Graphics Adapter) (tm) IBM Co.,
the EGA (Enhanced Graphics Adapter) (tm) IBM Co., and the Hercules
(tm) Hercules Inc. video board. You can install DANCAD3D to run as
follows by renaming the configuration file (when you run the program
for the first time it makes the file up for the type of video board
you pick, do not erase your configuration file since it holds the
names of your alias files and the boot up default drawing settings
along with your printer and plotter type, pick [C]hange from the main
menu to change or set these).
FILENAME TEXT DRAWING SCREEN PERSPECTIVE SCREEN
DANCAD3D.B&W MONO 640x200x2 640x200x2 or 320x200x4
DANCAD3D.COL COLOR 640x200x2 640x200x2 or 320x200x4
DANCAD3D.EGA COLOR 640x350x2 640x350x2 or 640x350x16
DANCAD3D.HGA MONO 720x348x2 720x348x2
If you have an multimode video board you should set the video mode
you wish to use before you run DANCAD3D. You should also rename the
configuration file to the selected mode.
Example: C>SETMODE C80 (use whatever program name came with your board)
C>RENAME DANCAD3D.EGA DANCAD3D.COL
C>DANCAD3D
You might want to do the above in order to make color pixel files
for DANCAD3D since DANMOVIE can only run color with the 320x200x4 mode
since the EGA color pixel files would be to large (112000 bytes).
SETMODE would be the name of the program that came with your board and
C80 the instruction to set the mode to CGA color 80 column mode.
You should have more than 384K of system memory free in order to
run DANCAD3D. For more complex drawings you will need as much or your
640K system memory free as possible. Use the DOS utility CHKDSK to
check the amount of free memory available on your system.
Example: C>C:\DOS\CHKDSK
If you have a 1MB 80286 computer and it reads less then 655360
bytes total you should check the manual about how to install the
computer for 640K of system memory. You will probably have to take
the cover off and set the memory jumper to the 640K position, then run
setup and tell it you have 640K of system memory and 0K of expanded
memory (or the amount of expanded memory less that on the mother
board).
DANCAD3D will print at high quality on most currently manufactured
printers. It will work with 8 pin and some 24 pin printers that have
a 240 dot per inch mode. It will work with line feeds of 1/216 or
1/180 inch and also with 1/144 or 1/72. Provision has been made to
print on 120 dot per inch printers as well. A maximum of 1920 dot
columns is supported. The codes for the major brands of printers are
[DOC-5]
[ H A R D W A R E R E Q U I R E M E N T S ]
supplied with the set of disks. You can also install some non-
standard types of printers with a built in utility ([H] [D] [I] from
the main menu). Some printers are very slow when printing at this
high resolution. Also the speed of your computer can affect the speed
of print out. A page that takes 2 hours to print on a 4.77 MHz 8088
computer and slow printer can print in about 15 minutes on a 25 MHz
80386 80387 computer and fast printer with a large buffer.
DANCAD3D v2.x supports most plotters. It can drive up to 127
plotter pens. You can drive any port or send the plotter data to a
disk file for spooling later while you draw some more drawings. Most
plotters use a ASCII text type of data format so the DOS spooler PRINT
should work if your plotter will accept a form feed, ASCII 12.
If you have a laser printer that supports Adobe's PostScript (tm)
Adobe Systems Inc. you can plot out on it with good quality. If your
laser printer does not support PostScript (tm) but can emulate one of
the quality 240 dot per inch dot matrix printers you can use it with
DANCAD3D's DOT_PRINTER command. Your local desk top publishing center
may have a Linotronic 300 typesetter by Linotype. You can install
DANCAD3D's laser printer PostScript plotter driver to output to a file
rather than a port and take that file on disk down to your local desk
top publishing center to print it out. If their Linotronic 300 (tm)
or LaserWriter Plus (tm) are on the COM1 port of their PC, all you
have to do is put the disk with your PostScript plotted file on it
into their A: drive and enter COPY A:*.OUT COM1 (where you entered
PAGE1.OUT, or PAGE2.OUT, ... when you changed the plotter port) at the
DOS prompt and presto fabulous quality for $0.38 a page! Press [H]
[P] [I] from DANCAD3D's main menu and change the port to a filename
like A:PS.OUT of the PostScript laser printer driver ADOBE-PS.LZR so
that all you have to do is put a blank formatted disk into drive A:
and hit the spacebar to make your PostScript files when you have
pressed [H] [L] from the main menu.
DANCAD3D v2.x supports the MicroSoft (tm) MicroSoft Corp.
compatible mice and the FastTRAP (tm) MicroSpeed Inc. 3D trackball.
