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: 3.3.7.31 was derived from the text in the file INFOV37K.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 v3.7K 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 v3.7K 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 INFOV37K.TXT that was written to be included in a preliminary revision of version of v3.7K of my DANCAD16.ZIP (tm) distribution for preliminary information about changes in version v3.7K 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 INFOV37K.TXT was derived from some notes I made to myself as I worked on the code for v3.7K, 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: 3.3.7.30, SECTION: 9.70.0.0, and SECTION: 9.70.61.0 for more information about v3.7.
DOCUMENT: INFOV37K.TXT
Copyright (C) 2005 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 FROM RELEASE OF THE V3.7K CAD PROGRAMS, JANUARY 2005
If you have not already read INFOV37J.TXT please do that before installing and
beginning "Beta-Testing" the new v3.7K of the CAD programs, since it goes over
some of the changes from v2.7 to v3.7 that you should be aware of. Text from
INFOV37J.TXT should be in SECTION: 3.3.7.30 at www.DANCAD3D.com (sm). You
should also review the update and info documentation relating to v2.7 and
updating from v2.6 if you have been using an older version or to familiarize
yourself with the changes that have been going on.
Both v3.7K and v2.7I now display a warning message about a problem that may
happen when running the CAD programs under Windows (tm) and you pop out of the
program while it is in a SVGA video mode. When you try to re-enter the CAD
program Windows (tm) may report that it cannot restore the program, and since
you cannot then get back into the program to save the workspace or whatever
other files were being worked on you may lose important data. Since my
programs do not know that you have popped out of them to another program or the
Windows (tm) desktop, there may not be much I can do to insure that this
problem does not occur, other than to warn you about the problem, and offer the
suggestion that popping out of the program when it is in text display mode may
be safer, and to backup your drawings before popping out if you can. The Main
Menu is in text mode, as are the tutor help screens, the drawing editor update
list, and the drawing editor line color palette selection screen in the setup
sub-menu. This problem with Windows (tm) not being able to restore the
programs may occur in the other graphics or video modes, or possibly while
printing, but as far as I can recall it mostly seems to be associated with the
SVGA graphics modes. Sometimes the program may partly restore but the screen
may be black or messed up, in such a case you may be able to quit the current
command by entering the correct keys "blind" and get back to the main menu,
then save what you were working on and quit the program back to the DOS prompt
before rebooting so you can restarting the program and continuing working.
This problem may be interment, so just because you were able to pop out of the
program and restore in a given video mode once, may not mean that it will work
at all other times. This should not be a problem under DOS since it does not
let you pop out of programs. If you run DOS under a "OS switcher" program you
can only guess what might happen, I do not know what problems you might get
into. Check the FAQ in SECTION: 2 at the Web site for more information about
problems and issues related to running the programs under Windows (tm).
Despite the problems associated with running the CAD programs under Windows
(tm) the speed performance is generally better than running them under DOS, but
DOS may be more reliable for some applications, so you will need to weigh the
issues for your own needs.
You should not use one of the keyboards that have the "Windows (tm)" key on
them that pops you out of a program, since if you bump that key accidentally
you may not be able to get back into my program and you may lose all of your
work in the workspace or lose open files. Rather, you should use an older "AT
compatible" type keyboard that does not have the "Windows (tm)" keys on it. If
your mother board as the small keyboard connector you should be able to get an
adapter cable to convert from the older large keyboard connector to the smaller
keyboard connector. I do not recommend using a USB keyboard with my programs
at this point since DOS program operations predate USB keyboards. If the
keyboard locks up after returning from a pop out to the Windows (tm) desktop or
some other program, but the mouse still works, and you get trapped in the Draw
part of the drawing editor you may be able to escape by pressing both mouse
keys at the same time which the CAD program interprets as pressing the mouse
center key on a three button mouse, since the center button on your three
button mouse may not work under Windows (tm), or you just have a two button
mouse, pressing both buttons may be the only way you can toggle the cursor
control from the drawing cursor to the menu cursor, you may have to make
several tries at clicking both mouse buttons at the same time since it is hard
to do, once you get the menu cursor on roll to the [Q]uit option and left click
on that, which should bring you back to the Main Menu, then save your drawing
elements with the Files Save Elements command (you may need to use or make an
odd filename by scrolling up or down in the filename list) then quit the
program and preserve the workspace, then shut down and reboot your computer to
get the keyboard to work again.
