Copyright (C) 1986-2008 by Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved.

No part of "This Web Site" (HTML document), including associated files, may be: distributed, sublicensed, transmitted, copied, archived, mirrored, modified, bundled, embedded, sold, given away, rented, loaned, or shared in any form without express written permission in a formal Vendor agreement contract dated and signed in ink obtained directly from Daniel H. Hudgins by registered postal mail. All agreements for permission to distribute expire after a period no greater than one year from the date of the signing of the agreement by Daniel H. Hudgins. See the current "EULA" for information regarding limited copying and storage for the purpose of "Beta Testing" "This Web Site."

To view or use the current version of this Web page you may need to reload or refresh the display of this page by your browser. Just clicking on the browser's [Reload] or [Refresh] icon may not be enough to insure that all of the page's most current contents have been cached and displayed. Some browsers may have additional commands to help display the page's most current contents such as: holding down the [Shift] key and clicking on the [Reload] icon, holding down the [Control] key and clicking on the [Refresh] icon, holding down the [Control] and [Shift] keys and clicking on the [Refresh] icon, pressing the [Control] and [F5] keys, pressing [Control] and the [R] key, or some other combination of keys or clicks. Check to see which commands your HTML browser uses to load the most current page contents into its cache and then to display them onto the screen.

This Web site is dedicated to the thousands of "users" of my programs, those who have helped test my programs over the last 22 or so years, and especially those who shared their experiences with me.

You must read this notice: This is a licensed Web site (HTML document and associated files). You must read and agree to be legally bound in contract by the Terms of Use and conditions given in the End User License Agreement ("EULA"), Legal Notices, Instructions, Warnings, Disclaimers, and all other text in "SECTION: 0" of "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) before reading or using any of the information, software programs, and or files, contained in, linked to, and or associated with, "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files). Any use or "Beta Testing" of "This Web Site" constitutes your acknowledgment of your full agreement with the current End User License Agreement ("EULA") and your decision to have this current license supersede all prior and contemporaneous agreements and understandings. Information and files in "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) have been placed here so that long time users of "The Author's" programs DANCAD3D.COM (tm) , DANCAM.EXE (tm) , or DANPLOT.EXE (tm) could help proofread the text of the documentation files or screens displayed, and also help test data files, example files, and or any software programs that might be made available from time to time, to aid "The Author" in finding mistakes, bugs, and other errors, omissions, defects, mistakes, and faults. Everything in "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) is "Beta Test", "Beta Code", Experimental, Preliminary, requires proofreading, or is being evaluated for possible revision, and is NOT warranted to be free of defect. To help "The Author" report any bugs, foul-ups, defects, or mistakes that you find, see "SECTION: 8" for instructions. "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) and all other files and programs by Daniel H. Hudgins are made available "AS IS" without warranty of any kind express, expressed, or implied. All offers and specifications are subject to change or discontinuation without notice of any kind. Please read "SECTION: 8" of "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) before trying to contact "The Author."

This section has text mostly about revisions to the "Beta Test" versions v2.7A and some revisions of v2.7B of my CAD and CAM programs, and might be looked to for updated information relating to changes from v2.5 or v2.6 of some of the program features. There have been changes made in versions subsequent to the preliminary versions of v2.7A or v2.71 that probably alter what is described in this section as it applies in some regards to that subsequent version. See also any other documentation files, and pages in this Web site (HTML document) for additional and or more recent information.

The information in this section is no longer intended for use with v2.7A since that version is out of date and no longer available, rather this information has been preserved so that persons who have been using out of date or discontinued versions could have a "stepping stone" to make their way to familiarity with how the programs have progressed. Some notes have been added here relating to changes that where made to features revised in v2.7C, but some of the features described here may no longer is operating as described in the version or revision you have. Be sure to see any newer documentation that may have been composed relating to any more recent revisions.

The HTML documentation in this SECTION: 3.3.7.1 was derived from the file UPDATE27.TXT file that was at one time, included in my *.ZIP file archive DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm). You may be able to download the current DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) program distribution by going to SECTION: 9.70.51.0.

In a revision of v2.7C the UPDATE27.TXT file was replaced by a shorter INFOV27C.TXT file more focused on recent changes. In my file DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) there may also be archived some other types of files like the ones described in this section, so check the *.ZIP file in its current revision to see what exactly is currently in it.

You may not distribute, sell, rent, share, or give away these HTML documentation files or printed copies of them. You may not extract text from these HTML documentation files for distribution, sale, rent, sharing, or giving away. You can use the [Print] option in your browser to make one copy for yourself to mark up in order to help me proofread the text for mistakes.

Documents may be available to download from time to time, you can check SECTION: 9 to see what the current situation with regard to downloadable files is. The names of these documentation files may change, and they may be edited, combined, or eliminated in the future, without notice.

You may need to adjust your browser for best viewing of the pre- formatted text by changing the "font" size using the commands in your browser (see the help in your browser, or use the pull-down menus in your HTML browser.) If some letters in words on the screen appear to be missing or scrambled try changing the font size in your browser as this sometimes happens even though the words are spelled correctly in the HTML code.

Use the "Edit, Find in page Ctrl+F" or "Edit, Find (in this page)... Ctrl+F" command in your browser to search for keywords within the documentation text in this HTML page. You will need to search over again in the other pages in this HTML document for the same keyword since your browser may not search for a keyword beyond the current page that is loaded.

My current program distribution file DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) is a *.ZIP file that holds the current "Beta Test" versions of my programs and associated files for "Beta Testing." This section refers to some of the preliminary v2.7A and v2.7B version revisions of the programs, look for other sections or documentation relating to any subsequent revisions, since v2.7A and v2.7B are out of date and no longer available.

The use and copying of these programs and files are governed by my current Terms of Use and End User License Agreement ("EULA") which are located in SECTION: 0 of this "Beta Test" Web site. You must read and fully agree to be legally bound by the current End User License Agreement ("EULA") before you use or "Beta Test" any of the files in my file DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm). If you are unable to read and agree to the current End User License Agreement ("EULA") do not use or "Beta Test" any of the files in my file the DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) archive file.

Be sure that you scan the programs and files in my DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) for virus or other contamination since you are responsible for checking them before you use them. These programs and this information are made available "AS-IS" and are without warranty of any kind express, expressed, or implied. Since these programs are "Beta Test" you must agree to become a "Beta Tester" before you make any use of them, see the End User License Agreement ("EULA") in this "Beta Test" Web site for more information. Be sure to read the current instructions in this "Beta Test" Web site regarding procedures for reporting program bugs and other such problems.

On some systems the *.ASC data files, or *.MAC macro files, may be able to be renamed *.TXT to avoid certain kinds of file type misinterpretation by text editor type programs and such. Thank you for helping test these "Beta Test" CAD and CAM programs.

Below is text extracted and revised somewhat from the original file UPDATE27.TXT that was written to be included in the preliminary versions of the v2.7A version and some revisions of v2.7B version of my DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) for preliminary information about changes in the CAD and CAM programs. You should read this information before you try to use or "Beta Test" the revised programs. This information is in addition to the previous documentation, i.e. a supplement to, and does not go into detail about many of the previously documented features, so you should therefore review the other sections and documentation as well.

The text of UPDATE27.TXT was derived from some notes I made to myself as I worked on the code for v2.7 over several years, so you should check this document, and the other documentation, against the programs before you do any "serious" testing of the programs since there may be some differences between the descriptions here and the current state of development of commands and features in the programs. Please report any discrepancies between the documentation and the programs or files that you find. Some of the text from this section has been incorporated into the other sections of this Web site, in doing that some of the text was further revised, and so may contain additional information, therefore after reading through all of this section you should also read through all of the other portions of this Web site, even those portions that might seem to be duplicates.

I have kept this preliminary information in one long file so that you can use the "find in page" feature of your HTML browser to search for a keyword relating to some new command or feature you are looking for more information about, otherwise you might have to search many more files.

See also the This Section and About DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) sub-sections above, as well as SECTION: 9.70.0.0 and SECTION: 9.70.51.0 for more information about any more current v2.7 revision.