Be sure to run the driver that came with your device before running
DANCAD3D. You may also need to run the DOS MODE command to setup the
serial port for the mouse driver. Read the book that came with the
mouse. You can move the drawing cursor, mark, draw lines, and redraw
the screen by moving the device and pressing its buttons. Note that
some older versions of the mouse drivers supplied with the mice have
bugs that will crash your programs, therefore you should contact the
company you bought the device from to obtain their latest driver
software. If the program crashes when you enter the drawing part,
then try editing your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files to not install
the mouse driver and see if you can draw that way. Let me know what
type of mouse you are using and when you bought it if you are having a
problem.
Some of the commands in version 2.x require a fast computer. The
PC's meter at the bottom of the main menu tells you how fast your
computer is compared to a 4.77 MHz 8088 type computer. This number is
[DOC-6]
[ H A R D W A R E R E Q U I R E M E N T S ]
very approximate since the speed of your disk has a big impact on
DANCAD3D performance. To use the drawing drag command your computer
should read at least 7 PC's for instance. The 80x87 will affect the
PC reading since it affects the speed of DANCAD3D's through put. If
you have an 8088 type computer you should consider buying a 80286 or
80386 accelerator card, some 80286 boards sell for less than $250.
The speed gain from using the 80x87 version of DANCAD3D varies
greatly. On computers with zero wait memory the speed improvement
will be less. Also the improvement seems less on 80286 computers than
8088 computers. You should try both versions if you have the chip in
your computer and see which one works faster for the kind of work you
do. If you are making a decision as to buy the 8087 or an 80286 card
I would buy the 80286 card since it will speed up all the software and
not just the floating point math. If the money is there buy both.
With a good 10MHz 80286 card and 80287 installed the PC meter should
read higher than 8.
If you use complex macro programs with many variables, sub-macros,
and temporary files you will need something faster than a harddisk.
Also that type of programming will cause the harddisk to "thrash",
that is constantly move the head between the FAT (file allocation
table) and where the data is filed on the disk. While this may work
it certainly tests your harddisk's reliability. If you have room in
your 640K for a small RAM disk (e.g., 64K) you can keep the variables
in it. If you cannot spare the memory you will need a expanded memory
RAM disk above your 640K. 2M to 3M should be enough to hold the
DANCAD3D program, the macros and variables. Be sure to read the
manual for your expanded memory board and set it up for a big RAM
disk. If you are going to buy one be sure it has a 16 bit bus if you
have an 80286 and comes with the proper software to make a 2 or 3MB
RAM disk. Use a DOS batch file to copy all the files you will be
using from your harddisk to your RAM disk.
Example: REM DOS BATCHFILE TO LOAD RAM DISK
COPY C:\DC2\DANCAD3D.??? D:
COPY C:\DC2\*.MAC D:
D:
D:DANCAD3D
Because DANCAD3D makes very heavy use of the harddisk I recommend
that you use a HARDDISK OPTIMIZING PROGRAM to reshuffle the fragmented
files so they are accessed faster. DANCAD3D runs faster in the root
directory of your harddisk. Some harddisk optimizing programs let you
locate a particular program close to the FAT. Doing this with
DANCAD3D will also help speed it up. I optimize my harddisk four
times a week. You should also use the DOS BACKUP command at least
once a day to keep your data safe (use the add only files that have
changed option). You can also backup all the files from your harddisk
and then reformat it and restore the files, this will speed up the
file access until the files become fragmented again.
In your DOS CONFIG.SYS file you should have two commands that tell
[DOC-7]
[ H A R D W A R E R E Q U I R E M E N T S ]
DOS how much memory it can take for its own use. When running
DANCAD3D these should be set to: FILES=20 (for nested macros), and
BUFFERS=20 (to reduce drive head movement). If you need more memory
you can set fewer buffers, BUFFERS=2. Using fewer buffers and not
using any memory resident programs will increase the maximum number of
frames DANMOVIE 2.x can load.
The maximum speed of DANMOVIE v2.x can be affected by the video
board you buy. Many of the multimode EGA (tm) IBM Co. type boards are
slower than the plain Hercules (tm) Hercules Inc. type boards. This
also shows up in the text display in DANCAD3D's graphics modes making
the drawing menus come up slower with some EGA boards.
[DOC-8]
[ D I S T R I B U T I O N S C H E M E ]
DANCAD3D is distributed as a user supported program. That means
that people can write to me an ask permission to sell the two disks
with DANCAD3D.COM and it's overlays on them. These people normally
sell disks at swap meets and shows for $0.99 to $6.00. They also sell
through the mail by running adds in magazines. I get absolutely
nothing from them and they make what they can. Since DANCAD3D was
released the dealers have sold world wide about 40000 to 80000 copies
of DANCAD3D and have made about $125000 to $375000 for themselves.
Originally I asked for $10.00 donation from each user. I only got
a few letters from v1.1 users. I worked day and night to improve the
program and released v1.3. The response improved but most letters
were from people that could not use the program or needed support.
