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The text in this section has been revised to include some of the developments for a revision of version v2.7B, program versions, updates, or revisions prior or subsequent may work differently and so what is stated here may not apply to the particular version, update, or revision you might have, i.e. those other versions. The documentation is only generally descriptive of the programs, you should check the operation of each particular program that you will be "Beta Testing" since operation of the programs is subject to change without notice.
This HTML documentation section has documentation mostly about my CAD programs DANCAD3D.COM (tm) and DANCAD87.COM (tm). Most the discussion about DANCAD3D.COM (tm) also applies to "Beta Testing" DANCAD87.COM (tm), the math co- processor version, as well, except for some differences in some of the files saved and the need for a math co-processor. See also the other documentation in this Web site for additional information, particularly the CAM program documentation and the supplemental documentation, tutorials, and appendices. The disclaimer, and most of the other legal text is currently located in SECTION: 0, therefore you must read the disclaimer, End User License Agreement (EULA), legal text and other text in SECTION: 0 before you read any of the other documentation or use any part of this HTML document, this section, or associated files and programs.
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DANCAD3D (tm) uses several types of ASCII text files, also known as *.TXT type files, although other filename extensions may be used. To make it easier for you to edit the ASCII or *.TXT text files DANCAD3D (tm) has a built in text editor. A text editor is like a word processor, but it is used on text that is not formatted into paragraphs. To enter the text editor select the [W]rite command from DANCAD3D (tm)'s main menu. To exit the text editor select [Q]uit from the menu that pops up when you press [F1] or click the [Left] mouse button, or press the [Control] and [K] keys then press the [Control] and [X] keys.
Steps to use the Write command Text Editor:
Select [W]rite from the main menu.
Press the [Left] mouse button, the [F1] key, or the [Control] and [^] keys; to pop-up the text editor command menu.
Load a text file to edit. You can of course create a new text file just by typing into the empty text editor if you wish as well.
Select [T]utor help from the pop up menu to read more information about the text editor commands available. When you see a command like ^[A] it means that you press down the [Control] key and hold it down while you then press the [A] key then let both the [Control] and [A] keys up (like using the [Shift] key to make a capitol letter.) The most used commands are on the function keys, and in the menu that pops up when you press [F1], or the mouse left button.
When you are finished editing your file make the pop up menu come up as in 2. above and select [W]rite file to save the file you were working on. YOU MUST ALWAYS SAVE THE FILE YOU ARE WORKING ON IN THE WRITE COMMAND TO YOUR DISK BEFORE YOU QUIT THE TEXT EDITOR IF YOU WANT THE CHANGES YOU EDITED SAVED! If you do not want to overwrite the original file you loaded for editing, e.g. to save the original file as a back-up version, save the edited text from the Write command by using a different filename.
Select [Q]uit from the pop up menu, or press the [F2] key (or ^[K]^[X]) while editing, to exit the text editor and return to the main menu.
The [W]rite command from DANCAD3D (tm)'s main menu is a text editor for pure ASCII text files, e.g. text files are stored on your harddisk and have a DOS filename like C:\DC27\MYFILE.TXT and such.
Under Windows 95 (tm) you will need to use the "short" filename that has up to eight letters with up to a three letter extension, and not the "long" filename that Windows 95 (tm) programs can create and load. Windows 95 (tm) creates a compatible DOS type filename for file compatibility with DOS programs, so files with a "long" filename can also be accessed by using their "short" DOS filename equivalent. To avoid confusion you should only use "short" DOS filenames for files that will be used with my programs.
The [W]rite command text editor can be used to display more than one text file on the screen at a time by splitting the display screen into two or more parts. When a text editor screen is split into two or more parts where each part shows part of a different text file the parts of the screen where each of the text files is displayed is called a "Window." The command to "Open" a window is in the pop-up menu that comes up when you press the Left mouse button or [F1] on the keyboard.
The most frequently used commands for the text editor are in the pop up menu you get when you press the Left mouse button or the [F1] key. Other commands can be accessed by holding the [Control] key down and pressing one or more of the other keys on the keyboard. The cursor keys and the function keys can also be used, see the text editor help screens (press [F1] then [T] (tutor) in the text editor.)
The text cursor shows you where the characters you type will appear in the text file. Two text entry modes are available: Insert and Overwrite. You can toggle the text entry mode between Insert and Overwrite by pressing the [Ins] or [Insert] key on the keyboard (when you press the [Ins] key an indicator at the top of the editor screen will change to show you which mode you are in.)
You can control the position of the text editor cursor by moving the mouse or track-ball, or by pressing the cursor keys on the key board. The [U]p-window command in the afore mentioned pop-up menu can be used to move the cursor from one window to another one.
DANCAD3D (tm)'s text editor is useful in editing many types of the ASCII text files DANCAD3D (tm) uses to store information on your harddisk. Some of the drawing file types used by DANCAD3D (tm) are Binary, e.g. 3D-Quick, 2D-Real, and cannot be edited in the text editor. You may be able to convert Binary drawing files into my *.ASC file type and edit that since *.ASC is a ASCII text file type. To convert a drawing into ASCII file type you first load the other file type into the drawing workspace and then save the drawing using the Files Save ASCII command. For filetypes that do not load into the workspace, such as PIX and BMP there are file utility commands that convert them directly into ASCII files.