Below is a preliminary partial list of some of the new things I worked on for several years after the release of v2.6C, all of these new or revised things may not work on your computer depending on your hardware and OS configuration, but this list should give you an idea of some of the features to look for in these revisions. Be sure to also see the information about changes made after the release of v2.7A.

The CAM programs also under went considerable revision and now may be able to achieve higher step rates and operate motors at higher speeds in some applications. The version numbers in v2.7 are composed with a letter after the 7 for the CAD programs, and a digit after the 7 for the CAM programs, e.g. v2.7A for CAD and v2.71 for CAM. You should include the full version code as well as the compile date and time for the *.COM or *.EXE program file in your bug reports.

Please report any disparity between the operation of the programs and the descriptions in this document, or other bugs and mistakes, see SECTION: 8 in the current On-Line Web site for current instructions.

Rather than distribute the programs on a set of floppy disks as I have in the past distributions of v2.7 will probably be distributed either as a *.ZIP file or as set of files in a directory on a CD-R disk. Since the programs need to write temporary files to the directory they are running in, you cannot run the programs until you copy them into a directory on your harddisk. The directory you copy the files into should be a special directory used just for my programs, and not for other programs.

Since v2.7 may still be undergoing development there may be more than one version or revision. Rather than copying the newer files over the older files, you should make a new sub- directory for each newer version or revision. You may want to keep an older version for a period while you check the newer version, since the newer version may not work as well as the older version for some task that you are testing.

You can use the DOS MD command to make a sub-directory to keep my programs in, I suggest that you name the sub-directory DC27, or DC2701, DC2702, DC2703 and so on if you need more than one copy to work on more than one project at a time.

EXAMPLE: C:\>MD C:\DC27

Then move or download the DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) file into that sub-directory, and "expand" or "extract" the zipped files using your UN-ZIP utility program. If you do not have an UN-ZIP utility you can probably search for a free one on the Internet.

Once all of the program and associated files have been copied, extracted, or expanded into the DC27 directory, run the DOS batch file named INSTALL.BAT so that the many sub- directories will be set up for the programs to use, and the drivers and font files will be copied to the needed sub-directories. If any files are missing or misplaced the programs may not function, or give error messages.

When you run the programs the first time you will need to wait while they go through some self calibration. DO NOT COPY THE PROGRAMS FROM ONE COMPUTER TO ANOTHER AFTER THEY HAVE GONE THROUGH THEIR SELF CALIBRATION, since doing so would probably result in timing errors. If you need to install the programs on more than one computer do so only with the original files, and not the ones from after you have run the programs the first time!

If you upgrade your computer or make changes that would effect system speed, the programs should be deleted and reinstalled so that they will be properly adjusted to the new environment.

The CAM programs are DOS programs and have not been designed specifically for a multi-tasking environment. You should not have a TSR program, such as a clock display program, or any other program running in "background" while the CAM programs are operating. It is better if your computer would be booted with a DOS or re-booted with a "DOS 95" system disk before running the CAM programs. In order to run your harddisk under DOS your harddisk should probably have been formatted as DOS FAT, and divided into four 2.1GB partitions. Harddisks larger than 8.4GB may need to be formatted so that only 8.4GB of the total disk space are used, in order to be compatible with DOS 6.22. You must disable the "turbo" switch on your computer so that the computer speed cannot be changed after the programs have been run the first time. Do not run any programs at the same time as the CAM programs that use the Parallel port, Serial port, or Joy-stick ports.

The revised CAD programs v2.7 now seem to run under Win95 (tm) but you cannot run more than one copy at a time in the same sub-directory, and you should not run any programs in "background" that use any of the same hardware, such as the Parallel printer ports, or Serial ports. Each of the CAD programs might work best if they are the only program running on your computer. When the CAD programs are run under Win95 (tm) the mouse center button, i.e. on three button mice, will probably not work, so you will have to use the alternative keyboard command, such as the [Spacebar] in the Drawing editor, or [F1] in the Write command. When run under DOS with the appropriate DOS driver the mouse center button should work as it did in v2.6, unless you have forced the two button mouse mode with the new mouse configuration file.

The amount of free DOS memory should be as great as possible since the programs need almost all of the free DOS memory to operate. Unload any resident programs that use DOS memory that you can.

The CAD programs will benefit from a fast harddisk, and a disk cashing program that uses memory above the DOS 640KB. The CAD programs may also be able to be copied to a RAM disk above the DOS 640KB by using the XCOPY command, if your system is a '286 or better. For using the hidden line display modes a PIII coppermine processor, or the equivalent, will be a better choice than slower processors.

Some SVGA cards may require an external VESA TSR driver since their internal video BIOS has bugs or does not support some of the VESA modes, if you cannot get the SVGA modes to work you might try an older SVGA video card that supported the VESA video standard. Some AGP video boards may not work under DOS, but I have some PCI VESA SVGA cards that work just fine without extra drivers. ISA SVGA VESA cards might work in newer computers that have an ISA slot if you take the PCI or AGP video out and or disable it.

Since these are "Beta Test" programs you should re-boot your computer after running them, before you run any other programs.

Look for any README.*, *.TXT, *.BAT, or such files, for additional instructions for any particular distribution.

If you have un-zipped my DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) file, you should be able to use the DOS COPY command to copy any *.TXT files to your printer, e.g.

C:\DC27>COPY *.TXT PRN

If you have a serial printer you should be able to use the DOS MODE command to set the serial port before you use the COPY command, e.g.

C:\DC27>COPY *.TXT COM1 /B

If you are using WINDOWS 95 (tm) you may be able to load the *.TXT file, file into WORDPAD.EXE (tm) or INTERNET EXPLORER (tm) and use the print command in those programs to print out the file on your printer.

DANCAD87.COM (tm) is a special version of DANCAD3D.COM (tm) that uses the math co-processor. The use of the math co-processor can speed up some program operations, and slow down some others. In general DANCAD87.COM (tm) will run a little faster on some commands that do not use the disk much, and slower on commands that use the disk quite a bit.

I may have included a simple "bench mark" macro to get a rough idea of the speed difference between running on DANCAD3D.COM (tm) and DANCAD87.COM (tm), called 8087B1.MAC in DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm). The speed for this bench mark seems to go in the order fast to slow of: WINDOWS 95 (tm), DOS 6.22 using a RAM disk without SMARTDRV, DOS 6.22 using a harddisk with SMARTDRV with both the read and write cache on, DOS 6.22 using a harddisk with SMARTDRV with just the read cache on, and using a "DOS 95" floppy boot disk with a CONFIG.SYS to set BUFFERS=99. If you are running my CAD programs off a harddisk under DOS you should almost definitely use SMARTDRV or the equivalent to cache the harddisk. The video board type selected, program revision, WINDOWS 95 (tm) settings and modes, and the amount of free DOS 640KB memory that is free will also effect the program speed, so YOUR RESULTS MAY VARY FROM THOSE GIVEN HERE. By using a processor newer than a PIII coppermine you may find that my programs may not run faster, and might run just a little slower, at the same rated CPU clock speed, i.e. you might need a higher clock speed to get the same performance, so test the system yourself, if speed is important to you, before you purchase it.

Here are some preliminary very approximate speed checks using 8087B1.MAC:

 12.8 sec. DANCAD87.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under WINDOWS 95 5400 HD.
 22.7 sec. DANCAD3D.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under WINDOWS 95 5400 HD.

 20.4 sec. DANCAD87.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under DOS 6.22 RAMDISK no SMARTDRV.
 25.4 sec. DANCAD3D.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under DOS 6.22 RAMDISK no SMARTDRV.

 21.9 sec. DANCAD87.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under DOS 6.22 RAMDISK w/SMARTDRV r/w+.
 26.1 sec. DANCAD3D.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under DOS 6.22 RAMDISK w/SMARTDRV r/w+.

 23.7 sec. DANCAD87.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under DOS 6.22 RAMDISK w/SMARTDRV r+.
 26.6 sec. DANCAD3D.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under DOS 6.22 RAMDISK w/SMARTDRV r+.

 36.7 sec. DANCAD87.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under DOS 6.22 7200 HD SMARTDRV r/w+.
 31.5 sec. DANCAD3D.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under DOS 6.22 7200 HD SMARTDRV r/w+.