To avoid going out of business I have decided to not ask people
for donations. Since I can only expect to make sales I am offering a
through bound manual with tutorial and a useful set of disks along
with the 80x87 version of DANCAD3D and DANMOVIE v2.x as incentive to
place orders. All of the materials are copyrighted and the disks,
DANMOVIE 2.x and 80x87 version of DANCAD3D (DANCAD87) are available
from myself at the address in the program's order form.
Version 2.x of DANCAD3D is an incredibly powerful program. To
help more people learn about DANCAD3D's existence I ask you to give
copies of only the two DANCAD3D.COM share-able disks to your local
users group, upload it to your local bulletin board, and pass it on to
your friends.
Please respect the thousands of hours of my time that have gone
into writing the programs, examples and documentation by not coping,
renting or selling the disks and manual I ask payment for. Quantity
discounts are available from me for companies with multiple users.
[DOC-9]
[ H O W T O G E T S U P P O R T A N D H E L P ]
If after reading the manual you are unable to make DANCAD3D do
something I say that it should do and you ordered the set of disks
from me you may write for help. If you wish to speak on the telephone
and want me to call you collect then send me your phone number and the
time I should call. It is ok to have me call you on nights and
weekends. Say that you want to be called collect in your letter. If
you have ordered the disks and are having trouble getting DANCAD3D
v2.x to work with your printer or plotter then send me its codes and I
will try to install it for you.
If you did not order the disks from me yet, then you should send a
few dollars to get an answer letter about how to get DANCAD3D to do
something you want it to. This covers my time to answer the letter
and covers the cost of anything I may need to send.
If your are reporting a bug or sending printer or plotter codes
for equipment drivers not supplied on the current set of disks I will
reply to your letter. Send a $1.00 or some self addressed stamped
envelopes to receive mailings of information on major up-dates.
If you live outside of the USA and want to send me postage so that
I can send you a reply or return something you have sent to me then go
to your post office and ask for an international postal voucher that I
can redeem for the required postage at my post office and send it in
your letter or package to me.
I always enjoy seeing what users are doing with DANCAD3D. Please
send examples of your drawings, files, or macros. If you would like
to share you work with other users say so in your letter. Seeing what
you are doing helps me to know what new commands are needed and how
improve the explanations in this manual. Use the submission form in
the latter portion of the manual.
I need your comments on DANCAD3D, DANMOVIE, the example macros and
other files on the set of disks. If I am going to make DANCAD3D a
successful user supported program it will have to be genuinely useful
in your work. As a professional only you can tell me what features
that DANCAD3D has help you, and what about it causes you to use it
less than you could. Sometimes the program can do what you want but I
had not thought of describing how to get it to do it in the manual.
Please write and tell me what you need from my programs.
I would like to here from every person that has bought or been
given a copy of DANCAD3D. If you are using it tell me how many hours
a week you use it. If you are not using it tell me why, and if there
is something that I can do to make the program useful to you.
If you have vector line data files in some other format and want
me to add a program that can convert them to a DANCAD3D file type to a
DANCAD3D up-date disk then send me the name of the program that
produced the file, a sample file on disk, a description of the data
format (if you can get it), and a print out of what the drawing looks
[DOC-10]
[ H O W T O G E T S U P P O R T A N D H E L P ]
like from the source program. I can probably convert ASCII form data
most easily so send that if you can (redirect plotter output from the
port to a disk file if that is all you have). I will see what I can
do (no promises). Be sure to let me know exactly what equipment you
have and what version of what program(s) you are using so I can pass
it on to others.
[DOC-11]
[ Q U I C K I N T R O D U C T I O N ]
Since the disk space available on this 2-360k disk set is very
Restrictive I will give you the briefest description of some of
DANCAD3D's features. The 300+ page printed manual and 14 disk set are
available from the author at a fair price and should help you make
DANCAD3D one of your valued tools.
DANCAD3D draws lines. The lines can go in any direction in a 3D
space. If you want to do 2D drawing just ignore the 3rd dimension and
pick the [F]ront view when you draw.
The Help screens should be able to get you started drawing. From
the main menu press [T] (tutor) to read 10 general help screens. To
draw select [D] from the main menu. Select [T] (tutor) from the draw
sub-menu to see 10 help screens about the drawing commands. The built
in ASCII text editor that is used to edit DANCAD3D's macro command
files (actually powerful CAD programs) has 10 help screens also.
Press [W] (write) from the main menu to enter the text editor. Then
press the [Control] and [^] keys at the same time to see the help
screens. To get out of the editor press ^[K]^[X].
All the drawing commands are in the menu that is at the right side
of the drawing screen. Those commands change depending on what menu
you are in and what you are doing. You can select any command you see
in the menu as long as the pop-up text window in not covering the
center of the screen. Look at the menus and read them. The printed
manual describes all the commands in detail.
