January 4th, 1991 Ditek International 2651 John St. Unit 3 Markham, Ontario L3R 2W5 CANADA Introduction ============ These two disks contain the DEMO version of DynaCADD. Please note that this version requires an Amiga with a 68020 or 68030 and a 68881 or 68882 math co-processor. In the DEMO version all save related functions have been disabled. Introduction To DynaCADD ======================== DynaCADD is a complete, integrated, CADD package. It is very powerful and complex, however, its graphical interface makes it much easier to use than many other CADD programs. For assistance feel free to contact our Technical Support Department. Telephone (416) 479-1991 or Fax (416) 479-1882. We assume that you have a working knowledge of your computer system and mouse. If you have any questions relating to these, please refer to the respective manual supplied with your computer. It is also important that you understand the use of drawers (sub-directories), paths, drives and devices. Hardware Requirements ===================== DynaCADD requires at minimum an Amiga with 2 Mb of RAM and a hard drive to operate properly. Your system also requires a 68020/68030 microprocessor and either a 68881 or 68882 math co-processor. Since a screen resolution of at least 640 by 400 is needed, we strongly recommend either the Commodore 2320 de-interlacer or the MicroWay Flicker Fixer for use with DynaCADD on machines that don't have these capabilities built in. Keyboard Conventions ==================== Keys are noted in square brackets, for example: [Enter] [Tab] [,] [;] [Space] [Esc] [Ctrl-A] When you see any of the above it means to press the particular key, or, the combination of keys together. Semicolon [;] : Used frequently in DynaCADD commands to indicate where a selection is complete and command execution should continue. Pressing [;] is equivalent to pressing the right mouse button. Comma [,] : Shown on the lower icon pad, the comma command is used to separate data in a command. Do not confuse it with the semicolon. Alternate [Alt] : Most menu commands can be activated by pressing either [Alt] or [Amiga] key with another key. The key is shown beside the menu option with an Amiga symbol. For example: [Alt-S] will save the current part and drawing. Control [Ctrl] : You can create your own keyboard macro commands and assign them to Control key combinations. Function keys: The function keys have several commonly used [F1] to [F10] commands preüassigned to them. These assignments cannot be changed. Case is not important when you enter commands or layer names. Everything typed as a command is converted automatically to uppercase. Mouse Conventions ================= Click : Press the mouse button once. Unless otherwise noted, this command refers to the left mouse button. Clicking the right mouse button is equivalent to pressing [;], most often used to indicate that the selection process is complete. Click is often used to enter a command and to select an entity or location. Double click : Click the left mouse button twice in quick succession. Drag : Press and hold the left mouse button while you move the mouse. This "grabs" an object which is moved with the pointer. Release the mouse button to let go of the object at the new location. Select : Choosing an option or clicking on a button to turn the feature on. Many dialog box buttons are toggles; that is if you click them once, select them, they are turned on. A second click turns them off. In the File Selector you can click on a file name and then click on OK to select it, or, you can double click on the file name to achieve the same result. The mouse cursor is usually referred to as the "Pointer". Normally it is in the form of an arrow. However it may also be in the shape of a clock, indicating that the program is busy. Editing Dialog Box Text ======================= In DynaCADD there are several dialogs where text is entered or edited. DynaCADD uses standard Intuition string gadget editing conventions: [Right-Amiga X] Clears the entry. [Right-Amiga Q] Performs an undo on edited text. [Backspace] Erases the character to the left of the cursor. [Delete] Erases the character to the right of the cursor. [Arrow keys] Move the cursor in the indicated direction. [Enter] Accepts the entry and closes the dialog box. The Text Editor =============== The text editor is a basic utility in which you can enter and edit text for several commands. The maximum size of text allowed is 800 characters or roughly one window. The keys used in the text editor for editing are: [Backspace] Erases the character to the left of the cursor. [Delete] Erases the character to the right of the cursor. [Up arrow] Moves the cursor to the end of the previous line. [Down arrow] Moves the cursor to the start of the next line. [Left arrow] Moves the cursor one character to the left. [Right arrow] Moves the cursor one character to the right. [Enter] Inserts a carriage return, ends the line and moves the cursor to the start of the line below. [Esc] Cancels the editing and returns to the drawing. [Ctrl-RETURN] Accepts the entry and closes the text editor. [Help] Displays help and information about the text editor. %%nnn : This allows you to enter special characters which cannot be typed directly or easily through the keyboard. Type %% followed by the three digit number of the special character. The character number must be padded with zeros and have a value between 1 and 255. For example: the hundered and thirty-fourth character of a font is inserted by typing %%134. The following special characters used in dimensioning can be entered using a short hand form: diameter sign %%c degree sign %%d plus/minus sign %%p Translations ============ DynaCADD has the ability to translate other CADD formats into DynaCADD: DXF: DXF files, used in AutoCAD and several other CAD programs, can be read in using the File Transfer menu selection. DEF: DEF is DynaCADD's own ASCII file format for use with other programs. DEF files can be read in by using the File Transfer menu selection. Note: DXF/DEF out are available in the full version of DynaCADD. Loading DynaCADD ================ Before loading, DynaCADD needs to be fully installed. Run the Install program to do this. To load DynaCADD 1. Locate the DynaCADD drawer on your hard disk and open it. 2. Double click on the DynaCADD icon. This will run DynaCADD and bring you to the DynaCADD system level. 3. Select Activate Part. Choose a part (.PRT) in the Parts sub-directory. 4. Select Activate Drawing. Choose a drawing (.DWG). 5. Click on OK. This will now bring you into the CADD level. The first time that you run DynaCADD, you enter the program at the System level. After that, DynaCADD keeps track of where you left off the last time a drawing was saved. When DynaCADD is loaded again a dialog box appears. You can choose to return to the previous session by clicking on AUTO or start at the System level by clicking on No. Usage Notes =========== o CLI/Shell users need to use Stack 30000 before running DynaCADD. o Keyboard menu alternates use either [Alt] or [Amiga] key with the respective letter. o In order for the menus to drop down the mouse pointer needs to be in the menu bar area, otherwise the right-mouse button is used by DynaCADD for command completion.