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 a "Beta Test" version v3.7 of my programs, and might be looked to for updated information relating to changes from v2.7, regarding some of the revised or added program features. There may be changes made in versions subsequent to the revisions of version of v3.7 that alter what is described in this section as it applies to that subsequent version. See also any other documentation files, and pages in this Web site (HTML document) for additional and or any more recent information.
The HTML documentation in this SECTION: 3.3.7.30 was derived from the text in the file INFOV37J.TXT that is, or was at one time, included in my *.ZIP file archive DANCAD16.ZIP (tm). You may find the current revision of DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) to download by going to SECTION: 9.70.61.0. My file DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) may also archive some other types of files like the ones described in this section, so check the current *.ZIP file in its current revision to see what exactly might be 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 file DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) is a *.ZIP file that holds a current "Beta Test" version of my programs and associated files for "Beta Testing." This section refers to the preliminary revision of the CAD programs v3.7J version, and the preliminary revision of the CAM programs v3.74 version, look for other sections or documentation relating to any subsequent revisions.
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 DANCAD16.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 program distribution, the DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) archive file.
Be sure that you scan the programs and files in my DANCAD16.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.
A *.TXT file version, similar to some of the text in this Section, may be included in the v3.7J and v3.74 revision of my DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) distribution archive file (see the "downloads" SECTION: 9 of this "Beta Test" Web site). See the text in any files like README.*, FILES*.TXT, and INFOV37*.TXT stored in my current DANCAD16.ZIP (tm). You should check for the current types of document files because they may be more up-to-date than this *.HTM file, or it is possible that this HTML file could be more up to date, depending on which one got worked on last.
Below is text from file INFOV37J.TXT that was written to be included in a preliminary revision of version of v3.7J of my DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) distribution for preliminary information about changes in version v3.7J of the 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 INFOV37J.TXT was derived from some notes I made to myself as I worked on the code for v3.7J, 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 may have been incorporated into the other sections of this Web site, in doing that some of the text may have been 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 through more files.
See also the This Section and About DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) sub-sections above, as well as SECTION: 9.70.0.0 and SECTION: 9.70.61.0 for more information about v3.7.
DOCUMENT: INFOV37J.TXT
Copyright (C) 2004 by Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved.
Terms of use: This "Beta Test" document may only be used in accord and within
the limitations imposed by the current End User License Agreement "EULA" posted
at the author's Web site www.DANCAD3D.com (sm) in file S0000000.HTM, any other
use or copying is prohibited. This document is provided "AS IS" without
warranty of any kind express, expressed, or implied. Mistakes, errors, and
omissions should be reported according to the instructions in SECTION: 8 of the
current "On-Line" version of my Web site www.DANCAD3D.com (sm).
This preliminary document may have some brief descriptions of changes made to
my CAD or CAM programs DANCAD3D.EXE (tm), DANCAD87.EXE (tm), DANCAM.EXE (tm),
and DANPLOT.EXE (tm) relating to the "Beta Test" release of v3.7. This file is
meant to be included in the initial "Beta Test" v3.7 distribution to help long
time users acquaint themselves with some of the many changes that have been
made to the programs. If you are not a long time user you will most probably
need to read all of the text located at my "Beta Test" Web site
www.DANCAD3D.com (sm) before you read this document in order to make practical
use of it. This document is not a complete list of changes made to the
programs, and may not reflect the operation of the version of the program
accompanying it in all respects. The programs may be still undergoing change,
so the results obtained from any of the commands may be different than
expected, and the operation of older commands may have changed as well. Since
so many changes have been made to the programs you should not expect any of the
commands to operate as you have used them in the past, and you should
frequently back-up and save what you are working on so that you do not lose
everything when the program crashes. All specifications, descriptions, and
instructions are subject to change without notice.
Be sure to see also the text from files INFOV27*.TXT, *.TXT, *.BAT, *.DOC,
*.HTM, and any other newer INFOV37*.TXT information that is at www.DANCAD3D.com
(sm).
I would like to thank the thousands of users of my programs who have helped
"Beta Test" the many revisions of my programs since about 1986, I hope you will
enjoy checking out some of the newer program features that I have spent so many
years working on. Best wishes for success in your projects.