 40.6 sec. DANCAD87.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under DOS 6.22 7200 HD SMARTDRV r+.
 39.8 sec. DANCAD3D.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under DOS 6.22 7200 HD SMARTDRV r+.

197.6 sec. DANCAD87.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under DOS 6.22 7200 HD no SMARTDRV.
 58.7 sec. DANCAD3D.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under DOS 6.22 7200 HD no SMARTDRV.

146.3 sec. DANCAD87.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under "DOS 95" BUFFERS=99 5400 HD.
118.2 sec. DANCAD3D.COM (tm) on 733MHz PIII coppermine under "DOS 95" BUFFERS=99 5400 HD.

 33.2 sec. DANCAD87.COM (tm) on 500MHz PIII under DOS 6.22 RAMDISK w/SMARTDRV r+.
 37.1 sec. DANCAD3D.COM (tm) on 500MHz PIII under DOS 6.22 RAMDISK w/SMARTDRV r+.

 46.8 sec. DANCAD87.COM (tm) on 500MHz PIII under DOS 6.22 7200 HD SMARTDRV r+.
 48.2 sec. DANCAD3D.COM (tm) on 500MHz PIII under DOS 6.22 7200 HD SMARTDRV r+.

177.5 sec. DANCAD87.COM (tm) on 500MHz PIII under "DOS 95" BUFFERS=99 5400 HD.
145.1 sec. DANCAD3D.COM (tm) on 500MHz PIII under "DOS 95" BUFFERS=99 5400 HD.

You can see how your computer compares to these 8087B1.MAC tests. Different tasks will be faster or slower depending on the ratio of CPU work or harddisk access is used. My CAM programs use a different overlay method than that used by the CAD programs, and so the results of bench marks on the CAD programs, will probably not say too much about the CAM programs results.

Most of the drawing data files created with DANCAD87.COM (tm) such as the *.2D and *.3D types are not compatible with DANCAD3D.COM (tm), because DANCAD87.COM uses a different internal numeric format. So, when you need to exchange drawing files between DANCAD3D.COM (tm) and DANCAD87.COM (tm) you should use the Files Save ASCII and Files Load ASCII commands only.

DANCAD87.COM (tm) will only work on computers that have a math co-processor installed, or that have a processor with a math co- processor built into it. If you have a "stripped down" processor that lacks the math co-processor you will not be able to use DANCAD87.COM (tm).

All of my programs other than DANCAD87.COM (tm) should now in their v2.7 revision run on any 8088 compatible processor from 4.7MHz to 733MHz, and may work up to 10GHz or faster, but has not been tested at those speeds yet.

Although my programs have been designed to operate under DOS 2.1 through 6.22, it may be possible to operate v2.7 under WINDOWS 95 (tm), or a computer booted with a "DOS 95" boot disk made from the DOS prompt in WINDOWS 95 (tm).

My CAD programs v2.7 seem to work well now under WINDOWS 95 (tm) since I made some changes to various things like the mouse auto detection. The three button mouse's center button may not work using the WINDOWS 95 (tm) mouse driver, but the alternative keyboard keys can be used in place of the mouse center button. You should probably not have any other programs running in background while my CAD programs are operating, but you may be able to go out to the windows "desk top" by pressing [Ctrl] and [Esc] while my CAD programs are running in non-SVGA modes, and then go back into the programs by clicking on the button "symbol" at the bottom of the "desk top" on the bar along the bottom of the screen. The CAD programs should be run in FULL SCREEN window mode since the mouse seems to work better that way. You should not use the printer port with any other programs while you are trying to print drawings from my programs.

If you are using the SVGA display modes, such as with the macro DISPLAY command or the main menu Preview command you should not use the Windows (tm) commands that let you "pop" out of the program to the desktop or another program since the screen may get messed up when you re-enter the program. Instead quit back to to a text mode screen, e.g. the main menu, and then "pop" out of the program. You may be able to "pop" out and back in in SVGA mode sometimes, but I do not recommend that you try to since the screen may get messed up, the program may look like it crashed, or the program may crash, possibly because Windows (tm) is not putting everything back the way it was before you popped out every time, or some other kind of compatibility issue.

I have made changes to v2.7 to fix problems that came up when older versions were run on computers faster than 133MHz. I have tested v2.7 on computers up to 733MHz PIII coppermine, and not found any serious problems with that computer speed. I think the programs should be good on computers up to 10GHz or faster, but have no way to test that at this time, so I cannot tell what might happen on computers that fast.

The CAM programs are not specifically designed to be used while windows is running in multi-tasking mode, but you might make a "DOS 95" floppy disk by exiting to the WINDOWS 95 (tm) DOS prompt, putting a blank floppy disk in your A: floppy drive, then enter the DOS commands:

C:>FORMAT A: /U /S

The system boot files will take up most of the floppy disk, but they are mostly all that is needed on that disk. I am still experimenting with what happens when my programs are run under WINDOWS 95 (tm), so be careful when attempting to try these ideas out yourself.

If you do not have a DOS icon, you can get to the DOS prompt by clicking on the [Start] "button" at the lower left of Windows 95 (tm), then select the [Run] option and enter the word COMMAND on the run prompt program name line, this should open a DOS window, that should let you enter DOS commands. My programs generally run best in "full screen" mode, which you can get by clicking on the icon at the top of the DOS window that has four arrows pointing out from its center, i.e. when the screen is not already in full screen mode.

It might be theoretically possible to run the CAM programs in a window in multi-tasking mode on computers faster than 500MHz since window's "house keeping" will only be a small part of the computer's time, but those interruptions may interfere with some of the program's features such as the "overdrive" ramping probably causing the stepper motors to stall when the motors are run faster than their "pull in" speed. There may be some other problems with the auto calibration of the feed rates, the RPM test, and other parts of the program that are effected by interruptions. The small interruptions might also degrade surface finish to some extent. Windows (tm), or other, programs that run in background constantly should not be loaded while the CAM programs are running, such programs might be print spoolers, network programs, audio or video players, modem, harddisk or virus utilities, and internet programs.

I have not done useful testing of my CAM programs v2.7 under WINDOWS 95 (tm) using servo motors yet, but the servo motors might let you get away with some minor interruptions, it would depend on how fast you were trying to run the servo motors, and how bad the interruptions are on your system.

I have noticed that some harddisks go to "sleep" after a period of non-use, and when they wake up the system sometimes locks up for a period of time, which might cause servo motors to over- shoot, or stepper motors to stall. The system can sometimes also briefly lock up when the harddisk goes into sleep mode. You may need to use a harddisk without this "sleep" function in some applications.

If you put the CAM programs in three sub-directories, and open three windows (3.11?) you might be able to run three machines at using LPT1, LPT2, and LPT3, but I do not recommend that you ever try that since the motors would have to be run slower and the performance would probably not be very good. It is better to use three "bare bones" computers or old "junk" computers to run the CAM programs. At any rate you should NEVER try to run the CAM programs at the same time that some other application is running in "background." Do not run two of my programs CAD and CAD, CAM and CAM, or CAD and CAM in the same file sub- directory at the same time.

It may be possible to run two copies of the CAD programs in two windows if the CAD programs are in different sub- directories. They will probably not run at the same time but you would be able to switch back and forth by pressing [Alt] and [Tab] when they are not in SVGA video modes. You might want to do this to have a macro in the [W]rite command in one copy, and use the [R]un command in the other copy while de- bugging a macro. Just be sure that you DO NOT OPEN THE SAME FILE in both copies of the CAD program or you will probably get problems with file sharing.

I should mention that if my programs crash, or are shut down wrong, under WINDOWS 95 (tm) the OS might think the file is still in use and give you error messages telling you that you cannot load, save, copy, or delete a file even though you do not think the file is in use. These "phantom" error messages should go away after you re-boot the computer.

You should probably not try booting your computer with a DOS 6.22 floppy if your harddisk has WINDOWS 95 (tm) installed on it. Be sure that you do not run any DOS 6.22 utilities that adversely effect the harddisk, or you may scramble the FAT and make a mess out of the disk's file directory. Booting from DOS 6.22 might not work, anyway, if the harddisk was not formatted for DOS 6.22 originally, or the harddisk is bigger than 8.4GB or has a partition bigger than 2.1GB.