Q: How do I install my printer?
A: Look at the files with the *.PRN extension that should be on the
second disk you got. Try to pick the one that looks like your
printer's model name. Then run DANCAD3D and press [C] (change) from
the main menu and enter that file name of your printer driver. If the
there is no driver that will work on your printer you can install the
printer manually with [H] [D] [I] from the main menu. If that
confuses you I try will do it for you if you send all the necessary
codes when you order the manual and disks.
Q: How do I install my plotter?
A: Look at the files with the *.PLT extension that should be on the
second disk you got. Try to pick the one that looks like your
plotter's model name. Then run DANCAD3D and press [C] (change) from
the main menu and enter that file name ad your plotter driver. If the
there is no driver that will work on your plotter you can install the
printer manually with [H] [P] [I] from the main menu. If that
confuses you I will do it for you if you send all the necessary codes
when you order the manual and disks. Be sure that you use the DOS
MODE command to set up your serial port, if you are using it, to
correspond to the baud rate that the DIP switches are set to in your
plotter.
Q: How do I spool a PostScript (tm) file to disk so I can take it down
to my local desk top publishing center to print it out?
[DOC-12]
[ Q U I C K I N T R O D U C T I O N ]
A: Press [H] [P] [I] and enter ADOBE-PS.LZR as the plotter file to
work on. Press [Return] until you come to the question about the port
to use. Enter the name of the file you want the PostScript ASCII data
file to be put in, e.g. PS.OUT. Then press [Return] then [Esc] then
[Y] to overwrite the old file. When you are ready you can press [H]
[L] from the main menu to spool to the designated file. If you want
to make several files remember to change the designated file or use
[F] [R] to rename the last output to a new file so it will not be
over-written, e.g. [F]iles [R]ename PS.OUT PAGE1.OUT. If you are
going to put your PostScript files on a floppy disk it is simpler to
designate the laser printers port path as something like A:PS.OUT and
put a blank formatted disk into the A: drive each time you want to
save a PostScript file. The drivers LASERPS1.PLT to LASERPS5.PLT give
progressively heavier lines. On super resolution devices like the
Linotronic 300 you may want to have heavier lines since the lines will
look thinner than the LaserWriter Plus.
Q: How do I connect a LaserWriter to my PC's serial port?
A: Use a cable that connects the pins as:
PC or XT port 25 pin female <- to -> LaserWriter 25 pin male
pin 2 ------------------------------------- pin 3
pin 3 ------------------------------------- pin 2
pin 7 ------------------------------------- pin 7
pin 5 ------------------------------------- pin 20
AT 9 pin serial port female <- to -> LaserWriter 25 pin male
pin 2 ------------------------------------- pin 2
pin 3 ------------------------------------- pin 3
pin 5 ------------------------------------- pin 7
pin 6 ------------------------------------- pin 20
pin 8 ------------------------------------- pin 20
Set the switch on the LaserWriter to 9600 baud and then issue the DOS
command: MODE COM1:9600,n,8,1,p . Run DANCAD3D, load your drawing and
then select Hardcopy Laser from the main menu to plot on the
LaserWriter. This may also work on other PostScript compatible laser
printers.
Q: How do I avoid time out problems printing large drawings on the
LaserWriter?
A: If your LaserWriter is version 23 or higher and has a ROM made
after April 1986, switch it to 9600 baud and this in from DOS with it
connected and turned on:
C>COPY CON COM1
serverdict begin 0
exitserver
25 9600 4 setsccbatch
^Z
1 file(s) copied
[DOC-13]
[ Q U I C K I N T R O D U C T I O N ]
C>
Press the [Return] key at the end of each line. The ^Z means hold the
[Control] key and press [Z]. Wait one minute then turn the
LaserWriter off and then back on. It will now be set to DTR (Data
Terminal Ready) protocol, to return it to the XON\XOFF protocol do the
same thing but change the 4 to a 0.
Q: How do I run the demo?
A: Enter RUN_DEMO from DOS. The file RUN_DEMO.BAT will work if you
have copied all the files onto your harddisk.
Q: How do I draw something?
A: Press [D] (draw) from the main menu. After selecting the view
point press [D] again. With the scale set to 240 the reading of the
cursor x y and z will read in inches. To draw a line press [M]ove and
pick the amount you want the cursor to move each time you press one of
the cursor arrow keys or move the mouse. Then move the cursor the the
starting point for a line and press the [./Del] key or right mouse-
trackball button. Then move the cursor to the end point for the line
segment and press the [0/Ins] Key or the left mouse trackball button
to draw and record the line. You can group lines into elements by
pressing [B] (begin new element) from the [E]lements drawing sub menu.
Grouping lines makes editing drawings much easier, and is the basis of
DANCAD3D's power and flexibility.
Q: How do I control the amount the drawing cursor moves when I move
the mouse or press the cursor keys?