The major change in v3.7K is the addition of VESA SVGA higher resolutions to
the drawing editor, supporting video board higher resolutions of
1920x1440x32bpp or more depending on what your video board's or monitor's
highest resolution is. Some video boards support higher hardware resolutions
than their VESA SVGA compatible video modes support, so the maximum resolution
stated on the video board box may not be available for my programs to use since
my programs access the SVGA video modes through the VESA standard codes. The
video mode prompt at the entrance to the Preview command and the v3.7K Drawing
Editor has a "LIST" option that lets you see what codes the program has found
in your video board, video boards use different VESA video mode codes so codes
used on one computer for a given resolution may give a different resolution on
another computer or not work at all. If the video board box states the maximum
resolution is 2048 by 1536 that may not be a 32bpp mode, it may only support it
in 8bpp, or the video board may not support that resolution through VESA codes
at all, e.g. you may only be able to get 1920 by 1440 or 1600 by 1200 at 32bpp.
Also you computer monitor may not support the highest resolution that your
video board will, so do not experiment with video modes while you have
something important in the workspace since the monitor may shut itself off and
you will just have a black screen, or worse the monitor may lose sync and you
will need to turn it off before it burns out, and so not be able to tell what
you are doing or where you are in the program.
Changes have been made to the way the v3.7K program seeks 4bpp and 8bpp video
modes which may help some video boards work in those modes at more resolutions.
You can pick the resolution you want the drawing editor to work at by using the
video mode prompt that comes up on the screen when you select Draw from the
Main Menu before you enter the drawing editor graphics mode, if you have
selected video board type "S" for VESA SVGA in the video board type menu that
comes up when you run the programs for the first time. If you did not select
video board type "S" the graphics mode for the drawing editor is determined by
the video board type selected, and the video mode prompt will not come up
before you enter the drawing editor.
Video modes ranging from at least 640x480 resolution can also be selected for
use in the drawing editor, although most video boards do not support all bit
per pixel levels, i.e. bpp, at all resolutions in their VESA compatible modes.
The 4bpp and 8bpp video modes are still selected by their code names since they
use palettes for the colors displayed, i.e. S800M16 selects 800 by 600 pixels
at 4bpp with a monochrome palette, S1024C16 selects 1024 by 768 pixels at 4bpp
with a color palette, S1280M256 selects 1280 by 1024 pixels at 8bpp with a
monochrome palette, S1600C256 selects 1600 by 1200 pixels at 8bpp with a color
palette, and so on. If your video board does not support one of the codes the
program should report that the mode is not supported by your video board, so
modes that work on one of your computers may not work on all of your computers.
The 15bpp, 16bpp, 24bpp, and 32bpp SVGA VESA modes are selected by entering
VESA to see a sample table of modes that can be entered by mode number, or you
can enter SEEK to search for an entered resolution, or you can enter LIST to
look at a list of all of the video modes found in your video board. The video
mode codes supported by one video board may not work on another video board so
v3.7K checks the current video board to see what codes it might support. You
monitor may not support the higher resolutions listed by the program for your
video board. If your monitor loses sync or goes black for more that a second
or two after switching to a particular video mode turn it off, since operating
a monitor above its operational limits may cause damage or fire. Video boards
generally do not support both 24bpp and 32bpp video modes. The 32bpp video
modes may work a little faster than the 24bpp video modes in some cases in
v3.7K since I have been optimizing some of the video procedures. The 15bpp and
16bpp video modes work about equal speed, and generally, perhaps, faster than
the 24bpp and 32bpp video modes. The 8bpp video modes may work faster than the
15bpp and 16bpp video modes in some cases since half as many bytes need to be
moved (the 15bpp modes use 16 bits of memory). The 4bpp modes may display some
aspects slower than the 8bpp modes.