If the above discussion seems unfamiliar to you, you might want to think about learning more about general computer topics, such as making a floppy boot disk, from other sources before starting your "Beta Testing" of my new programs.

One of the most important changes to the CAD and CAM programs is the addition of color graphic display modes. Some of the new modes work on regular VGA video cards, but the higher resolutions displayed in the CAD programs require a SVGA VESA v1.2 or v2.0 compatible video card. Some older EGA and VGA boards may not work with some program features used by those modes, but I have not found any serious problems with the boards I have tried so far. If their are bugs in the video board BIOS that make one or more video modes not work properly, you might be able to use another video board and have those modes display properly.

Many SVGA video cards made for 80486 computers supported SVGA VESA modes that are compatible with my programs in there present state of development, but some newer video cards may lack the VESA BIOS, or may have their bus arranged to only work under Windows (tm) and not DOS.

I have tried several video cards and all that I have work with my programs, for the most part, but they are those boards that seem to be compatible with DOS type software.

Video cards that are not compatible because they lack the on board video BIOS may be able to be used if a TSR program is run before my programs to load a software BIOS substitute for the hardware BIOS, but although I have may have seen some notes on Web sites of video board manufactures making references to various downloads, I do not have those video boards, and cannot tell if such software would be compatible with my programs.

I have tested some PCI bus video cards that state that they work with DOS software, and found that video modes up to 1280x1024 seem to work, but one brand did not seem to support 1600x1200 in the VESA modes. Which VESA modes are supported by video boards seems to vary from one chip set to another. Some BIOS chips on some video boards may contain bugs, so if some of the modes do not display properly you might try a board from a different manufacture that uses a different chip set, but be careful though since the same, possibly defective, chips may be on both boards even though they carry a different brand name.

The boards that seem to work are generally the cheep ones, including some that are from the China area. You may be able to get a used ISA, VLB, or PCI video board cheep and find that it works better with my programs than newer video boards.

You generally do not need more than 4MB or 8MB of memory on the video board for the VESA modes. If you are not going to use the highest resolution modes then a video board with 1MB or 2MB might work.

I have also added color display modes for EGA boards, as well as regular VGA boards. The CGA and Hercules (tm) monochrome graphics are still supported, so if your fancy new video board does not support my programs, you might be able to stick in some old board you have laying around and still make use of my programs graphic displays.

The main video boards that I have been testing v2.7 with seem to use the "SiS 6326" graphic accelerator chip, although I do not make special calls to that chip. I have tried the programs with another board that seems to use the "Trident Blade3D 9880" chip set, which seemed to work in at least some modes. All three of these boards use the PCI bus. I also have tried an older SVGA Genoa (tm) board that seems to use a "Cirrus Logic CL- GD5428-" chip. You might try one of these if you have some extra video boards laying around.

Even if your video board supports the needed modes, your monitor will probably not. Mostly only new monitors in the larger sizes support 1600x1200 resolution, so if you try to use those modes on an older monitor it will go out of sync and you will not be able to see what is on the screen to enter commands. Also it may not be healthy for your monitor to be out of sync, it might over heat or burn out. So only select display modes that both your video board and your monitor support properly.

If you want to save color drawings in the 1600x1200 resolution video modes as a BMP color or gray scale graphics file, and your video board supports that mode in a way that is compatible with my programs, and your video monitor does not support that mode, you may be able to turn your monitor off and have my CAD programs run from a macro to display the drawing and save it to the BMP file, and then return to video text mode so that you can safely turn the monitor back on.

Believe it or not the pre-v1.0 c. 1985 version of DANCAD3D.COM (tm) had some "hidden line" removal, but running it on my brothers IBM PCjr (tm) it took hours or days just to redraw the screen or print out, so I removed that portion of the code and developed the CAD programs for wire frame animation. Since computers now are perhaps as much as 2000 times faster than that old IBM PCjr (tm) what took two or three hours before now takes minutes or less. This length of time seems more like a reasonable wait for the screen to redraw, especially when working in the drawing editor.

Complex objects and scenes can still take a day or longer to calculate, even on an about 1GHz computer, but that is better than a year or longer!

So off and on over the years I was working on parts of the code for hidden line removal, and after the release of v2.6 I decided to rework all of DANCAD3D.COM (tm) to be compatible with hidden line removal, without disturbing much of the usability that the program had for simple line drawings, editing tool paths, and wire frame animation.

In order to make the program work as it did before, but have a new capability, I store the triangles used for hidden line removal as two line segments, the first line segment goes from p1 to p2 of the triangle, the second line segment goes from p3 of the triangle to p4 which is the end point of a "normal" from the plane of the triangle. The line segments from p2 to p3, and p3 to p1 are IMPLIED and not stored in the workspace. Since the two line segments that make up each triangle and its normal are always consecutive and in that order you must never erase one of them or put them out of order or you will get LOTS of error messages. The program has some built in checking for this kind of error, but you should be aware of the need to always keep the line pairs together if you manually edit line data. By the way, in the discussion here p1 means "point 1" as in point one of the triangle's three points. Each point would have its own X, Y, and Z value, i.e. p1x, p1y, p1z, and so on.

If you enter triangles manually by writing or editing an ASCII file you should set p4 to be equal to p3, and then use the commands in the drawing editor to generate the normals to reflect the changes to the triangles end points, except for simple triangles parallel to the major axis, you would probably not be able to set the values for p4 correctly yourself. See the Correct and other commands in the drawing editor's Hidden sub-menu.

The program assumes that triangles facing the viewer have line directions that move from p1 to p2 to p3 in a clockwise direction, and that p4 is pointing nearer to the user than p3. If p4 points away, or the triangle is counterclockwise the triangle is not displayed in some modes to save time re-drawing the screen, since you cannot see the back side of objects.

Sometimes when using the Lathe or other commands if the source element lines are drawn backwards the normals and triangles will be the wrong way around. To see if this has happened you can use some special display modes in the drawing editor or the main menu Preview command to see the normally invisible normal line segments. If you see the normals pointing in the wrong direction there are some commands to change the direction so that they go the way you want, i.e. pointing outside of the shape you are drawing. See the Correct, Revert and other commands in the drawing editor's Hidden sub-menu.

The line attributes have been altered to allow the program to identify line segments that are "free" old type line segments, from the new triangle line segments. You should let the program automatically assign these attributes, and not try to change them manually. You can still edit the line color and width generally but leave the line shape and line stile attribute alone for now. If you need to edit the triangle attributes, read Appendix N first.

You should not mix elements that have triangles in them, with elements that just have line segments in them. Although many commands can still operate on elements that have either line segments or triangles, some can only operate on one or the other. Some commands convert elements that have line segments into elements that have triangles, so you will have to keep in mind what you are doing and what type of data is in the elements you are working with.

When drawing elements for display with hidden line removal, remember that you are drawing the outside surface of the object, without portions of the surface under or passing through the surface of other objects. The objects need to be drawn as having a volume of thickness enclosed by the outer surface, and not just the "front" or when you rotate the object there will be "holes" appearing.

To produce hidden line removal the program sorts the triangles, and then displays the triangles that face forward, starting at the back and working in order to the front. This trick works most of the time, but it can get confused if the elements are not drawn carefully to make the triangles sort in the right order. Sub-dividing triangles to be smaller than the distance between objects generally improves the odds that the triangles will sort in the right order, but slows down the sorting since there will be many more triangles, so generally you draw large triangles where objects are at a distance, and smaller ones in and around where to objects meet. See the Divide and other commands in the drawing editor's Hidden sub-menu.

Drawing elements for hidden line removal is a complex subject, so I will have to leave any possible drawing lessons for some other time, my goal here was to explain how the program is set up to operate, and to give some insight to what the many new commands are used for. Drawing for hidden line removal is somewhat more complex than drawing for wire frame, so if you find it too much work you can still use the program for wire frame animation just as you have been doing. There may be some example macro files to look at, that came in the *.ZIP archive along with the programs, e.g. DEMO*.MAC or EX*.MAC, that might help you learn something about using the commands to draw for hidden line display.

The display modes used by the main menu Preview command and the commands in the Hardcopy sub-menu have been expanded to allow for display and printing of hidden line elements. Which of these modes will look best depends of what kind of video board you have, what your elements are of, and what type of printer you will be using.