A: While in the [D]rawing submenu from [D]raw from the main menu press
[M]ove to set the amount of movement. For instance if you want to
draw to even eights of an inch enter 0.125, if you want thousandths
enter 0.001. If you move the mouse rapidly the cursor will move
faster and farther than if you move it slowly.
Q: How can I zoom in for fine drawing?
A: Press the [+] key until the doted border is around what you want to
see then press the [*/PrtSc] button to redraw the screen.
Q: How can I zoom out to see the whole drawing?
A: Press [S]cale and enter the value of the world scale (240) or
somewhat less, then press [*/PrtSc] to redraw the screen.
Q: How can I view my 3D drawing in perspective?
A: Press [P]review from the main menu and select the perspective you
want. You can press the [+] and [-] keys to rotate the object by
redrawing the screen with more or less perspective.
Q: How can I print out the drawing I have made?
A: Press [H] [D] [W] to print out a drawing that is in the workspace.
Add 90 degrees of rotation in the z axis if you want to print it out
long-ways on the paper. Be sure that you have installed your
printer's *.PRN file with [C]hange from the main menu. Press [H] [D]
[I] to select the port your printer is attached to. Try the printer
[DOC-14]
[ Q U I C K I N T R O D U C T I O N ]
driver IBM5152.PRN first if your printer has 1/126" line feed. If
your printer has 1/180" line feed try LQ-1500.PRN.
Q: How can I plot a drawing of what is in the workspace?
A: Press [H] [P] [P] to plot a drawing. Be sure that you have
installed your plotter's *.PLT file before you try to plot the
drawing. Also remember that you must set up your COM? port with the
DOS MODE command before it can be used. Press [H] [P] [I] to select
the port your plotter is attached to.
Q: How can I PostScript laser plot a drawing of what is in the
workspace?
A: Press [H] [L] to laser plot a drawing. Be sure that you have
installed your PostScript laser printer's *.LZR or *.PLT file before
you try to laser plot the drawing. Also remember that you must set up
your COM? port with the DOS MODE command before it can be used. Press
[H] [P] [I] to select the port your laser printer is attached to.
Q: How can I save everything so that I can continue working on the
drawing later?
A: Press [F] [S] [E] from the main menu.
Q: How can I load a drawing I saved as a set of elements or one of the
automatic backup on exit files?
A: Press [F] [L] [E] from the main menu.
Q: How come I have trouble loading a 3D file from a drawing I made
with v1.xx into v2.x?
A: The old 3D-real file is now referred to as Real-3D, and the 3D
refers to the new 3D-Quick file type. Press [F] [L] [R] from the main
menu to load a 3D file that was drawn with the older version of
DANCAD3D.
Q: What does v2.0 do that v1.xx did not?
A: v2.0 supports high resolution video modes, mice-trackballs, and is
much easier to draw with. The macros have many powerful new commands,
conditional branching through the IF THEN GOTO construct, and the
automatic evaluation of expressions and equations. A new drawing
feature called ALIAS files lets you build symbol libraries and load
them very rapidly with simple keystroke commands. An drag feature has
been added to let you visually position elements where you want them
if you are using a fast computer. The lettering commands now support
a library of font files and a built in font editor lets you make your
own. The instruction manual is illustrated and expanded to over 300+
pages. The program comes on 14 disks with an example symbol library,
set of fonts, utility disk, and a math-co-processor version.
Q) I get "snow" in the text editor and some or the other text screens,
is that normal?
A) Some old CGA boards and the cheep CGA clones can have this problem.
I recommend that you buy a Hercules monochrome clone board and a amber
monitor since the text and graphics are much sharper and they do not
normally have snow problems. You should be able to get a board and
[DOC-15]
[ Q U I C K I N T R O D U C T I O N ]
monitor for less than $120.
Q: If I bought the program from a dealer why do I have to by something
form the author also?
A: Because the dealer gives the author no part of his profit and you
can get the rest of the program from the author cheaper than you could
from the dealer anyway. If you feel I am being unfair by asking that
I get 1 percent of the money generated by my labor tell me so.
Q: Why does the program crash when I select Draw from the main menu?
A: Three reasons for this have come to my attention:
1) You have a version of mouse driver software that has a bug in
it. Try not loading the mouse driver with your CONFIG.SYS file and
see if that helps, if so then write to your mouse company and ask
them for an update.
2) You have a bad spot on your harddisk. You should run the DOS
command CHKDSK to check out your harddisk. I have been told that
reformatting your harddisk with DOS 3.3 can fix this problem. You
should take your computer back to the shop and have them enter the
manufactures disk error table and low level format your harddisk
again for you (many of the clone dealers do not low level format
the harddisks properly!).