---
NOTES ABOUT INFO16.TXT, FEBRUARY 10, 2003, AND RELEASE OF THE V3.7 PROGRAMS
The CAM programs were converted to protected memory mode before the CAD
programs because as v2.7 the CAM programs were already in a form close to what
would be required for them to be complied into protected mode. The CAM
programs started with v1.x as being compiled by the same older compiler used
for v2.x of the CAD programs, but were translated around the time when v2.5 of
the CAM programs was released for being compiled by another newer compiler,
although the CAM programs were still compiled for real memory mode until v3.7.
Since the time the CAM programs were released in a v3.7 form I have been
working on rounding off and filling in features for v2.7 of the CAD programs
and translating the v2.7 CAD program code for conversion to make a v3.7
protected memory version of the CAD programs. Now the the conversion of both
the CAD and CAM programs to protected memory mode has gotten to the "Beta Test"
stage, or so, the contents of the protected memory mode distribution archive
file DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) have been revised to contain many of the same files that
were just in DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) before, making DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) no longer
needed when installing DANCAD16.ZIP (tm), in other words you can install the
v3.7 CAD and CAM programs just from the files in DANCAD16.ZIP (tm), rather than
installing DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) over DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) as an upgrade, as was
previously described but is no longer the insulation procedure.
It is possible to install both DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) and DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) so that
you can "Beta Test" both v2.7 and v3.7, but you should install those
distribution archives in different sub-directories so that their files do not
get mixed up. This departs from previous instructions, so you should note this
change in instructions, i.e. use separate sub-directories for files from v2.7
and v3.7.
Some of the text in this INFOV37J.TXT file has been derived from the INFO16.ZIP
file that came in the original February 10, 2003 distribution of DANCAD16.ZIP
(tm). If you see the filename INFO16.TXT mentioned somewhere, and cannot find
it, that is because it's full text is no longer included in the DANCAD16.ZIP
(tm) distribution. In place of INFO16.TXT should be a file named INFOV37*.TXT
where the * would be the revision letter, e.g. INFOV37J.TXT or something like
that.
Up to the development of v2.7 the CAD programs DANCAD3D (tm) and DANCAD87 (tm)
have been *.COM type files. Now in v3.7 they are *.EXE files, i.e.
DANCAD3D.EXE (tm) and DANCAD87.EXE (tm), so you will need to remember that much
of the documentation was written before this change and does not mention that
the CAD programs are *.EXE files, but rather refers to them as *.COM files.
From the stand point of "Beta Testing," the change from *.COM file to *.EXE
file requires you to enter the correct form for the program name depending on
if you are "Beta Testing" v2.7 or v3.7.
---
ABOUT UPGRADING FROM V2.7 TO V3.7
When DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) was introduced, for distribution of the v3.7 protected
memory mode program versions, only the CAM programs were included in the
DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) file because the CAD programs had not yet been adopted to
operation in protected memory mode. Now that both the CAD and CAM programs
have been included in DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) the real memory mode versions v2.7 of
the programs in DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) would not generally need to be used unless
you need to use a computer that does not have more than about 4MB to 16MB of
memory installed or an issue in v3.7 prevents some feature that works in v2.7
from being used. The real memory mode v2.7 versions can run with just 640KB of
DOS system memory.
Since the v3.7 protected memory program versions load into the memory above the
DOS 640KB, when there is enough free memory, more of the DOS 640KB memory is
left free for your device drivers and TSR programs for your sound board, joy-
stick, CD-ROM drivers, mouse driver, and such. So even though v3.7 requires
more total system memory to be installed in your computer, it leaves more DOS
memory free, which might make v3.7 better to run under DOS than v2.7 in many
cases.
Since v3.7 does not use overlay files like v2.7 did the programs are not so
frequently accessing the harddisk for overlays as much in some cases. This may
help the program work quicker and snappier in some cases, particularly perhaps
when run on older systems that do not have a 7200RPM harddisk with an 8MB
buffer, or when the programs are run under DOS rather than Windows (tm).
You should create a new sub-directory for installing v3.7 rather than install
v3.7 over v2.7 since some of the files the older v2.7 programs used are no
longer used, and some new files are required. After you unzip the v3.7 files
into their new sub-directory be sure that you run the version of INSTALL.BAT
(tm) that came with v3.7 in order to setup the new sub-directories used by
v3.7, i.e. you need to enter INSTALL INSTALL at the DOS prompt (that is not a
typo, you need to type INSTALL twice in all caps then press return when you are
in the sub-directory that the v3.7 files are unzipped into.)
When you run the programs the first time they measure the computer speed, so it
takes a little longer to get to their main menus the first time they are run.
You may need to re-configure or re-install the programs if you change something
on your system that affects the computer's speed so that the programs will be
calibrated to the computer's speed once again.