In order to print color drawings you can try to save the Preview screen as a color BMP file, and probably use the software that came with your scanner to output the drawing to your color printer. Color BMP files look best when saved from a VESA compatible SVGA video board that is able to work with my programs. Black and White drawings can be printed directly from DANCAD3D.COM (tm) using some of the same drivers as before.

When printing my CAD program does not usually fill in the background, since laser print out generally does not look good with the whole page black, rather the program tries to make the drawing look like a pen and ink drawing with or with out shading as you chose by the display mode. You should set the line width in your drawing elements to 3 or 5 using the round equal pen shape mode for your display or printing using hidden line display modes that show the element edges as outlines.

If you print a color BMP file saved from the Preview command the quality of the printout will depend on the program you are using, and your color printer. To put drawings on the internet, the BMP file might be able to be converted to JPG or GIF in the software that came with your scanner, but you should set the compressing to the least compression setting so that the drawing does not become fuzzy. GIF might look better than JPG for some kinds of drawings, particularly drawings with thin lines.

The background color or shade of gray can be set from the Set-up Palette command in the drawing editor, or by using the PALETTE macro command. At present, the drawing editor and the Preview command, use the default background color assigned to the same value, color index 0. You can override the background color in the Preview command by loading a Pixel file as a background file. You can also load a background of any color with the LOAD PIXEL macro command if you use the LOAD PIXEL command before the DISPLAY command. The setting for the background file in the Preview command is in the exit menu that pops up after the first time the screen draws, and you press [Esc]. See also the CRT Background command to make colored background files to use with DISPLAY or Preview.

The display modes and their operation may change since I have not finalized the display code values, but here are the perspective display modes that I was working on around when this preliminary information was written:

Mode 1 is the default display mode and for line drawings.

Modes 2 & 3 are for checking that triangles are drawn correctly.

Modes 4 & 5 are for making silhouette traveling mats for special effects.

The modes in the table below are for display on the video screen, see printer modes list further below this table.

In v2.7G the 20 series of hidden line display modes was modified so that mode 21 now does the outlining of the edges in the same color as the triangle fill, and mode 24 does the triangle fill without the outlining of the edges. The change to mode 21 and mode 24 were to allow for the production of traveling mats that will fit the outline of the shapes when the shapes are displayed with outlines, that is the outlining changes the size of the silhouette mate somewhat, so there needed to be a option to make the mate with or without the outlining.

Also in v2.7G a new display mode 6 was added that displays the triangles in a surface as random colors other than the background fill color. Mode 6 can be used with the Preview or DISPLAY command, and in the Drawing Editor. Check for any current and update documents for any information about changes to the display modes.

mode . Tri fill color . Tri outline color . lines shown          .  notes

  1  . black          . line color         . edges               . also works for line drawings
  2  . black          . line color         . sides               . to see triangles
  3  . black          . line color         . sides + normals     . to see normals
  4  . black          . none               . none                . use with a white background for mate
  5  . white          . none               . none                . use with a black background for mate
  6  . random         . none               . none                . use to see surface triangles

[ 10 series modes do not sort triangles, for quick set up of perspective values ]

 10 . no fill         . line color         . forward edges       . quick perspective adjustments, no sort
 11 . no fill         . line color         . all edges           . edge wire-frame, no sort
 12 . no fill         . line color         . all sides           . sides wire-frame, no sort
 13 . no fill         . line color         . all sides + normals . normals wire-frame, no sort

[ 20 series modes fill triangles with line color, for use with M16 or C16 palette modes ]

 20 . line color      . black              . edges               . for M16 or C16 with background other than black
 21 . line color      . line color         . edges               . for M2 to make traveling mats with outlines
 22 . line color      . white              . edges               . for M2, M16, or C16 with background other than white
 23 . line color      . xor line color     . edges               . for M2, M16, or M16
 24 . line color      . none               . none                . for M2 to make traveling mats without outlines

[ 30 series modes lambert shade by the whole triangle like lambert using triangle sort order ]

 30 . sort shade      . black              . edges               . for M256 or C256
 31 . sort shade      . line color         . edges               . "
 32 . sort shade      . white              . edges               . "
 33 . sort shade      . xor line color     . edges               . "
 34 . sort shade      . none               . none                . "

[ 40 series modes lambert shade by the pixel, with automatic lambert settings ]

 40 . AL shade        . black              . edges               . for M256 or C256
 41 . AL shade        . line color         . edges               . "
 42 . AL shade        . white              . edges               . "
 43 . AL shade        . xor line color     . edges               . "
 44 . AL shade        . none               . none                . "

[ 50 series modes lambert shade by the pixel, with manual lambert settings ]

 50 . ML shade        . black              . edges               . for M256 or C256
 51 . ML shade        . line color         . edges               . "
 52 . ML shade        . white              . edges               . "
 53 . ML shade        . xor line color     . edges               . "
 54 . ML shade        . none               . none                . "

[ 60 series modes automatic lambert + light source shade by the pixel ]

 60 . AL + LS shade   . black              . edges               . for M256 or C256
 61 . AL + LS shade   . line color         . edges               . "
 62 . AL + LS shade   . white              . edges               . "
 63 . AL + LS shade   . xor line color     . edges               . "
 64 . AL + LS shade   . none               . none                . "

[ 70 series modes manual lambert + light source shade by the pixel ]

 70 . ML + LS shade   . black              . edges               . for M256 or C256
 71 . ML + LS shade   . line color         . edges               . "
 72 . ML + LS shade   . white              . edges               . "
 73 . ML + LS shade   . xor line color     . edges               . "
 74 . ML + LS shade   . none               . none                . "

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The video board you are using limits the quality of the results you can get. Also even if you have a SVGA board that can display all modes your video monitor may go out of sync on the higher resolution video modes. The codes to enter to select the various video modes are displayed by the main menu Preview command, such as E640M16 for monochrome display on an EGA board with 640 by 350 pixels, or S1280C256 for 256 palette mode color mode on a SVGA board with 1280 by 1024 resolution. Older video boards such as Monochrome graphics, or CGA should still work but will not look good with some display modes because of the lack of palette colors.

The video board type is selected from the small menu that comes up over the opening title screen, and that selection limits which of the various video modes you can select later with the main menu Preview command.

You should check your video board manual to see which modes are supported, and then check that your monitor can display them without going out of sync. Do not try to display modes other than Hercules (tm) (720 by 348 monochrome graphics mode) on a Hercules (tm) or monochrome graphics (720 by 348) board or monitor. Do not try to display Hercules (tm) on video boards that do not support that mode since the BIOS will probably not intervene, and problems or damage may result.

Many of the display modes are not meant to be used normally, so you should probably just use the modes listed below most of the time.

When displaying triangles with the modes that show the triangle edge lines you should set the line width in the triangle elements to 3 or 5 with the round equal shape option. This reduces parts of the edge lines disappearing during the triangle fill when the elements are displayed at various angles.

Before using the macro DISPLAY command you need to set the lighting variables if you use the modes that need them. Use these variable names in the default current directory that the program is running in since these variable names are the ones that the program will look for for setting the lighting values.

LS0ZFAR_.VAR Point beyond the deepest part of the elements, neg normally.
LS0ZNEAR.VAR Point nearer than the closest part of elements, pos normally.
LS1XDEG_.VAR Sets x rotation of movable light source 1, normally left at 0.
LS1YDEG_.VAR Sets y rotation of movable light source 1, normally +90 to -90.
LS1ZDEG_.VAR Sets z rotation of movable light source 1, normally +90 to -90.
LS0LAMB_.VAR Sets brightness of diffuse light source 0, normally 0.5 to 1.0.
LS0REFL_.VAR Brightness of diffuse light 0's reflection, normally 0.5 to 1.0.
LS1BRIG_.VAR Sets brightness of movable light source 1, normally 0.5 to 1.0.
LS1REFL_.VAR Brightness of movable light 1's reflection, normally 0.5 to 1.0.

If you do not assign these variables and old ones are on your harddisk, the program will read the old values and you may get confused as to why the program is not using the default values, so be sure to assign these variables with the values you want before you use the macro DISPLAY command.