The [W]rite command, text editor, would mainly be used to: write or edit macro files, write or edit ASCII text drawing data files, write or edit G code tool path files, and write or edit text files for the BLOCK text drawing or macro command.
Be sure to see also Appendix D for a description of commands used in the Write command.
The primary reason DANCAD3D (tm) has a built in text editor is to allow you to write and edit macro files. You can write macro files by entering command key words, as in the example *.MAC files supplied, or by editing macro files created for you by the main menu [O]utput command. When editing macro files you should remember to leave a space character between all commands and parameters. And also to save the edited file back to disk before you exit the text editor (you save a file back to disk by selecting [W]rite file from the pop-up menu.) Press [F1] to get the pop-up menu while in the [W]rite command.
All macro files must start with the macro VERSION command. You can put more that one command on a line generally, unless you are using one of the commands that take whole lines up like the LETTERING command. Always remember to put a space between everything, since the macro interpreter needs to find a space between each keyword, number, or anything else.
See also the sections about the macro commands, including Appendix B which has detailed information about individual commands.
DANCAD3D (tm) has an ASCII data file format to allow easy access to the line segment data used to make drawings with DANCAD3D (tm). To create an ASCII data file of some element in the drawing workspace select [F]iles [S]ave [A]SCII from the main menu. The ASCII file format is the like the Macro ENTER command's parameter list, which may allow you to read an ASCII data file into the body of text of a macro file and have the line segment data entered into the workspace automatically when the macro file is run. To load an ASCII data file into a macro file simply load the macro file into the text editor then locate the text cursor at the point where you want to insert the ASCII drawing data, then load the *.ASC drawing data file into the text editor by pressing [F1] and then selecting Read file from the pop-up menu.
Editing ASCII data files is an alternative to using the [P]ull-point command in the [L]ines sub-menu of the drawing editor. The [N]umber command in the [L]ines sub-menu of the drawing editor can be used to help you locate the line segments you want to change in the ASCII text file of the element's line segment data.
Similar to editing ASCII data files is writing the files from scratch. If you know where you want line segments end points to be in the workspace you can simply type in the numbers for the values of the end points at the x, y, and z axis. The ASCII data file starts with the macro VERSION, remark, and ENTER commands on the top line, each line of text following has the six end point numbers and four attribute values for a single line segment, and the file ends with a line of text with ten spaced zeros to flag the end of the line segment data entry. The line segment data text lines start with the x axis value of the first point, then the y and z axis values of the first point, then the x y and z values of the second point, then come the attributes of the line color, and line width, then two spaced zeros for the shape and style attributes. The shape and style attributes, the last two attributes, are normally set to 0, but some times to other values when DANCAD3D (tm) has created the data file automatically, it is best to not change the shape and style numbers on each data line, since they have internal meaning, especially for triangle elements. See Appendix N for more information about the line attributes.
EXAMPLE: VERSION v2.7A { Write } ENTER
-1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0
1 1 0 1 -1 0 1 1 0 0
1 -1 0 -1 -1 0 1 1 0 0
-1 -1 0 -1 1 0 1 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
In the above example the x and y values change to make a square, the file specifies four line segments, and the line color and width are set to 1 in all four line segments. The z values were all set to zero since this file would be for a 2D element, but the z values can be positive or negative as well. Do not put comments before the VERSION macro command, or after the ENTER macro command, you can put an short file origin comment between VERSION and ENTER on the first line between { and } with a space between everything, as is shown in the example.
You might be able to write programs in some other computer language to produce DANCAD3D (tm) type *.ASC drawing data files if you wish to use DANCAD3D (tm) to print out some drawing line data you may have accumulated, or to load your line segment data into DANCAD3D (tm), DANCAM.EXE (tm), or DANPLOT.EXE (tm).
See also Appendix N for more information about the line attribute values that can be used. Since the line attribute values that are usable may change in future versions of the programs, it might be best not to use the line attributes other than valid values for the line color and width.
Since my CAD programs can read a sub-set of G codes you might use the Write command to edit or write a G code file that can be converted into an element in the drawing workspace by use of the Files Load Industry G code command.
G code files are divided into "blocks" which generally start with a block number and end with the end of the line carriage return or line feed character. The carriage return character is ASCII code number #13, and the line feed character is ASCII code number #10.
In G code files the letters are generally all capital, so you can put the [CapsLock] on while typing the G code blocks in. Different devices that read G codes may interpret them in somewhat different ways, so be sure you know what is going to happen before you use any G code file you write.
Below is an example of the type of G code created with the G code output feature, command NC Output G file in the drawing editor of a revision of v2.7B.