3) You have a bug in your BIOS chip, DMA chip, or harddisk
controller. I recommend updating your BIOS chip to the latest
AWARD BIOS when you have your harddisk low level formatted. Some
of the cheaper clone BIOS do not work properly with the harddisk.
Q: Why does the program crash before I get to the main menu?
A: Four reasons for this have been reported: 1) You have some resident
program that displays something on the screen, e.g., a clock
program. Do not run that program.
2) You picked the wrong video mode for your video board, or your
video board is not IBM compatible. Try reinstalling everything.
3) You ran a CGA emulation program. NEVER run a CGA emulation
before running DANCAD3D version 2, it supports Hercules video mode,
install it properly by selecting H when you run it for the first
time.
4) You did not install both disks A and B onto one drive or
Harddisk. All the files named DANCAD3D.??? must be on the same
drive. Run-time error F0 means that one of the Overlay files was
not found! The overlays are DANCAD3D.001 and so on.
[DOC-16]
[ U P D A T E F R O M A N O L D E R V E R S I O N ]
Since so many copies of the older versions of DANCAD3D have been
sold I am including this section. The registered users got free
updates to v1.x.
The file formats have been changed to allow line widths, colors,
pen shapes, and styles. DANCAD3D v2.0 can read v1.3 3D-real and 2D-
real file types used with v1.30. DANCAD87 v2.x uses a different file
type and can only read files the ASCII type of the types DANCAD3D v2.0
can save. So if you have any old drawings and want to use DANCAD87
you need to make and run some macros (you can use the [F]iles menu
also).
Run on DANCAD3D v1.3x
; v1.30 ASCII to v1.30 REAL
INIT
LOAD ASCII V13XFILE.ASC
# 1 SAVE 3D V13XREAL.3D
Run on DANCAD3D v2.0
; v1.30 REAL to v2.0 ASCII
INIT
LOAD REAL V13XFILE.3D ; Note old 3D is now REAL type file
# 1 SAVE ASCII V20FILE.ASC
Run on DANCAD87 v2.0 (DANCAD87 is available from the author only)
; v2.0 ASCII to DANCAD87's 3D 8 byte format
INIT
LOAD ASCII V20FILE.ASC
# 1 SAVE 3D-Quick V2087FIL.3DQ
If you need to swap data between DANCAD3D v2.0 and DANCAD87 v2.0
use the ASCII file type. If you need to swap data between DANCAD3D
v1.3x and DANCAD3D v2.0 use the 3D-real file type.
Changes have been made to many of the macro commands. DANCAD3D
now supports variables and expressions as well as conditional
branching by the IF THEN GOTO.
v1.x command v2.x command
GOTO :LABEL 15 LOOP :LABEL 15
GRAPH_MODE GRAPH B&W or GRAPH COLOR
The other changes are explained in the new manual.
[ New Features ]
* Runs on Hercules (tm) Hercules Inc. at 720 by 348 resolution.
* Runs on EGA (tm) IBM Inc. at 640 by 350 with 16 colors in the
[DOC-17]
[ U P D A T E F R O M A N O L D E R V E R S I O N ]
perspective screen.
* Automatically adjusts to the amount of free memory, can run on as
little as 384K free (590K+ free recommended).
* Supports a mouse or FastTRAP (tm) 3D trackball.
* Supports full programming capability in macro code including standard
trigonometrical functions.
* Installable printers (files with *.PRN extension) and plotters (files
with the (*.PLT extension). Press [C]hange from main menu to install
one of the files.
* Symbol libraries and ALIAS index files.
* DRAG command to visually position elements.
* Installable fonts and advanced text formatting.
* Page files for drawings of unlimited complexity.
* Improved menus listing all the commands available on screen.
* Supports Adobe's PostScript (tm) for fantastic print quality!
[ Changing Video Modes ]
When you run DANCAD3D the first time you will be asked to pick the
video mode. A file will be created with one of the following
extensions.
*.COL for color text on CGA.
*.B&W for monochrome text on CGA.
*.EGA for 640 by 350 EGA resolution.
*.HGA for Hercules (tm) type video boards 720 by 348.
To change modes with an auto-switch video board first set the mode
with the program that came with the board and then rename DANCAD3D's
configuration file that correspond to that mode.
e.g., C>EGA\SETMODE C80 (whatever you have to set mode)
C>RENAME DANCAD3D.EGA DANCAD3D.CGA (match DANCAD3D)
C>DANCAD3D (run DANCAD3D)
DANMOVIE v2.0 that comes on the set of disks supports the new
video modes ad well as up to 34 frames in CGA 4 color mode.
As a closing note I would like to thank all the people around the
world that have written to me with suggestions and bug reports. Their
help and support are the only reason that I have developed DANCAD3D to
its present level. I hope v2.0 will be useful to you and find a place
among the programs they value and use.
[DOC-18]
FILES.DOC
DANCAD3D, Wire frame, CAD, animation, and drawing program.