To have the initial release of v3.7J of the CAD programs re-test one of the
more important CPU speed adjustments you need to quit the CAD programs back to
the DOS prompt and delete two files named DANCAD3D.MCV and DANCAD87.MCV. If
you have only used one of the CAD programs you may only be able to delete one
of those files. The method of re-setting this or other timing calibrations in
the CAD programs may change in current or future revisions and versions so
check the current documentation for discussion of this issue. Another way to
re-configure the programs for system upgrades and changes is to install the
programs from the original *.ZIP distribution file into another sub-directory
and start over with a fresh set of files to install.
Since the automatic output macro files are keyed with the creating CAD program
version level, by way of the macro VERSION command, if you want to run a macro
file output by the automatic output macro feature in v3.7 under v2.7 you will
need to edit the VERSION commands in the macro file to code for v2.7I or some
other appropriate v2.7 version. If any macro commands or macro command options
have been coded under v3.7 into the macro file that are not supported in v2.7
of the CAD programs obviously the macro will not finish running unless you edit
out the unsupported v3.7 macro commands.
---
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ABOUT V3.7 ISSUES
There may be more than one version of each of my CAM programs under development
in "parallel" for a period of time. The v2.7 versions are compiled using
instructions for the real memory mode, and so are compatible with almost any
PC/XT/AT that has enough DOS memory free and a compatible OS. The v3.7
versions are compiled for 80286 or better processors and use the protected
memory mode, and so require an AT type computer with a 80286 or better
processor and 2MB or more of higher memory (2MB for CAM v3.74 at the time this
was written, CAD v3.7J may require 4MB to 16MB depending on the OS and system
used, and future revisions may require more RAM memory). The main advantages
of using v3.7 are that conventional overlay files are not used, and less free
DOS memory may be required. Not using the conventional overlay files may
reduce the disk access delays in some cases.
The DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) archive file contains the v3.7 protected memory mode
versions of my CAD and CAM programs. The CAD programs and other files you need
to install for "Beta Testing" are now included in DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) with the
CAM programs, so you do not need to install all of the files from the v2.7 real
memory mode distribution archive DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) in download SECTION:
9.70.51.0 before you install the DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) v3.7 files. Also INST16.BAT
(tm) in DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) has been replaced by INSTALL.BAT (tm).
See the instructions below if the programs give you an error message telling
you to run a file called DPMIINST.EXE, but do not run that file if you have not
been told to (you will probably only see that error message on older 80286
computers.)
The main differences between the v2.7 programs and the v3.7 programs are that
the v3.7 programs load into the computer's higher memory and therefore are not
limited to just using the original 640KB of the computer's RAM memory, this
allows the programs to be written without the use of conventional overlay files
and reduces in some cases the need for the programs to write temporary files to
disk. The reduced disk access in v3.7 can result in improved operation in some
respects, and generally snappier performance. The difference might be most
noticeable when the programs are run under DOS or with slower disk drives.
Since v3.7 generally requires less of the lower DOS 640KB memory you may find
that you can load the needed resident files for your: mouse, CD-ROM, sound
board's Joy-Stick port, and such without as many memory difficulties as would
be encountered running v2.7.
The v3.7 protected memory mode versions have greater system requirements than
the v2.7 real memory mode versions:
* 80286 processor or better. A 733MHz PIII copermine or AMD XP 2800+ for
running the CAD programs could be desirable for use of some of the more
advanced features to get better speed.
* 2688KB or more system memory for v2.74 of the CAM programs, i.e. 640KB DOS
memory plus 2MB or more "higher" memory (revisions of the CAM programs may
require more memory.) The CAD programs may require 4MB to 16MB of "higher"
memory, depending on which revision you are using, and if you are using DOS
or some other OS. Most systems that the CAD programs will be run on will
have 16MB or more RAM memory, so the amount of memory installed should not be
an issue. Try to run my programs first, and not too many other programs at
the same time, so that my programs are not forced by the OS into virtual
memory disk swap which might seriously reduce program performance.
* About 256KB or more of DOS memory needs to be free. If you have 640KB of DOS
memory there should be more than 256KB of it free after loading your CD-ROM
driver, mouse driver, and sound board joy-stick driver. You can use the DOS
command CHKDSK to see how much DOS memory is free before you run my programs.
