Category : Science and Education
Archive   : SCHEM2.ZIP
Filename : SCHEM.DOC

SchematicMaster V2.00


FIRST DRAFT DOCUMENTATION


Hello, and welcome to the new version of SchematicMaster. We hope
that you will find it not only a significant enhancement of the original
product, but also a useful and friendly tool in it's own right.

We would greatly appreciate it if you would look over the program and this
documentation, and report any bugs, discrepancies, problems with the user
interface or the documentation, or anything else that isn't thoroughly
professional and pleasant about the program.

Correspondence with the programmer (that's me, Dave O'Riva) can take
place either through our BBS at (408)-259-2223 or via our wonderful postal
service at:

2726 Hostetter Road
San Jose, CA 95132




SPECIAL NOTE TO EVERYONE:

We here at Orivation do not have anyone with both the time and
the ability to write good program documentation. Nor do we make enough
to hire a technical writer. SO, if you like this program a lot and are good
at program documentation, we will accept a complete set of docs for this
program in lieu of the registration fee. (Realistic attempts only,
please!) All the information necessary is probably contained in this
file, but it is not nearly as reader-friendly as it could be. Also,
you should check the help screen to see if there are features we
forgot to write up.
At the time a set of docs is accepted, we will:

a. Re-release this program with the new docs.
b. Prominently display the author's name in the program.
c. Give the author a number of free upgrades to this program.

Thanx,
Dave O'Riva




SchematicMaster V2.00



Schematic Layout Tool



Copyright (C) 1990 David O'Riva



Contents


1. Introduction
About the program
Files in the package
Shareware License
Legal stuff

2. Basics
The sheet
How to use your cursor

3. Components
The component library
Using a component
Editing a component
Creating your own components

4. IC's
The IC library
Using IC's
Creating your own IC's

5. Blocks
Erasing a portion of the screen
Moving a chunk of screen

6. Disk Operations
Saving and loading your schematics
Saving and loading screens

7. Miscellaneous stuff
Printing the schematic
Clearing your sheet
Variable-sized sheets


SchematicMaster V2.00

Introduction

ABOUT THE PROGRAM


SchematicMaster is a schematic drafting tool, designed to help
you get your schematics out of your head and into a computer with a
minimum amount of discomfort.

Rather than writing a large program with hundreds of modes and
options, most of which are of use only to a professional drafter with a
large expensive plotter that is accurate to .0001 inches, we opted for
a simple interface that can be picked up in an hour or less.

The program includes a component library and an IC library,
both of which can be added to by you, for your needs.


FILES IN THE PACKAGE

SCHEM.EXE The main program
SCHEM.DOC The file you are reading
BASE_IC.DAT The main IC library
COMPNENT.DAT The main component library
x IC index file
x Conversion program from ver1A
x .DOC Manual for the conversion program
README Recent changes (if any)

Sharemare License

SchematicMaster is marketed as shareware. This means that you can try
the program, and evaluate it before paying for it. It does not mean that
it is free or in the public domain.

You may use SchematicMaster for a resonable period to determine if it
suits your needs. If you continue using it you must pay a registration
fee which entitles you to other benefits as well.

A better manual when (and if) written.

Availability of updated libraries as they become available.

Notification of future updates.

Availability of a copy of the program without the shareware message.

Essentially ALL support of the program is through our electronic
bulletin board: AsmLang and CFS. Registered users will be able to access
a reserved area where the programs and libraries will be available, and
where messages can be exchanged.

No disks or manuals will be mailed.

Telephone voice support is available, but discouraged as the programmer
is often not available and messages can go astray.

AsmLang and CFS BBS
408-259-2223
San Jose, CA
24 hours a day. (Out of state night rates are only about 11 cents a
minute.)

David O'Riva
2726 Hostetter Rd.
San Jose,CA 95132
408-258-7652

The registration fee is $30.00, and should be mailed to the above
address. You should include a password you would like to use to access
the AsmLang system, and you will be pre-registered. If you don't or
forget your password, just call in with a varient of your name and leave
a message. Usually within 24 hours you can call back and have full
access.

Legal stuff

No warantee of any sort is made. It is entirely the user's
responsibility to determine the suitability of the program for any
purpose.


SchematicMaster V2.00

Basics

THE SHEET

Your schematics have a good chance of being too large to fit
on a single screen. For this reason, we have provided a "sheet."
Essentially, your screen acts as a window onto the sheet, allowing you
to see and work on one screen-sized chunk of your schematic at a time.

In the unregistered version, your sheet is always three screens
wide by two screens high. In the registered version, your sheet is of
variable size and can be as large as your computer's memory will support.


A diagram of the sheet, assuming that your current window is in
the middle left of the sheet:


ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ ³ ³ ³
³ ³ ³ ³
³ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍØÍÍÍÍÍ» ³ ³
³ º ³ º ³ ³
You seeÉÍØÍÍͺ ³ º ³ ³
this º ³ º ³ º ³ ³
areaÍÍͼ ÃÄÄÄÄ×ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄ×ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
on your ³ º ³ º ³ ³
screen. ³ º ³ º ³ ³
³ ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍØÍÍÍÍͼ ³ ³
³ ³ ³ ³
³ ³ ³ ³
³ ³ ³ ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ


When the program starts, after the title screen, your window
is in the upper left-hand corner of the sheet.