Copyright (c) 1986, 1987, 1988 by Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved
File Directory of DANCAD3D v2.0 disk set, two 360KB disks or one 720KB disk.
DANCAD3D COM Main program & code editor with help screens.
DANCAD3D 0?? Overlay files.
DANCAD3D 914 Data file.
DANCAD3D MSG Message file.
DANCAD3D FON Supplied calligraphy font file.
???????? PRN Printer driver files for many types of printers.
???????? PLT Plotter driver files for many types of plotters.
ADOBE-PS LZR Adobe PostScript (tm) laser printer driver.
DEMO-SUB MAC DANCAD3D Macro file.
DEMOMAIN MAC Demo program written with DANCAD3D's commands.
RUN_DEMO BAT Runs demo after everything is installed
README BAT Help for first time user.
INSTALL BAT Installs DANCAD3D on users harddisk.
DANCAD3D DOC Brief documentation file and setup information for DANCAD3D.
FILES DOC One line file description.
FILES702.TXT
Disk No 702
Program Title: DANCAD3D version 2.0E (Disk 2 of 4)
PC-SIG version 2.3
DANCAD3D lets you do complex tasks like stereoscopic 3D wire-frame
animation or simple things like a letterhead. It lets you draw with
lines that can be in a plane, like drawing on a piece of paper (2D
drawing), and can go any direction in space (3D drawing).
Three-dimensional drawings made of lines are called wire-frame drawings.
You can separate groups of lines into "elements" that can be saved,
loaded, magnified, rotated, flipped, offset (moved), and used over and
over again, by keeping them as a file on a disk (give them names like
cube, sphere, and cylinder).
DANCAD3D prints out very sharp lines and is useful for line drawings,
mechanical drawings, technical illustrations, wire-frame animation,
engineering simulation to verify the fit of three-dimensional shapes,
business forms, page-layouts combining text and drawings, and automatic
computer slide-shows.
Usage: Graphics
Special Requirements: 512K memory and a hard drive.
How to Start: Type INSTALL (press enter).
Suggested Registration: $35.00
File Descriptions:
DANCAD3D COM Main program & code editor with help screens.
DANCAD3D 0?? Overlay files (23 files).
DANCAD3D 914 Data file.
DANCAD3D MSG Message file.
DANCAD3D FON Supplied calligraphy font file.
???????? PRN Printer driver files for many types of printers (13 files).
???????? PLT Plotter driver files for many types of plotters (20 files).
ADOBE-PS LZR Adobe PostScript (tm) laser printer driver.
DEMO-SUB MAC DANCAD3D Macro file.
DEMOMAIN MAC Demo program written with DANCAD3D's commands.
RUN_DEMO BAT Runs demo after everything is installed
README BAT Help for first time user.
INSTALL BAT Installs DANCAD3D on users harddisk.
DANCAD3D DOC Brief documentation file and setup information for DANCAD3D.
FILES DOC One line file description.
PC-SIG
1030D E Duane Avenue
Sunnyvale Ca. 94086
(408) 730-9291
(c) Copyright 1987,88 PC-SIG, Inc.
GO.TXT
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ <<<< Disk #702 DANCAD3D (Disk 1 of 4) >>>> ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ To copy the documentation to your printer, Type, ║
║ COPY DANCAD3D.DOC PRN (press enter) ║
║ ║
║ To install DANCAD3D, Type: INSTALL (press enter) ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
PCSIG.TXT
PC-SIG DISK # 701 & # 702
DANCAD3D, Wire frame, CAD, animation, and drawing program.
Copyright (c) 1986, 1987, 1988 by Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved
File Directory of DANCAD3D v2.0 disk set, two 360KB disks or one 720KB disk.
NEEDS: * 100% IBM XT, AT, PS/2 like computer.
* 512K or more DOS memory.
* A HardDisk or 2MB RAM disk.
* CGA, EGA, HGC, or Hercules (tm) video board.
DANCAD3D COM Main program & code editor with help screens.
DANCAD3D 0?? Overlay files.
DANCAD3D 914 Data file.
DANCAD3D MSG Message file.
DANCAD3D FON Supplied calligraphy font file, others come with the manual.
???????? PRN Printer driver files for many types of printers.
Try IBM5152.PRN if your printer has 1/216" linefeed.
Try LQ-1500.PRN if your printer has 1/180" linefeed.
Try STARG15X.PRN if your star printer has 1/144" linefeed.
Try MX-80.PRN if your printer has only 120 dpi mode.
???????? PLT Plotter driver files for many types of plotters.
Try HPGL.PLT if your ploter is HP code type.
ADOBE-PS LZR Adobe PostScript (tm) laser printer driver.
You need a PostScript (tm) adaptor if you have a LaserJet (tm).
Works on LinoTronic 300 (tm) great!