* Higher memory manager such as HIMEM.SYS or FDXXMS.SYS should be used under
DOS or FREEDOS (tm). In a Windows (tm) window Windows (tm) usually takes
care of managing the memory, although you may need to make or edit a *.PIF
file to change the settings.
* Higher memory should be compatible with DPMI16BI.OVL and RTM.EXE loader. See
the notes about making adjustments for older computers that report an error
with the DPMI.
Probably most systems with a 80386 or better processor and 16MB of memory
running DOS 6.22 should work with v3.7 without doing much that is special, but
some 80286 computers may require using a utility that is included in the
DPMIFIX.ZIP (tm) file in the DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) file in order to configure the
DPMI16BI.OVL to the older computer's hardware. Do not run DPMIINST.EXE unless
you get the error message that tells you to when you run my programs. Before
you run DPMIINST.EXE you need to edit your CONFIG.SYS file to REM out your
higher memory manager, save the CONFIG.SYS file then reboot your computer.
After you have run DPMIINST.EXE you need to restore your CONFIG.SYS file so
that the high memory manager is functional, then save the CONFIG.SYS file and
reboot your computer. Do not unzip DPMIFIX.ZIP (tm) or run any of the files in
it if my programs run without doing so. If you cannot get the DPMIINST.EXE to
work on a particular computer try another one since the memory hardware may
work better on it.
Do not unzip DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) into the same directory that you installed
DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) since you will overwrite DANCAM.EXE (tm) and DANPLOT.EXE (tm)
with the v3.7 protected memory mode versions. The overlay files DANCAM.OVR and
DANPLOT.OVR are not used by v3.7 and can be erased if the are somehow got
copied into the v3.7 sub-directory. It is better to install v3.7 in its own
sub-directory and not to mix up files from different versions.
You no longer need to download and install DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) before you
download and install DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) so that all of the various other
distribution files will be available for use with the programs. DANCAD16.ZIP
(tm) archives many files like the ones in DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm), some of these
files with the same filenames have been revised for v3.7 and so should not get
mixed up with the older v2.7 files.
If you have run any v2.7 CAM program version and have copied the configuration
data to v3.7 you should go into the configuration in v3.7 and redo the
automatic timing calibration so that v3.7 will be using the proper timing
values for your computer when running your computer in protected memory mode.
See the file FILES.TXT in DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) for a description of some of the
files in the protected memory mode distribution.
In addition to the program files and their associated files two protected
memory management files must at all times be in the same sub-directory as the
programs and their files, they are: DPMI16BI.OVL the required memory manager
overlay for use under DOS, and RTM.EXE the required protected memory loader for
running programs. In the event the program will not load into protected memory
on some older computers there are some utilities in DPMIFIX.ZIP (tm) that may
help DPMI setup on older, e.g. 80286, computers.
Be sure to try to read these files in DANCAD16.ZIP (tm):
FILES.TXT Description of files in the Zip file.
INFOV37J.TXT Information you should read before using the programs.
INSTALL.BAT Install batch file for the DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) file set.
See a directory of the filenames in the DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) distribution file for
the creation dates and times for files in that distribution. Always mention
the exact date and time from the archive file directory along with the filename
of the file with an issue when making a report submission so the the file
revision can be identified.
Note that you must use INSTALL.BAT (tm) to install some of the files into sub-
directories before you run the programs the first time. You need to use your
unzip program to unzip the archive into the "DAN" v3.7 program sub-directory
(i.e. C:\DC37J1, C:\DC37J2, and so on) before you use INSTALL.BAT (tm) to
rearrange the files. There may be some additions or deletions from the files
in the archive, depending on which version you have downloaded as the FILES.TXT
information is general preliminary information and not specific to the archive
currently developed.
In the past the DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) file was for use as an "add on" to the files
in the DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) download, but now it is for the most part a
replacement. You no longer need to, or should, download DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm)
first, unzip and run its INSTALL.BAT (tm) then unzip DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) over the
v2.7x files and run INST16.BAT (tm). The name of the install file for
DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) has been changed from INST16.BAT (tm) to INSTALL.BAT (tm) so
that the install batch file has the same filename as the older one used in
DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm), making the install instructions for both distributions more
similar.
On some older computers such as 80286 you may need to unzip the DPMIFIX.ZIP
(tm) files, included in DANCAD16.ZIP (tm), and run DPMIINST.EXE in order to get
the programs to load into higher memory properly. Do not run DPMIINST.EXE
unless you get an error message telling you to when you try to run the v3.7
protected mode versions of my programs.
