tbxCAD **************************************************************************** This demo may be distributed freely. Print functions are contained in a separate print utility which is not included in this distribution. Save functions in the tbxCAD demo are also disabled. **************************************************************************** Finally, a real CAD program at an affordable price. tbxCAD is a fully featured two dimensional drafting package, with features such as an infinite drawing plane, wide range of drawing primitives, exact specification of locations, multiple layers, scaling, dimensioning, measurement and much more. It can print to Epson compatible dot matrix printers. Its ability to export GEM METAfiles makes it the ideal technical illustration tool. Just import the tbx METAfile into your favourite DTP program for inclusion in your final document or to ac- cess a wide range of printers. * Infinite drawing plane. Drawing size and complexity limited only by memory. * Geometric CAD entities: Lines simple, horizontal vertical, angled, XY, tangential, polyline, parallel; trim, break or join lines; Rectangles fast, standard; Polygons Circles three point, standard, fast; break circles; Ellipses fast, closed, open; Arcs three point, standard, fast; break or trim arcs; Bezier curves; Fillets. * Accurate location of construction points: tangents, intersections, ends, centers, on entity etc. * Editing: copy, move, move to layer, delete; rotate and mirror at any angle; scale and project. * Auto dimensioning of length, radius, diameter, and angle. Apply dimension vertically, horizontally, angled or parallel to entity. Edit height, arrow size and direction, follow line and scaling. Select auto or manual dimensioning. * Enter labels in any size or orientation. Normal and draft fonts, skewed or unskewed. Font editor included. * Choose grid option visible or invisible, snap, spacing. * Measure lengths, vertical or horizontal distances, angles, or point to point. * Choose from six line styles; up to 16 line thicknesses. * True Vector Crosshatching with user set line, spacing and angle options. * Zoom in, out, default and to full screen; set default zoom; zoom to scale. * Up to 254 selectable layers per drawing; make layers visible or invisible, active or inactive. * User library functions for commonly used items may be created, saved and loaded into drawings. * Built in calculator. * Unlimited undo function. * Output in METAfile (.GEM - GDOS required but not provided) * Imports DXF files via separate conversion utility provided * System requirements: ST/STe/TT, double sided drive. Screen support: ST medium and high or TT medium and high resolutions. * Printing via separate print utility. High resolution printer driver for Epson compatible 9 or 24 pin dot matrix printers, or use GDOS to access other printers. tbxCAD is priced at $69 Cdn or $59 US (plus $5 s&h). Ontario residents add 8% PST; Canadian residents add 7% GST. Ask your favourite retailer, or send check or money order to: ABC Solutions 4040 Creditview Road Unit 11-151 Mississauga Ontario L5C 3Y8 You may also get in touch with us by calling (416) 824-8484, or leave eMail on GEnie to ABC.SOLN. TBXCAD Program Programming: Tony Biasutti TBX ENGINEERING DEMO-Version 2.2 Copyright 1992, 1993 The following set of documentation is a brief summary of the features present in TBXCAD. A complete set of documentation is available with the purchase of TBXCAD. INTRODUCTION The first point that should be made is that TBXCAD is not a drawing program. The difference between CAD and Drawing programs is that the latter works with pixels while the former deals with drawing entities. An entity is any of the following : 1) Line 2) Circle 3) Arc 4) Ellipse 5) Bezier Each entity has specific characteristics that can be referenced to allow ease of drafting. For example, a line has the characteristic of having two endpoints; two non-parallel lines have a characteristic of forming an intersection point; a line intersecting a circle at one point produces the characteristic of being tangent to that circle etc. As one begins inserting entities into a drawing, opportunities arise to reference these types of characteristics to produce desired effects with extreme precision. For the purpose of this discussion, these specific points or characteristic locations will be called SPECKS. IN THE BEGINNING... When TBXCAD is first executed, the user is presented with a virtually blank screen. There is a familiar menu bar across the top and a black command line on the bottom as indicated by the '>' prompt. The white (or blue if color monitor is used) area is your sheet of paper. It is an 'infinite' sheet of paper as one can move freely to right, left, up or down by simply moving the mouse to the desired edge (to move upward and avoid activating a menu drop, move mouse to the arrow pointing upwards). Obviously, with a blank sheet, movement in any direction will not be fruitful. THE MAIN MENU The user is probably familiar with some of the menu selections available but not all, so a bit of explanation is in order here: ABOUT PROG Displays on screen: program name, author and serial number. Instructions on how to purchase non-demo version of TBXCAD. FILES All file functions are listed here. These include the ability to save and load drawings, as well as the merging of blocks (smaller drawings that are stored in libraries ie. a drawing of a sink for house layout). METAfile output can be performed for use in other programs (not with the DEMO version). TOOLS This is where the action is. The menu reveals all the entities possible for insertion onto the sheet of 'paper'. As mentioned before there are four basic entities that make up a drawing: a line, an arc, a circle (subset of an arc) and ellipse. All other entries in this menu are combinations of the basic set. A rectangle is made up of four lines, and a fillet is made up of an arc. DIMENSION, XHATCH, and LABEL options are NOT considered entities for the purpose of referencing characteristic properties (SPECKS). More will be explained later on the individual options. EDIT Once an entity has been inserted into the drawing, the entity, or group of entities, can be altered by any of the menu options provided. Most involve some form