G90G00X-2.Y2.Z-2. G90G00X-1.Y2.Z-2. G90G00X-1.Y2.Z-2. G90G00X-1.Y1.Z-2. G90G00X-1.Y1.Z-2. G90G00X-1.Y1.Z0. G90G01X-1.Y1.Z0.F2. G90G01X-1.Y1.Z1.F2. G90G01X2.Y1.Z1.F2. G90G01X2.Y-1.Z1.F2. G90G01X-1.Y-1.Z1.F2. G90G01X-1.Y1.Z1.F2. G90G01X-1.Y1.Z1.F10. G90G01X-1.Y1.Z0.F10. G90G01X0.Y-.5Z0.F10. G90G01X0.Y-.5Z0.F2. G90G01X0.Y-.5Z1.5F2. G90G17G01X0.Y-.5Z1.5F1. G02X0.Y.5I0.J.5F1. G90G01X0.Y.5Z1.5F1. G90G01X1.Y.5Z1.5F1. G90G17G01X1.Y.5Z1.5F1. G02X1.Y-.5I0.J-.5F1. G90G01X1.Y-.5Z1.5F1. G90G01X0.Y-.5Z1.5F1. G90G01X0.Y-.5Z1.5F10. G90G01X0.Y-.5Z0.F10. G90G00X0.Y-.5Z0. G90G00X0.Y-.5Z-2. G90G00X0.Y-.5Z-2. G90G00X-2.Y-.5Z-2. G90G00X-2.Y-.5Z-2. G90G00X-2.Y2.Z-2.
Below is an example of G code of the type created with the Files Save Industry G code command in one of the revisions of v2.7B.
% O0001 N0001M03 N0002G90 N0003G01X0.Y0.Z1.F5. N0004G01Z0. N0005G01Y1. N0006G04P1000 N0007G01X.7071Y.7071F2. N0008G01X1.Y0. N0009G01X.7071Y-.7071 N0010G01X0.Y-1. N0011G01X-.7071Y-.7071 N0012G01X-1.Y0. N0013G01X-.7071Y.7071 N0014G01X0.Y1. N0015G01Y0.Z1.F5. N0016M02 %
After you output or save a G code file you can load that file into the Write command to edit it, correct mistakes, or insert extra codes here and there.
Always check any G code file you will be converting for use with my CAM programs by loading the G code file with the Files Load Industry G code command and then look at the loaded tool path closely by using the drawing editor display. Be sure to check the feed rates conversion to line colors, and how you have configured the CAM programs to use the line colors.
The formatting and production of the G code files may be different in the version or revision you have, the examples here may have been made by a different version or revision from the one you have.
See also the information about using G codes with my programs in Section: 3.1.35.0, and Section: 7.10.20.0.
The Block text command in the drawing editors [C]alligraphy sub-menu reads short text files and automatically draws an element of lettering into the workspace to correspond to the text in the short text file. You can use the [W]rite command from the main menu to edit short text files for the block text command, or you can use the foreign language compatible short text file editor, [E]dit in the [C]alligraphy sub-menu of the drawing editor. The Fit option of the [B]lock text command makes text look especially nice since Fit will automatically do vertical and horizontal justification on the text file so the block of text will fit perfectly into the space you have allowed in your drawing.
If you are going to edit text that can be represented using the standard ASCII, i.e. American (USA) Standard Code for Information Interchange, code seven bit font for loading by the Block text command you can use the Write command to edit and format the text. Be sure that you do not get any space characters at the ends of your lines of text, as these extra space characters can disturb the formatting of the text by the Block text command.
If you are going to edit international text, or text that needs a special screen font file loaded, you should use the Edit block text command in the drawing editor's Calligraphy sub- menu. The Edit block text command has an option to invert the screen background so that you can see if there are any space characters at the ends of the lines of text, so you can see them, and delete them.
Some other reasons for using the [W]rite command are: editing the screen font files. *.F08 and *.F14, created by the commands in the [C]alligraphy sub-menu of the drawing editor, and writing or editing index files, i.e. *.ALI, for the Alias symbol loading feature of the drawing editor.
The Write command can be used to edit or write DOS batch files to control the loading of programs, copy file, and other such tasks. The Write command can also be used to edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files to adjust your system, just be sure to save the files back to disk after editing them, and to edit my programs back to the DOS prompt before you shut down your computer or re-boot.
It is generally recommended that you do not manually edit the configuration files for DANCAM.EXE (tm) and DANPLOT.EXE (tm) since the configuration in v2.7 is best done through the program's own configuration menus. Making changes to the CAM programs configuration files, by editing them with a text editor, that might cause the CAM programs to malfunction.
You may use another text editor if you like, but you must be sure to save the ASCII files in the un-formatted or DOS *.TXT type file, since any special formatting commands inserted into the files may cause serious malfunctions. You can generally rename the ASCII file types to have the file extension *.TXT so that you can load them into a windows text editor, such as NOTEPAD (tm) or WORDPAD (tm). The files can be renamed to their original file extensions, if needed, after editing is completed.
Sometimes another text editor will fail to strip out the ending "control Z" end of file marker, ASCII code number #26. If you get an end of file marker in the middle of a file, you may experience the problem of the file only being read part the way through or giving an error message when you try to load the file. You may be able to remove the misplaced end of file marker by loading the file into the Write command, and then saving the file from the Write command to overwrite the messed up file.