A higher memory manager like HIMEM.SYS may not be required to run v3.7 on some
systems, the high memory loader supplied with the programs may be sufficient to
load the programs into high memory. This might be a help when running v3.7 of
the CAM programs off of a system that only has a floppy disk and no harddisk,
since you just need the system files to boot the computer and the program's
loader will take care of using the higher memory.
This DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) file holds a revised set of my CAD and CAM programs and
some *.TXT files that have preliminary information about this archive of
programs that should be read before "Beta Testing" my programs. Other programs
and files may be added to this Zip file someday, so check periodically to see
if any changes have been made. The name of the main program distribution *.ZIP
files comes from my original CAD program DANCAD3D.COM (tm). When referring to
the distribution archive always include the full filename, the time and date
the archive file was originally created (not the time and date of your copy),
since there may be more than one revision of this DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) archive
file with different origin dates and times.
See also SECTION: 3.3.7.0 at www.DANCAD3D.com (sm) for information relating to
these "Beta Test" updated programs, see also SECTION: 9.70.51.0 for information
relating to the v2.7 real memory mode program versions in DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm),
and see also SECTION: 9.70.61.0 for information relating to the v3.7 protected
memory mode program distribution.
When you run the programs under DOS 6.22 you will need to setup your drivers
for your mouse, CD-ROM, and sound board's Joy-Stick, a.k.a. Game, port. You
will probably not need to burn CD-ROMs from DOS, but you may want to read tool
path files from a CD-ROM onto your harddisk for execution in the CAM programs.
In order to get the Joy-Stick port in your sound board to work you may need to
copy some files, i.e. sound board driver files, from your windows sub-directory
onto the disk you will boot from in the computer you are using with my CAM
programs under DOS on. You may need to create a directory named WINDOWS and
edit some values into your CONFIG.SYS file before the Joy-Stick port in the
sound card will operate properly with my CAM programs. The Joy-Stick port is
used by my CAM programs for the Joy-Stick to move the motors in the Jog-DRO and
Teach modes, for the incremental encoder input for the Jog-DRO and Teach modes,
i.e. a crank you can turn to move the motors while you read the tool position
off of the screen in big numbers, and for the input from the scanning probes
used in the replication and scanning modes of the CAM programs.
To help you figure out how to edit your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files so
that you can get your computer to work with my v3.7 protected memory mode
program versions under DOS 6.22 I have copied what might work here for you to
study. The names and values used by your CD-ROM and Sound Board drivers will
probably be different but the general idea should be about the same.
In the CONFIG.SYS for DOS 6.22 try something like:
REM Start of example CONFIG.SYS for DOS 6.22
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE
LASTDRIVE=Z
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CDROMDRV\TA12XCD.SYS /D:CDROM12X /P:1E8,11
FILES=20
BUFFERS=20
SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /E:256 /P
DOS=HIGH
REM End of example CONFIG.SYS for DOS 6.22
In the above TA12XCD.SYS is the name of a CD-ROM system file, the name of the
driver file you need to use will be different, you need to get the right file
from the files that came with your CD-ROM drive.
Your mouse driver may need to go into the CONFIG.SYS file if it is a *.SYS file
or into the AUTOEXEC.BAT file if it is a *.EXE or *.COM file, so check your
mouse files. Mice sometimes work with drivers from other mouse companies so
you may be able to try different drivers to see which one uses the least amount
of DOS memory.
In the AUTOEXEC.BAT for DOS 6.22 try something like:
REM Start of example AUTOEXEC.BAT for DOS 6.22
PATH C:\DOS;C:\;C:\UTILITY;
LOADHIGH C:\DOS\SMARTDRV /X
SET WINBOOTDIR=C:\WINDOWS
LOADHIGH C:\WINDOWS\ASP4DOS.COM
SET BLASTER=A220 I0 D1 T4
LOADHIGH C:\LOGITECH\MOUSE
LOADHIGH C:\CDROMDRV\MSCDEX /D:CDROM12X /M:6 /L:Z /E /V
C:\DOS\MODE COM1:9600,N,8,1,P
REM End of example AUTOEXEC.BAT for DOS 6.22
In the above, ASP4DOS.COM is the DOS driver for the sound board. It seems to
need the SET WINBOOTDIR=C:\WINDOWS command, for it and something called
VORTEX.INI to be in a sub-directory called WINDOWS. Anyway the Joy-Stick port
may work under DOS 6.22 after the AUTOEXEC.BAT file is configured this way.