This addition to the v3.7K CAD programs of high resolution display in the
drawing editor should be of interest to users with faster computers and large
monitors, i.e. 19inch or 21 inch, since greater detail may be apparent on the
screen without having to zoom in on the drawing so much all the time. A
7200RPM harddisk with at 8MB buffer or better is recommended for use with the
higher resolutions since the graphics screen will be temporarily saved to disk
frequently. If you are using a flat panel display you should probably try to
use the "native" resolution of the display for the sharpest image, e.g. if your
flat panel display has a physical resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels selecting
1280 by 1024 in the video board may not give a sharper image.
The original VGA, EGA, Hercules (tm), and CGA video modes are still supported
for use on computers that do not support VESA SVGA. Because the higher video
resolutions have more pixels they generally will operate slower than the lower
resolutions, although one exception may be that the 8bpp video modes may work
faster than the 4bpp video modes at some resolutions because the 8bpp video
modes may require a little less computation for some tasks.
The v2.7I versions of the CAD programs in DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) have also been
revised with some code maintenance and small changes here and there. Several
other minor changes were also made to the underlying structure of v3.7K to
rectify some issues and make improvements. These revisions replace all
previous distributions.
One perhaps interesting new use of the high resolution video modes now
supported by the Drawing Editor is that the Pixel Trace command can load a
24bpp or 32bpp image file at up to 1920x1440 or higher resolution. You can
then draw over the loaded image for various applications such as: motion
analysis animation, rotoscoping, making tool paths for CNC CAM manufacturing,
and making too path files for art work such as painting, wood or linoleum
carving, cutting etching plates, and similar tasks. When you use the Files
Utilities BMP Oil command to make an "Oil" painting it just paints dots or
lines of a given color. If you use the Drawing editor Pixel Trace command you
can have paint brush or tool strokes go in any direction or along "curved"
paths. The idea is to scan the image you want to trace over on your scanner as
a BMP file, then use the Files Utilities BMP PIX command to make a Pixel file
of the image, then load that Pixel file into the Drawing On-Screen Pixel_Trace
command in order to trace line segments over the drawing, you would then save
the traced lines as an ASCII drawing file and use that file as a tool path in
DANPLOT.EXE (tm), or with additional editing with DANCAM.EXE (tm), to make the
art piece or template. To get better "brush control" you might use a digitizer
tablet rather than a mouse while doing the tracing. In order for this to work
you MUST save the BMP file with the exact screen dimensions of the video mode
your video board supports, e.g. if your video board only supports 1600x1200 you
would use the software that came with your scanner to edit the image to be
saved at that exact size, then when you enter the drawing editor you would also
select that same size for the video mode to match the image. You may have
problems getting your scanner software to save the image the exact right size,
you may need to enter values one or more pixels larger or smaller than the size
you want. Remember that you need to convert the BMP image into a Pixel file,
and that the BMP file must be saved as a 24bpp BMP file if you are going to use
the SVGA VESA 15bpp, 16bpp, 24bpp, or 32bpp video modes, my program will
convert the 24bpp BMP data into the Pixel type selected. You might also be
able to convert 8bpp BMP files to gray scale 8bpp Pixel files, but converting
color 8bpp BMP files to color 8bpp Pixel files should not be used since the
loss of color depth may make tracing more difficult. The Alias symbol feature
should work inside the Pixel trace command in current revisions so long as you
have entered the names of the Alias index files with the main menu Change
command (see the tutorial on making Alias files.) Dropping symbols or tool
cycles onto the scanned image inside the Pixel Trace command might make some
kinds of drawing easier and faster. Although no menu is displayed in the Pixel
Trace command so that the full screen area can be used, many of the same
commands as are present in the Draw part of the Drawing Editor can be called up
by pressing their letter key command, such as [M] for the move command, and [B]
for begin new element, and so forth. Be sure that you save the traced lines to
a drawing file, they do not become part of the raster image. If you want to
superimpose drawing lines over an image, you can load the image as a background
in the Main Menu Preview command and display the drawn lines over that image
background, then save the combined display as a Pixel or BMP file with the Save
Pixel or BMP save commands in the Preview command's menu.
---
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.