Variables LS0ZFAR_.VAR and LS0ZNEAR.VAR are used by display mode series 50 and 70, but not series 40 and 60 because mode series 40 and 60 automatically find the near and far points for the elements in the workspace. When doing animation you do not normally want the far and near points for the diffuse lighting moving around as the elements move, so mode series 70 lets you fix those values. Display mode series 50 might be used to prepare a tool path, in such a case you would want to be able to use the far and near points for clipping.

Here is some example macro code showing how these new commands might be used:

VERSION v2.7C
; Example macro code.
WYSIWYG     1 { Set "What You See Is What You Get" state }
PALETTE 1 0 4 { Set pallet color value for background }
GRAPH_MODE S1280C256 { Set SVGA color graphics mode }

{ lighting vars used by hidden line display preview mode 74 }
LET LS0ZFAR_.VAR =  -7.75 { for DISPLAY }
LET LS0ZNEAR.VAR =  +5.50 { for DISPLAY }
LET LS1XDEG_.VAR =   0    { for DISPLAY }
LET LS1YDEG_.VAR = -75    { for DISPLAY }
LET LS1ZDEG_.VAR = -45    { for DISPLAY }
LET LS0LAMB_.VAR =  0.85  { for DISPLAY }
LET LS0REFL_.VAR =  0.8   { for DISPLAY }
LET LS1BRIG_.VAR =   1    { for DISPLAY }
LET LS1REFL_.VAR =   1    { for DISPLAY }

# 1 DISPLAY -25 -30 0 -20 100 74 1.25 0 { Display element }
; End example macro code.

When printing triangles with the modes that show the triangle edge lines you should set the line width in the triangle elements to 3 or 5 with the round equal shape option. This reduces parts of the edge lines disappearing during the triangle fill when the elements are displayed at various angles.

Differences in the display modes for printing, particularly to the JET page files, or commands that use the JET page files as an intermediate are:

modes = 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70

 The triangle line color is forced 1, black toner.

modes = 21, 30, 41, 51, 61, 71

 The triangle line color is 1, black toner, unless 0.

modes = 22, 32, 42, 52, 62, 72

 The triangle line color is forced to 0, blank paper.

modes = 23, 33, 43, 53, 63, 73

 The triangle line color is 0 unless the line color is 0.

modes = 24, 34, 44, 54, 64, 74

 The triangle line color outline is not displayed (shading or fill only).

On the JET page or print out color 0 is the white paper, and color 1 is the black toner. The background color on the JET page is the blank paper (white) rather than the default black or gray as on the video screen.

If you use JET ADD to a JET page that was all set to 1's (black toner) the triangles filled with 0's will print as paper white on top of a black toner background. The Pixel backgrounds do not work on the JET page printout, but you can use the JET commands to shade the JET page before using JET ADD if you want a background other than plain paper.

The preferred modes for printing hidden line drawings using the JET WORKSPACE or JET ADD commands would be:

1 = blank "white" filled triangles with black edge outlines on
blank background.

60, 70 = shaded surfaces with black edge outlines on blank
paper background.

Since the line color used in the triangles is used to find the triangle fill color in modes 60 and 70 you can adjust the darkness of the elements somewhat by picking different line color numbers for the elements, in addition to using the lighting adjustment values associated with modes 60 and 70.

Paper white edge outlines on dark shaded triangles does not generally work very well because the thin white lines are hard to see. It is usually better to have dark outlines and lightly shaded triangles on a light paper background.

The shading values are reversed so that the JET values for the "dark" shaded areas are set to mostly 1's and the "light" shaded areas are set to mostly 0's. Therefore if you adjust the lighting values to make the video display lighter, the printout will also be made lighter in the shaded parts of the triangles.

Although the display modes 64 and 74 are preferred for the SVGA display and saving the BMP files, the modes 60 and 70 generally look better for line art printout on a laser printer because the edge and junction triangle's edge outlines give a more definite delineation of the elements form.

Setting the line thickness in the triangle elements to 3 or more, with Round Equal line shape, can help make the outlines of the triangle's edges more bold on the printout so as to improve the outline of the surfaces, you can use the [L]ines edit [L]ine style command in the drawing editor or the LINETYPE macro command to change the line width in the triangle elements.

The brightness values displayed by the [J]et [V]iew command do not give an exact impression of the shading because the screen resolution is less than the printer and the pixels get merged in a way that alters small details such as the shading dots used in "line art" two color drawings. The toner darkness setting in the printer can also effect the shading darkness. If you are going to photocopy a printout the brightness of the shading will also change because the copier will lighten or darken small details such as the shading dots.

Drawing elements made with the Hardcopy Ready command should not be enlarged or reduced since the raster lines may get spread apart and become visible, or the shading dots may get too close together and look darker, or too far apart and look lighter. The element made by Hardcopy Ready is normally meant to print at a scale of 240. Also you should not make a Hardcopy Ready type file with the 150 dpi JET driver and print it with the 300 dpi driver for the same sorts of reasons.

The Demo or sample *.MAC files that offer elements that display hidden line removal will look best on computers that have compatible VESA SVGA, although the un-shaded modes look all right on CGA and Monochrome Graphics. The shaded modes will look very "grainy" on CGA and Monochrome Graphics, or in the C16 modes, but on the EGA, VGA, and SVGA the M16 modes don't look too bad if you stand back a distance from the monitor.

If you do not have any display mode better than the 16 "color" modes, you can use the M16 modes and make several hundred pixel files of the same view, then display those pixel files in the ANIMATE command with the delay set to 0, the grain will then blend together because of the persistence of vision. You could then make a time exposure on film from your monitor to get a more even gray tone display. The same trick will help on animations if you make enough frames to display the animation at the maximum frame rate by setting the ANIMATION delay to 0. One of the pioneers of movie making may have wanted to show his movies at 60 frames per second, so this is probably not so new of an idea.

The sample *.3D file(s) supplied are probably in DANCAD3D.COM (tm) 3D-Quick format, and so will produce an error when you try to load them into DANCAD87.COM (tm). In cases where I may have included the macro that made the *.3D file, you can probably run that *.MAC macro file in DANCAD87.COM (tm) to make a version of the *.3D file that will load into DANCAD87.COM (tm). The *.2D files supplied are also probably in DANCAD3D.COM (tm) format, and will not load into DANCAD87.COM (tm) unless you convert them to *.ASC in DANCAD3D.COM (tm). The *.ASC 3D drawing filetype should work with both DANCAD3D.COM (tm) and DANCAD87.COM (tm) as should the *.MAC, *.FON, and some other filetypes.

When you enter the name of a sub-directory with the FILES MAKE sub-directory command you need to end the name of the sub- directory with a period, otherwise the program will look for a directory with that name, and you will get stuck and not be able to get out of the prompt.

When you click on a directory name in a file directory the program will now bring up a directory of that sub-directory in place of reporting that the "file" entered is not found.

When entering the name of a file you always need to enter a filename with its extension, or end the filename with a period. A filename not ending with a period or extension at the prompts is considered to be the name of a sub-directory.

The CAD programs use a new mouse config file to tell the programs which type of mouse to use. This change was made to avoid some problems that happen under some operating systems when the programs auto detect for the FastTRAP (tm) 3D track-ball. By forcing the program to default to the standard mouse most systems will probably work with the standard mouse. If you have a FastTRAP (tm) you can use the new mouse config file to have the program look for its features.

The name for the mouse configuration file is: DANCADXX.MOU and it can contain values in text form on the first line:

FASTTRAP  tells program to check for FastTRAP (tm) driver features.

REGULAR   tells program to only use regular mouse features.

NONE      same  as  regular  at  this  time.  Program normally auto-detects the
          mouse.  Be sure your mouse driver was installed when the computer was
          booted, and before you run my programs.

You can use the DOS copy command or the [W]rite command to make such a file.

Under Windows (tm) a three button mouse may not retain the capabilities of the center button with the CAD programs, but you can use the substitute keys on the keyboard e.g. [Space] in the drawing editor, and [F1] in the [W]rite command.

The CAM programs in v2.7 now can use the mouse to operate the menus and move the cursor in some prompts.

The programs can still be operated just by the keyboard keys, or my both the keys and the mouse when a mouse is loaded. Under DOS be sure to load the mouse driver before you run the programs or the mouse will not work. You should have a DOS mouse driver on the floppy disk that might have come with your mouse, if you did not get a disk with your mouse you might check the mouse company to see if they have a driver on their Web site.