In the above, MOUSE is the name of the mouse driver, your mouse driver's
filename may need to go into the CONFIG.SYS file rather than the AUTOEXEC.BAT
file. The mouse is not on COM1 in this example, the driver used looks for the
port the mouse is on, e.g. COM1, COM2, or the PS/2 mouse port.
In the above MSCDEX is an extension to DOS 6.22 so that the CD-ROM can be read
like any other disk drive, the MSCDEX file should have come with your CD-ROM
drivers, be sure you use the version compatible with DOS 6.22.
FREEDOS (tm) seems to be a GNU operating system that you may be able to
download from www.FREEDOS.org. It has functionality similar to DOS 6.22 with
some improvements, or differences, perhaps here and there. I did some very
brief testing to see if my programs could be used with FREEDOS (tm) on junk
computers. I do not recommend using v2.7 with FREEDOS (tm) on computers that
have only 640KB of memory. On better computers, such as a 80486 with 16MB of
memory, FREEDOS (tm) might be usable with v3.7 of some of my programs. FREEDOS
(tm) may still be in Beta development so extreme caution would probably be
advisable when using FREEDOS (tm) with CAM machines, e.g. a program lock-up
might keep the relay outputs in a hazardous state and such.
In the CONFIG.SYS for FREEDOS BETA 8 try something like:
REM Start of example CONFIG.SYS for FREEDOS BETA 8
DEVICE=C:\FDOS\BIN\FDXXMS.SYS
DOS=HIGH
FILES=20
BUFFERS=80
LASTDRIVE=Z
SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /E:256 /P
VERSION=6.2
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CDROMDRV\TA12XCD.SYS /D:FDCD0001
REM End of example CONFIG.SYS for FREEDOS BETA 8
In the above FDXXMS.SYS is a higher memory manager that is supplied as part of
the FREEDOS (tm) BETA 8 base install. There is also one called FDXMS.SYS that
seems, or seemed, to work about the same with v3.7 of my programs.
In the above TA12XCD.SYS is the name of a CD-ROM system file, the name of the
file you need to use will be different, you need to get the right CD-ROM driver
file from the files that came with your CD-ROM drive. You might be able to
find the CD-ROM drivers for download on the CD-ROM makers web site. The
variable FDC0001, or whatever you use, needs to be the same value with SHSUCDX
in the AUTOEXEC.BAT or the CD-ROM may not work. Also the drive letter for the
CD-ROM may be R:, Z: or something else and not D: as you might expect.
Your mouse driver may need to go into the CONFIG.SYS file if it is a *.SYS file
or into the AUTOEXEC.BAT file if it is a *.EXE or *.COM file, so check your
mouse files. Mice sometimes work with drivers from other mouse companies so
you may be able to try different drivers to see which one uses the least amount
of DOS memory.
In the AUTOEXEC.BAT for FREEDOS BETA 8 try something like:
REM Start of example AUTOEXEC.BAT for FREEDOS BETA 8
SET WINBOOTDIR=C:\WINDOWS
LOADHIGH C:\WINDOWS\ASP4DOS.COM
SET BLASTER=A220 I0 D1 T4
LOADHIGH C:\LOGITECH\MOUSE
LOADHIGH C:\FDOS\BIN\SHSUCDX /D:FDCD0001,Z
PATH=C:\FDOS\BIN;C:\FDOS\BIN\KEY;
SET PATH=%PATH%;C:\UTIL
SET NLSPATH=C:\FDOS\NLS;
SET LANG=EN
C:\FDOS\BIN\MODE COM1:9600,N,8,1
REM End of example AUTOEXEC.BAT for FREEDOS BETA 8
In the above, ASP4DOS.COM is the DOS driver for a Turtle Beach Montego Vortex
(tm) sound board. It seems to need the SET WINBOOTDIR=C:\WINDOWS command, for
it and something called VORTEX.INI to be in a sub-directory called WINDOWS.
Anyway, the Joy-Stick port seemed to work under FREEDOS (tm) BETA 8 after the
AUTOEXEC.BAT file was configured this way.
In the above, MOUSE is the name of the mouse driver, your mouse driver may need
to go into the CONFIG.SYS file. The mouse is not on COM1 in this example, the
mouse driver looks for the mouse, e.g. on COM1, COM2, or the PS/2 mouse port.
In the above SHSUCDX is the FREEDOS (tm) equivalent of the MSCDEX extension to
DOS 6.22 so that the CD-ROM can be read like any other disk drive, this file
should have come as part of the FREEDOS (tm) BETA 8 base install. Be sure you
put your CD-ROM driver in the CONFIG.SYS file and have the settings match or
your CD-ROM may not seem to work right.