of capture of the entities that the edit is to be performed onto. The capture may take the form of a dynamic window that is altered to encompass the desired group of entities, or the selection process is made using the mouse. Once the selection is made, instructions are provided to allow the user to complete the desired task. SETUP this menu header contains options for defining system configurations. These include the selection of line style for insertion of LINES; the selection of LAYER for defining the current working layer and attributes; and the control of GRID (active/visible) functions. EXTRAS options under this menu header provide the user with tools to: aid in moving around the 'sheet' (PAN); zooming into areas of a drawing; or move further out (ZOOM), making the whole drawing fit on the screen at once (ZOOM ALL); placing the screen over a predefined area of the drawing and scale (ZOOM DEFAULT); scale visually the present drawing by a multiplying factor (SCALE); measure distances, or angles (MEASURE); perform basic mathematical calculations using a calculator (CALCULATOR); determine how many entities have been inserted as well as the limits to the number of entities possible given present memory usage (STATUS). DISPLAY Menu options under this header allow for the toggling on or off of screen display characteristics. To speed up re-drawing of the screen during CAD modifications, text, dimensions and xhatch patterns can be selectively be disabled. LET'S CAD!!! The word 'digitizing' is used to represent the action of clicking the left mouse button. In TBXCAD, digitizing is usually used to select an entity or to position entities. Generally, the right button is reserved for exiting a repetitive command. Most mouse button use or 'digitizing' will be prompted by TBXCAD on the command line. ----------------------------------------------------------------- !!!!IMPORTANT!!!! Please follow the command line prompts at the bottom of your screen. These will almost always tell you what to do next. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2.0 TOOLS The drop-down menu shows all the available entities that can be inserted: LINE CIRCLE ARC ELLIPSE RECTANGLE FILLET BEZIER --------- LABEL SHADING DIMENSION Once the menu has dropped selecting an option will produce a submenu called a 'Magic Menu'. This menu is like no other previously seen, in that moving the mouse will cause the menu to drag along with it. This allows the user to remove the menu from areas of the CAD drawing that are of interest, thus preventing obstruction. Digitizing on the desired Magic Menu option will register a selection, and depending on the command options, more Magic Menus may appear with the appropriate prompts. If one wants to abort the Magic Menu selection, that is, abort the present command, enter the key. This will return the user to the main menu. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.0 EDIT In all edit commands the user will be required to select which entities are to be involved in the edit. There are two methods available in the selection process. One may digitize each entity desired for editing, or one may use a 'window' to select the entities. Using a window will select all entities within the window boundaries. An entity must be completely inside the window for it to be selected. This process of selecting entities will be called CAPTURING for the purpose of this discussion. 4.5 SETUP-LAYER OPTIONS A user may specify the layer onto which the insertion of entities is made. Up to 254 different layers are available. The best way to understand layers is to imagine clear sheets of paper stacked one on top of the other. Each of those sheets is considered a layer. One may make the layer nonactive, but visible, so that editing of that particular layer is not possible. (This becomes really handy in floor layouts where you wish to capture a piece of furniture for a move, but don't want the wall right next to it to move. You would move all fixed entities, like walls, on a separate layer, and define this layer as visible but not active.) 6.0 DISPLAY Menu options under this header allow for the toggling on or off of screen display characteristics. To speed up re-drawing of the screen during CAD modifications, text, dimensions and fill patterns can be selectively be disabled. 7.0 SPECIFIC LOCATIONS This menu allows for the selection of specific points on the cad drawing with accuracy. You may also press the space bar to call up the menu at any time when it is appropriate. The options are as follows: 7.1 END POINT- this modifier will allow the selection of the end point of any entity. One must point in the near vicinity of the end of the entity to ensure correct selection. 7.2 INTERSECTION- will select the intersection of any two entities. In some situations there may be more than one intersection ie. line cutting a circle. In those situations the TBXCAD will mark all intersection and prompt the user to digitize the intersection desired. 7.3 RELATIVE TO- selecting this option will allow the user to specify an offset relative to the point selected. For example: if a point desired is x4 y5 units from the end of a line, one may use RELATIVE TO, followed by selecting END OF (line), and specifying the relative offsets desired. 7.4 CENTER OF - selecting this option will allow the user to specify the center of an entity. On a line, this will be the mid point between the two endpoints. On a circle, arc or ellipse, this will mean the center of the entity. 7.5 TANGENT TO- allows point to specified tangent to an entity. 7.6 ON ENTITY - will select point on entity nearest the digitizing location. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 8.0 HOT-KEYS - pressing this key will result in the 'undoing' of the last entity command performed. One may continue to press undo until the desired effect is reached. - re-draws the screen. - will terminate command at any point of the process and return the user to the main menu. - move the drawing in the direction of the drawing. CLICKING BOTH MOUSE BUTTONS AT THE SAME TIME - pop up calculator. - calls up the Specific Locations menu at most times in drawing mode. - calls window panning function ------------------------------------------------------------------- end of info.