The CAM programs have a built in very experimental computer network that might let several computers be connected together to serve and transport files between them. This network concept is still very experimental, and may under go gross changes in possible future revisions.

Be sure to see also the section below about CAM program command line operation and operation from batch files, since there is some information about the CAM network commands there. The CAM network can be operated in three ways, from the CAM programs menus, from the DOS command line, and from DOS type batch files.

This network makes simple connections between the standard Serial ports. CAM files can be executed from a shop computer that does not have a harddisk by running a wire from the shop to a file server computer in a less contaminated room. Some CAM program operations make temporary files, so some program functions may be limited on a computer without a harddisk. A RAM disk might be used to allow the CAM programs to create temporary files on computers without harddisks if the systems have enough memory installed.

At present, in v2.7A, this network is designed to answer one request at a time, so tool path files can also be downloaded to the local harddisk for execution, thereby freeing the network for other workstations to download tool paths from the file server while the previously downloaded tool paths are being executed.

Normally each computer can be fit with four serial ports, and you can select in the programs which Serial port(s) you want to connect to. Up to eight serial ports per computer can be configured if you manually set up the configuration and have serial cards that use unique addresses (note this capability may not work with any particular brand of hardware, so do not purchase any hardware with the assumption that it will work with my programs.) By adding switch boxes it may be possible to connect many computers to up-load and download tool path files to one or more file servers.

A serial port IO delay is used to correct network problems that can happen on some faster computers such as PIII 733MHz, settings from 10 microseconds to 100 microseconds seem to work, but you can adjust this value in the network port set up option. To see if the value is correct put one computer in server mode, and try using the Chat message option from the remote computers. If Chat works without any problems, try getting a file directory of the server from the remote computers. If you can get directories, try using the Fetch and Store commands. Be sure that you have an \XFER\ sub-directory off of the CAM programs sub-directory, and that you have enough free disk space for the network commands to create the many temporary files they need to make for the various commands and options you will need to use.

Most of the problems you are likely to encounter while using the CAM network will arise from not having enough free disk space on one of the computers, not having the required sub- directories on one of the computers, not having a unique network ID on each of the computers, not having the computer's ports set to the same settings, and interrupting the connection before it has completed.

The *.ACF (ASCII Compressed File) is a special compressed file version of my *.ASC 3D ASCII drawing file for use to speed up file transfers of finished tool paths. This compression method will not work on any other type of file, so you should not try to compress other kinds of files into *.ACF type. The *.ACF filetype takes up about half the bytes as the *.ASC file, which reduces the file transfer time. The *.ACF file needs to be de-compressed before being used as an *.ASC tool path file.

When the CAM programs are run initially a random number is assigned to the network ID number for that computer on the network. You should check all the network ID numbers for the computers on your network to make sure that the same network ID number is not being used my more than one computer on the network.

No special hardware is required for the machines' computers, or the server computer, and the computers can switch roles. You can get a remote directory of the server's harddisk and remotely manage files there when the server is not busy.

The wiring of the network can get complex, e.g. COM1 of machine computer 1 can connect to COM3 of server 1, COM2 of machine computer 1 can connect to COM1 of server 2, COM2 of server 1 can connect to machine computer 2, and so on depending on how many machines you are using and how you want to be able to transport your files.

A NUL Modem cable is required to connect two computers on the network. If a switch box is used a "mouse extension" cable can be used for the common connector on the switch box, and NUL Modem cables used on the other connectors on the switch box, because you cannot connect two NUL Modem cables together or they cancel each other's crossed wires.

It might be possible to just use a three wire cable for the network, but I have not had time to test the three wire cables yet, or see how long the cables can be made if you use #12 gauge wire.

To make a "full" NUL Modem cable these connections can be "Beta Tested":

First computer 25 pin RS-232            Second computer 25 pin RS-232

 2 ------------------------------------- 3

 3 ------------------------------------- 2

 4 ------------------------------------- 5

 5 ------------------------------------- 4

 6 ------------------------------------- 20

20 ------------------------------------- 6

 7 ------------------------------------- 7

To make a "three wire" NUL Modem cable these connections can be experimented with and then "Beta Tested":

First computer 25 pin RS-232            Second computer 25 pin RS-232

 2 ------------------------------------- 3

 3 ------------------------------------- 2

 7 ------------------------------------- 7

With the "three" wire hook-up since pin 7 is common ground, a DPDT switch might be able to be used to switch pins 2 and 3 between two computers and the server to make a simple switch box.

Do not switch computers, or use a switch box while data is being transferred, you will probably get data errors, and need to shut down all the computers on the network, and restart everything.

If you do not want to install all of the programs and files from the distribution DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) file onto the computer that will run a machine, you can copy just the essential CAM files manually.

FORMAT A: /S /U
C:\DC27\COPY DANCAM.EXE A:
C:\DC27\COPY DANCAM.OVR A:
C:\DC27\COPY DANCAD3D.808 A:
C:\DC27\COPY DANCAD3D.814 A:
MD A:\XFER
MD A:\ASCII
MD A:\CYCLES

For DANPLOT.EXE (tm) v2.7A you need to copy:

FORMAT A: /S /U
C:\DC27\COPY DANPLOT.EXE A:
C:\DC27\COPY DANPLOT.OVR A:
C:\DC27\COPY DANCAD3D.808 A:
C:\DC27\COPY DANCAD3D.814 A:
MD A:\XFER
MD A:\ASCII
MD A:\CYCLES

Be sure that you create any sub-directories you may need to use while the programs are running, particularly the \XFER\ sub- directory used by the network commands. You might make two 1.44MB floppy disks with "DOS 95" on them so that you can boot your computer without using the harddisk. It is better to run the CAM programs with a computer that has the EMS driver loaded so that the overlay file will not spin the floppy disk each time part of the overlay is to be accessed, to save space on the floppy disk you can sometimes include a file path in the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files that looks for the EMS driver, mouse driver, CD-ROM driver, Joy- Stick port enable driver, and other files on your harddisk.

The program files for v2.7 of my CAM programs take more disk space than previous versions, and are broken into two parts i.e. the DANCAM.EXE (tm) file or DANPLOT.EXE (tm) and the DANCAM.OVR or DANPLOT.OVR overlay file. The default DANCAD3D.808 and DANCAD3D.814 screen font files also need to be available for use by the programs.

Normally the *.OVR is kept in the same directory as the *.EXE file so that the *.EXE part of the program can find the overlay file. When the CAM programs are run on a computer that does not have a harddisk and there is not enough room for the program and overlay files on the same floppy disk, it is possible to relocate the *.OVR overlay file to another floppy disk, e.g. you could put the *.EXE file on drive A: and the *.OVR file on drive B:.

Since the programs cannot be run until the program can find the overlay, the location of the overlay cannot be in the configuration file. Therefore a special additional configuration file can be created called DANCAM.OVP or DANPLOT.OVP corresponding to the CAM program you are using. This *.OVP file only contains one line of text that has the full path to where the overlay file is kept. The program appends the name of the overlay file, so do not include the name of the overlay file, only its path.

You can use the DOS copy command to make this *.OVP file, or use any editor that can save a DOS *.TXT type file.

EXAMPLE: A:\>COPY CON DANCAM.OVP
         B:\OVERLAY\
         ^Z

                 1 file(s) copied

         A:\>

After you type in the B:\OVERLAY\ you should press [Return] and then press the [Ctrl] key and hold it down, then press the [Z] key, and let both keys up, then press [Return] again. To view the path that you currently have in the *.OVP file you can also use the COPY command,

EXAMPLE: A:\>COPY DANCAM.OVP CON
         B:\OVERLAY\
                 1 file(s) copied
         A:\>

Generally you will only have to use the *.OVP file if your computer is limited to two 360KB floppy disks. If your computer has just one 1.44MB floppy disk and no harddisk you can make a separate boot floppy for DANCAM.EXE (tm) and DANPLOT.EXE (tm). If your tool path files are too large to fit on the free space on the floppy disk, you can try to use the built in computer network to get the tool path off of a computer running another copy of the CAM programs that is acting as a file server. When the CAM programs are operated on the network some temporary files are created for compressed files, and for the disk directories, therefore there needs to be some disk space free for those features to be used. How much disk space needs to be free for the CAM programs to use the network depends on the size of the files being transferred, the transfer mode being used, and the number of entries in a file directory being requested. You should try to keep at least 500KB free at all times on the disk the *.EXE part of the CAM programs is running in, but you might be able to get by with 50KB free if you do not use the compressed transfer modes, and do not request long file directories. If you have network problems check the Serial port IO delay value, and the free disk space, on all the computers on the network even if the error messages seem to indicate some other data problem.