DEMO-SUB MAC DANCAD3D Macro file.
DEMOMAIN MAC Demo program written with DANCAD3D's commands.
RUN_DEMO BAT Runs demo after everything is installed
README BAT Help for first time user.
INSTALL BAT Installs DANCAD3D on users harddisk.
DANCAD3D DOC Brief documentation file and setup information for DANCAD3D.
FILES DOC One line file description.
Directory of PC-SIG Library Disk #0702
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
ADOBE-PS LZR 829 12-18-87 5:09p
AMPLOTII PLT 604 9-16-87 9:23p
BASIC PLT 742 9-16-87 9:25p
COMREX PLT 349 4-26-88 1:27p
CPA-80 PRN 240 9-18-87 8:48p
DANCAD3D 027 4096 8-27-88 11:23a
DANCAD3D 028 5120 8-27-88 11:23a
DANCAD3D 029 1280 8-27-88 11:23a
DANCAD3D 030 38912 8-27-88 11:25a
DANCAD3D 031 4608 8-27-88 11:24a
DANCAD3D 032 5120 8-27-88 11:23a
DANCAD3D 033 4352 8-27-88 11:24a
DANCAD3D 034 13312 8-27-88 11:24a
DANCAD3D 035 5632 8-27-88 11:24a
DANCAD3D 036 5120 8-27-88 11:24a
DANCAD3D 037 3072 8-27-88 11:24a
DANCAD3D 038 512 8-27-88 11:24a
DANCAD3D 039 5120 8-27-88 11:24a
DANCAD3D 040 1536 8-27-88 11:24a
DANCAD3D 041 55552 8-27-88 11:24a
DANCAD3D 042 2048 8-27-88 11:24a
DANCAD3D 043 4864 8-27-88 11:24a
DANCAD3D 044 5376 8-27-88 11:24a
DANCAD3D 045 15616 8-27-88 11:25a
DANCAD3D 046 3840 8-27-88 11:25a
DANCAD3D 047 2560 8-27-88 11:25a
DANCAD3D 048 3584 8-27-88 11:25a
DANCAD3D 049 18688 8-27-88 11:25a
DANCAD3D 914 3584 11-21-84 3:49a
DANCAD3D DOC 42513 8-27-88 4:33p
DANCAD3D FON 22277 8-11-87 12:51p
DANCAD3D MSG 1589 4-17-86 8:41p
DEMO-SUB MAC 1053 12-01-87 1:34p
DEMOMAIN MAC 12409 12-02-87 10:55p
DXF PLT 1156 10-02-87 12:33a
DXY-101 PLT 594 9-16-87 9:22p
DXY-800 PLT 584 9-16-87 9:22p
FILES DOC 955 1-01-88 8:44p
FIRST LZR 1029 12-18-87 3:33p
FP-215 PLT 329 3-07-88 5:52p
FX286E13 PRN 230 12-12-87 3:33p
FX286E8 PRN 491 10-19-87 10:50p
HI-80 PLT 609 9-16-87 9:23p
HP7470A PLT 449 2-29-88 9:12p
HP7470AF PLT 685 9-16-87 9:24p
HPGL PLT 773 9-16-87 9:23p
IBM5152 PRN 255 12-16-87 1:03a
INSTALL BAT 2405 12-31-87 9:35p
IP-500 PLT 424 8-20-88 9:28p
KXP1091I PRN 496 9-16-87 9:28p
LASERPS1 PLT 829 12-10-87 3:24p
LASERPS2 PLT 829 12-10-87 3:30p
LASERPS3 PLT 829 12-10-87 3:31p
LASERPS4 PLT 834 12-10-87 3:32p
LASERPS5 PLT 834 12-10-87 3:34p
LAST LZR 714 12-18-87 3:37p
LINOTYPE PLT 829 12-10-87 3:22p
LQ-1500 PRN 496 9-16-87 9:30p
LQ-1500W PRN 220 12-12-87 3:21p
MIDDLE LZR 694 12-18-87 3:35p
MX-80 PRN 501 9-16-87 9:28p
NEC-P6 PRN 496 9-16-87 9:30p
PASCAL PLT 752 9-16-87 9:25p
PCSIG TXT 1682 9-02-88 2:44p
PROPRINT PRN 491 9-16-87 9:27p
README BAT 2825 1-01-88 8:46p
RUN_DEMO BAT 190 11-26-87 4:50p
SCM-D200 PRN 461 11-06-87 2:52p
SP1200AI PRN 258 2-21-88 11:56a
STARG15X PRN 461 9-16-87 9:27p
SWEET-P PLT 349 4-26-88 1:27p
FILES702 TXT 2040 10-06-88 1:46p
GO BAT 38 2-10-88 8:53a
GO TXT 617 2-10-88 9:23a
74 file(s) 325842 bytes
3072 bytes free