If you use the example settings for the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files given
above you will probably only get about 470KB to 523KB, or so, of DOS memory
free for programs to use. I am not sure how much DOS memory v3.7 of my
programs absolutely need, but they seemed to work with about 256KB free in very
limited preliminary testing. The utility MEM.EXE that comes with FREEDOS (tm)
can be used to display the amount of free and used memory on your system, and
by adjusting the settings in your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files you may be
able to get enough free memory for my programs to run. My programs may use
some extra DOS memory from time to time while running, so you should not load
any other programs that will use up all of the DOS 640KB memory.
My v2.7 CAM programs generally require more free DOS memory than you can get
with all of the device drivers loaded, so in order to "Beta Test" v2.7 of the
CAD programs under DOS you might need to remove the CD-ROM and Sound Board
drivers temporarily (by rebooting with edited CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
files). Running v2.7 of my CAD programs under FREEDOS (tm) BETA 8 is not a
good option at this time because of the seemingly reduced amount of free memory
and seemingly slow disk access. Using v3.7 of the CAD and CAM programs with
DOS 6.22 or FREEDOS (tm) BETA 8 may be satisfactory for some tasks although
testing has not been sufficient to say for sure. You can "Beta Test" the v2.7
CAD programs in full screen mode at a DOS prompt window under Windows 95 (tm),
although with v3.7 of the CAD programs available now you would probably be
using v3.7 under Windows (tm) rather than v2.7. I am looking into ways the
programs might be altered for better compatibility with some OS issues, so
check the "What's New" page at my "Beta Test" Web site from time to time to see
what changes if any might have been made.
If when you are using FREEDOS (tm) and you try to run one of my programs, you
may notice that after you type the name of my program at the command prompt,
and press [Return], the cursor then just pops back to the command prompt
without any error messages being displayed, this effect probably means that
there is not enough DOS memory free. After you edit your CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT file, and reboot, the programs will probably start up if there is
enough DOS memory free. This would probably only happen if you try to run
v2.7, since v3.7 seems to require less DOS memory free, and therefore would be
more likely to start properly.
If you are going to reboot your computer with a "DOS 95" boot disk so that the
CAM programs can be operated, the drivers needed will, or should, already be on
your harddisk, so you can put the needed CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files on
your boot floppy disk with the path adjusted to load the drivers from the
harddisk, thereby eliminating the need to store a copy of the drivers on the
boot floppy disk. To make a "DOS 95" boot floppy disk put a blank floppy disk
in your floppy drive and type FORMAT A: /S /U at the DOS command prompt. If
you do not have a DOS icon on your Windows 95 (tm) desktop go to the start
button on the lower left of the screen, then select Run from the pop-up menu,
then enter COMMAND, that should give you a DOS window, then click on the button
on that window with the arrows going outward to switch to full screen mode.
Sometimes the full screen mode comes up automatically. Always try to run my
programs in full screen mode. You may need to make or edit a Windows (tm)
*.PIF file in my program's sub-directory to have my programs run in full screen
mode, if you right click on the button for the DOS window on the bottom of the
Windows (tm) desktop screen, and the click on Properties, you may be able to
edit the program's or window's *.PIF file or settings.
My CAM programs should be run on a computer booted with DOS or "DOS 95" and not
run just in a Windows 95 (tm) window since with Windows (tm) running in
background the CAM program cannot generally run as smoothly and the overdrive
ramping cannot generally be used. It may be possible to run the v2.7 and v3.7
CAM programs in a Windows 95 (tm) DOS full screen prompt when no other programs
are running in background for applications that are not too critical, such as
drilling printed circuits, but scanning with DANPLOT.EXE (tm) and some other
operations work better when the computer is booted with DOS or a "DOS 95"
floppy disk. In order to boot a computer with DOS the harddisk may need to
have been formatted for FAT16, so be careful if your harddisks are formatted
for FAT32, sometimes DOS file operations might cause problems with long
filenames assigned to files and other problems that might make serious problems
when the disk is later used with Windows (tm) again.
---
CHANGES TO V3.74 CAM PROGRAMS IN MAY 9, 2003 REVISIONS.
The default video aspect ratio was changed to 4:3 in the CAM programs so that
flat panel video monitors that do not have height or width controls but do have
square pixels will be more likely to display shapes proportioned appropriately.