My CAM programs now in v2.7 allow for the use of an two channel incremental encoder in addition to the Joy- Stick and keyboard for the input of position signals in the Jog and Teach modes.

Note that if your Joy-Stick port, a.k.a. Game port, is on a PCI bus sound card the Joy-Stick port may not work if you boot your computer with DOS 6.22 or a "DOS 95" floppy disk, unless you put an AUTOEXEC.BAT file on the boot floppy disk that includes the right path to the driver file for the driver for the sound board that enables the game port on the sound card. Some ISA sound cards may also require a software driver to enable the "game" port. Older ISA Joy- Stick port cards, and some older "multi-I/O" cards that have a "game" port do not usually require a software driver. PCI bus "game" port cards may require a software driver to be run in order to enable the "game" ports. The "game" port on some sound cards only supports Joy-Stick port #1, a.k.a. port "A", and so will not work with features that use the Joy-Stick port #2, eliminating the Joy-Stick for the Z axis jog, and making you choose between using just the Joy-Stick or the encoder, rather than using both of them alternately as you can if your Joy-Stick board supports two Joy-Stick ports.

Almost any two channel incremental encoder with TTL compatible two phase quadrature "A" and "B" outputs should work, but one with about 100 pulses per revolution might be best since too high a resolution might make the input frequency too high for slower computers.

Normally such encoders have four connections, ground, "A" and "B" square wave outputs with TTL compatible signals, and a +5 volts input. If the encoder does not draw too much current you may be able to power it off of the game port pins, otherwise you would need a small 5 volt supply.

You should adjust the sensitivity of the encoder with the configuration in the programs so that the hand-wheel is not too sensitive, or the motors may turn when the hand-wheel moves a little from vibration and such.

The encoder is connected to the button pins of Joy-Stick port one or two. If you are also using the Joy-Stick on port one, then you need to use the button pins on port 2 for the encoder. If your Joy- Stick board only supports port one, then you have to pick just the encoder or the Joy-Stick.

The encoder works well with the large DRO display (i.e. the Digital position Read-Out display) in the Jog and Teach modes. You can select the axis to move by pressing the [X], [Y], or [Z] keys on the keyboard while the encoder is selected to be active. The position display highlights the active axis that the encoder will move when you press [X], [Y] or [Z]. The motors on your machine will turn when you turn the encoder, and move faster when you turn the encoder faster.

The pins on the Joy-Stick 1 port used by encoder seem to be:

                                          1 - +5 volts out to encoder
          +5 volts out to encoder -  9
                                          2 - signal from encoder "A" channel
                               nc - 10
                                          3 - nc
                               nc - 11
                                          4 - common ground
                    common ground - 12
                                          5 - common ground
                               nc - 13
                                          6 - nc
                               nc - 14
                                          7 - signal from encoder "B" channel
          +5 volts out to encoder - 15
                                          8 - +5 volts out to encoder

The pins on the Joy-Stick 2 port used by encoder seem to be:

                                          1 - +5 volts out to encoder
          +5 volts out to encoder -  9
                                          2 - nc
  signal from encoder "A" channel - 10
                                          3 - nc
                               nc - 11
                                          4 - common ground
                    common ground - 12
                                          5 - common ground
                               nc - 13
                                          6 - nc
  signal from encoder "B" channel - 14
                                          7 - nc
          +5 volts out to encoder - 15
                                          8 - +5 volts out to encoder

Normally all the common ground pins are tied so you connect pins 4, 5, and 12 together. Normally all the +5 volt pins get tied together, so you connect pins 1, 8, 9, and 15. Some Joy- Stick boards do not have all the connections, or they make have half the connections on one connector and the others on a second connector. With the original pin assignment you needed to use a "splitter" cable to use two Joy-Sticks at one time.

Because of the way the software reads the encoder you may need to turn the encoder several "clicks" in one direction before the DRO changes one count. Be sure to check the power requirements of your encoder before you use the Joy- Stick to power it, or you may damage your Joy-Stick board, your mother board, or your computer's power supply. Check with your Joy-Stick port's manufacture to find out how much power it can safely supply.

If the hand-wheel seems to need to be turned backwards for the way your machine is set up, you can reverse the connections for the "A" and "B" channels to reverse the motion. The encoder should be turned at a moderate speed, if you spin the encoder very fast the motors on your machine might turn backwards, although I have not had that happen with the low resolution encoders I have been using running the programs under DOS.

The default A/B read delay value of around 150 microseconds should work for most computers between 100MHz and 1GHz, on slower computers you may need to decrease this value since there will be some overhead due to the other instructions in the encoder read loop. If the value is too large or too small the motors may turn backwards and then forwards when the encoder is rotated at different speeds, or the motors will jerk or not turn at all. When the value is correct the encoder should work at any speed that you can turn it by hand. The shaft rotation of the encoder does not correspond exactly to the position count in the Jog or Teach modes, so you cannot put a graduated scale on the encoder and expect it to stay in sync with the motors. The position should be read off of the DRO in the Jog or Teach modes. You can change the number of steps per move in the Jog or Teach mode that each "click" on the encoder makes, this lets you increase the movement by 10, 100, or whatever step amount you want.

It is preferred that the CAM programs only be run from BATCH files under a "real" DOS OS, since it is possible that when the CAM programs are run from the DOS prompt or a DOS window of a multi-tasking operating system information required by the programs may get disrupted preventing the programs from operating automatically from a BATCH file as they were designed.

Be sure that you make back-up copies of any files that will be used in batch files or as command line parameters to programs used in batch files since files accessed from batch files or as command line parameters can be overwritten or erased without the programs asking you, and you might find that some important file has been erased or overwritten.

Changes have been made to operation of the CAM programs from the DOS command line. Before the CAM programs can be run from the DOS command line, or from BATCH files it is best to run them, then quit back to the DOS prompt since they need to have their password entered manually the first time they are run after the computer has been turned on each time. After the correct password has been entered the CAM programs can be run from a batch file without entering the password again. Be sure to turn your computer off when you are through running the CAM programs to prevent them from being run from batch files, or command line parameters e.g. SKIP, by unauthorized persons.

Mode options corresponding to the CAM program's main menu selections 2 and 8 are not used in v2.7A, although some of the network commands are available using option U or UTILITY, see below. In the examples below, you can use DANPLOT.EXE (tm) in place of DANCAM.EXE (tm) since they both have mostly the same parameters in v2.73. If you have another version, check for differences before writing any batch files.

Be sure that you create a sub-directory named \XFER\ off of the sub-directory or disk my CAM programs are being run on so that some of the network commands have the right sub-directory to use, not having the right sub-directories can give a error when doing file transfers and cause the network to need to be reset manually. Before using the network commands you should check that each computer on the network has a unique "network ID" code assigned to it, if two codes are the same you will need to change them so that they are not the same. Also you need to configure the BAUD rate and other settings so the computers on the network can all communicate using compatible settings before you try to operate the network using batch files.

You should try to only make file transfers between the XFER\ sub-directories since files can get overwritten or erased by accident. If you keep a back-up copy of your files in a sub-directory far away from the directories that my programs use, and you do not access the back-up sub-directory with any of my programs you will hopefully have a back-up of your files to go back to if you accidentally erase or overwrite a file because of a mistake or program operation.

DANCAM SKIP            = bring up main  menu  for  user  selection,  after  the
                         password  has  been entered once each boot.  This lets
                         you bypass the password check once  you  have  entered
                         the password once,  until you reboot your computer, or
                         close the DOS window.  When you are going to  be  away
                         from your computer for a while, or you need to prevent
                         non-password access to my CAM programs after they have