To move your window around the sheet, press AND HOLD the ALT
key, then use the cursor keys to scroll the window in the direction
you wish to go. The easiest way to get a feel for this is to draw
something on the screen, then scroll around for a while. NOTE that
when the program starts, you cannot scroll up or left because you're
already in the upper left-hand corner.

The HOME key will take you to the upper left-hand corner of the
sheet, and the END key will take you to the lower right-hand corner.



HOW TO USE YOUR CURSOR

Your cursor is the center of all activity. It is capable of
drawing a line, erasing a line, scrolling the screen, and it is used
as the base position for components, ICs, and blocks.

When the program starts, the cursor is a blue crosshair in the
middle of the screen. The color indicates that you are in Move mode,
neither drawing or erasing.

To draw a black line on the sheet, press F2. Your cursor will
change to black, and if you move around, you'll notice that a black line
is left behind.

To erase the line you just drew, press F3. The cursor will change
to red, and if you move it exactly over the line, the line will go away.


Crosshairs

To help you line things up and move more accurately, you can
switch to large crosshairs mode. Do this by pressing and releasing
the CTRL key. The crosshairs of the cursor will extend out to the
edges of the screen, and the cursor will slow down significantly. You
should also find that in this mode, you can easily move a single dot
in any direction no matter what speed the cursor normally travels at.

Turn crosshairs off by tapping the CTRL key again.


Speed of movement

If you have a really fast computer, you will find that the
cursor is moving too fast to easily control it. If your computer is
very slow, or running anything in the background, you might find that
the cursor takes quite a while to move. For this reason, a speed
control is provided.

The keys Shift-F1 through Shift-F10 change the speed of cursor
movement. Shift-F1 is the fastest, and Shift-F10 is the slowest. The
program defaults to Shift-F4, which seems to be reasonable on all of the
computers we've tried.


SchematicMaster V2.00

Components

THE COMPONENT LIBRARY

SchematicMaster comes with a library of most standard components.
The components are stored as 16-by-16 bit images. Each component has a
name, which is used to find the component for placement and editing.

The component menu is accessed by pressing F7. To see the
list of components currently available, press the <4> key or select
"VIEW THE COMPONENT LIBRARY."


USING A COMPONENT

To place a component on the sheet, press <1> on the component
menu. When prompted, type the name of the component you want to use.
The component should appear on the screen, with a help line at the
bottom.
At this point, the following keys are active:

CURSOR KEYS Move the component around the screen.

SPACE BAR rotates the component 90 degrees

BACKSPACE Makes a mirror image of the component. This is useful
for components that are not symmetrical.

ESCAPE aborts the placing of the component and returns you
to the component menu.

RETURN puts the component on the sheet

the key shows you a help screen which contains the above
information.


EDITING A COMPONENT

To edit a component, select the appropriate option from the
component menu. After specifying the name, you will presented with
the edit grid. This shows you a blown up view of the component with
a cursor on it, an actual-size view, and a list of the active commands
along the side.

Most of the operations are self-explanatory. The cursor keys move
your cursor around and the space bar inverts the dot underneath the cursor.

NOTE that if you do not press "S" to save the component, any
changes you make to it will NOT be saved.


CREATING YOUR OWN COMPONENTS

To add your own components to the library, select CREATE from
the component menu. You will be asked for a name. If another component
is already using this name, you will be informed of that fact and
asked to specify another.

After that, this routine acts exactly the same way as EDIT
COMPONENT.



SchematicMaster V2.00
THE IC UTILITY

Pressing F8 will bring up the IC utility. You will be given the
choice of placing an IC on the sheet, viewing the IC library, or ading
an IC to the library.

Most all of this is self explanitory, and in the interests of getting
this release actually out will not be covered here, but some notes are
appropriate:

With the 7400 series of IC's, only the base 7400 number is
in the library. For 74xxxyyy where xxx is the technology e.g. LS, HCT,
AS. after the IC is on the sheet the number should be edited to reflect
the correct xxx .

The library in version 2.00 is derived from the one in version 1A. Many
corrections have been made, but there are likely still errors lurking
there, so be careful. We hope to have a more comprehensive and better
checked library in the near future.

5.0 BLOCKS

Block operations may be the single biggest addition to version 2.00.

Blocks may be formed with the "mark block" key by "pulling out" a
rectangle with the cursor keys that encloses the desired area, then it
can be erased, copied to a buffer, or moved around with the cursor keys.
From the buffer it may be placed at one or more locations on the sheet.

6.0

SAVING AND LOADING SCHEMATICS

At any time the current sheet my be saved and/or renamed by use of the
F5 key. A sheet may also be loaded when SchematicMaster is started by
entering the sheet name after the SCHEM on the command line.