If you have a CRT video monitor you should set the video aspect adjustment in
the programs to 1.0 and adjust the monitors controls to have the video aspect
test pattern come out square. If your CRT monitor does not have height or
width adjustments and does not display a 4:3 raster, or your LCD or other flat
panel display does not have square pixels, then you might try using the video
aspect adjustment in the programs to compensate for differences in the aspect
ratios. The aspect ratio adjustment in the programs effects the display of
shapes in the "Teach" mode's graphic display, and the video aspect ratio test
pattern. If you are using the Hercules (tm) video mode on a monochrome
graphics monitor the monitor's aspect ratio is probably wider than 4:3, so if
things had looked correct on it in previous revisions you will probably have to
make an aspect ratio adjustment now in the software. If you are using a color
monitor it is probably displaying an aspect ratio near 4:3, although some
monitors have bezels that are a wider shape, so the width of the image on the
screen may not fill the screen's width when the raster is adjusted to show
square pixels, i.e. you will have more black space at the sides of the raster
than at the top and bottom.
See also the notes relating to the video aspect adjustment and tool path
generation in the text of file INFOV27F.TXT as the pertain to v3.74 of the CAM
programs (INFOV27F.TXT may now be in the documentation section at the "Beta
Test" Web site.)
---
CHANGES TO V3.7 CAD AND CAM PROGRAMS IN NOVEMBER 2, 2004 REVISIONS.
DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) has been revised to contain both the CAD and CAM programs
like the previous full distribution found in DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm), but the v3.7
programs in DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) are protected memory versions of the CAD and CAM
programs which offer advantages both to the "Beta Tester" in performance and
configuration and also to me as the programmer for the ability to continue to
make improvements to the program's internal code.
Installation and use of DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) is very much like the DANCAD3D.ZIP
(tm) distribution you have been "Beta Testing" for the last several years,
except for the lack of overlay files, and the inclusion of the RTM.EXE and
DPMI16BI.OVL files. The files RTM.EXE and DPMI16BI.OVL must be unzipped into
the v3.7 program file sub-directory or the programs may not work.
After you unzip all of the files from DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) into the sub-directory
(a.k.a. new folder) you want to "Beta Test" them in, you need to run the
INSTALL.BAT (tm) file and read what text comes on the screen, then run
INSTALL.BAT (tm) again followed by the parameter INSTALL, that is you type
INSTALL twice, i.e. X:\DC37\INSTALL INSTALL so that the install batch file can
setup the sub-directories and put the drivers and other files where the program
thinks they should be. Do not rename the sub-directories or move files around
"willy-nilly" since you will probably cause all sorts of error messages and
other problems later.
The commands in v3.7 operate much as in v2.7 even though the internal binary
code of the programs is very different, especially in the CAD programs.
DANCAD87.EXE (tm) v3.7 has an important difference from DANCAD87.COM (tm) v2.7
in that it may run on both computers with and without a math co-processor, but
DANCAD87.EXE (tm) still makes DANCAD87.COM (tm) type data files on both
systems. DANCAD3D.EXE (tm) v3.7 makes DANCAD3D.COM (tm) v2.7 type data files.
Since both DANCAD3D.EXE (tm) v3.7 and DANCAD87.EXE (tm) v3.7 will now run on
computers without a math co-processor you can test them both to see which one
runs faster on your computer system, probably DANCAD3D.EXE (tm) on some tasks.
On systems that have a math co-processor DANCAD87.EXE (tm) usually runs faster
overall, although some tasks may run slower. If you save your drawings and
tool paths as ASCII data files you should be able to switch back an forth
between DANCAD3D.EXE (tm) and DANCAD87.EXE (tm).
Because v2.7 is needed for operation on 8088 computers and computers with only
640KB of memory I may have both v2.7 real memory mode and v3.7 protected memory
mode versions of the various programs available at the same time for a while.
Changes to the v2.7 versions might be limited to fixing bugs and other code
maintenance operations. The addition of new features might be done mostly, or
eventually entirely, in the protected memory mode program versions since adding
much more to the v2.7 versions would probably not be a productive use of my
time since fewer people will be "Beta Testing" v2.7 as time goes by because the
protected memory mode versions, such as v3.7, of the programs are now
available.
---
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Please visit my Web site On-Line at: http://www.DANCAD3D.com/ for additional
information. Please report bugs, mistakes, or other problems with this
document or the programs, see SECTION: 8 at the current On-Line version of my
Web site for current instructions.