QuickCAD 1988-1996 Kevin Millican
Version 2 (Windows)
Operating Manual


1. INTRODUCTION

QuickCAD is an update to an Atari ST program which was written in 1988 to enable accurate sketches to be developed for the Kyocera range of laser printers. In late 1988, the program was enhanced to allow it to be used to support a number of Atari ST applications including the welding information management system (WIMS).

The program was updated at fairly regular intervals and released as freeware.

WIMS has now been rewritten using Paradox for Windows. Diagram support in this version was provided via Windows OLE. However, it was considered desirable to enable existing WIMS QuickCAD drawings to be used to avoid substantial redraughting (or converting via the DXF route). Therefore support has been included within the new version of WIMS for the original version of QuickCAD. A batch conversion program for existing diagrams has also been provided.

Although primarily designed for producing welding sketches, QuickCAD is also useful for producing many other types of drawing for illustrative purposes, particularly for direct use within database applications. It is an unusual vector drawing application because it supports flood fills - something usually only found in painting programs. This is useful where 'Bitmap/Paint' type features are desirable but the user requires an efficient file format or the flexibility of editing using vector tools. The QCD file format is 'text-only', making it ideal for sending sketches across the Internet or utilising the diagrams in user-written programs.

QuickCAD is unrelated, and bears no similarity to the commercial CAD package distributed under the name:- 'Drafix QuickCAD'. 

Usage of this program is subject to the shareware conditions outlined in section 12.


2. REQUIREMENTS

A 486 or Pentium based PC running Windows version 3.1 or later.


3. CHANGES TO PREVIOUS VERSIONS

 Runs under Windows 3.1, 3.11, and Windows 95 instead of Atari GEM
 The Kyocera PDL, DXF export, and Paint tool are no longer supported.
 Colour is now supported for all drawing objects including flood fills.
 Any TrueType font can be used
 Arcs and Circles are now defined by three points on the curve instead of needing the circle centre to be positioned.
 The editing has been significantly improved by the use of a select mode and control handles on individual elements.
 A semi-automatic numbering tool is provided  to speed up weld pass numbering.
 Construction lines have been added as drawing aids.
 Supports Windows DDE - allows client applications to run QuickCAD hidden as a DDE server, call up QuickCAD files and save the resulting bitmap image to the clipboard. Can also be used as a display utility controlled via DDE.


4. INSTALLATION

Windows 3.1/3.11 - Insert the disk in drive A: and use File|Run from Program Manager. Enter A:\setup and press return.

Windows 95 - Insert the disk in drive A: and use the Add/Remove Programs option from the control panel. Click Install and follow the prompts.

NB The first time you run QuickCAD, select Help|DDE and click on OK - this ensures that the QuickCAD *.QCD drawing files are associated with QUICKCAD.EXE in the WIN.INI file. 

On some installations you may get a warning that 'CMDLOG.DLL is in use' or something similar. This just indicates that you already have this file; it is safe to skip and continue installation.


5. DRAWING TOOLS

When QuickCAD is run, the user must select a drawing tool from the draw menu.  Seven tools are provided :-

 Line :
Click once with the left mouse button to set the beginning of a line and move the mouse to the desired point for the other end of the line. Press the left mouse button to confirm. Pressing the right mouse button aborts the operation. When the end of a line is fixed it automatically becomes the start of a new line; this allows shapes to be drawn.

 Box :
Click once with the left button to set one corner of a box and again to confirm.

 Circle :
Click three points with the left mouse button. A circle is drawn passing through the three points. NB: if the points are on or very close to a straight line this operation will report an overflow error because the calculated origin of the arc tends towards infinity.

 Arc :
Similar to a circle but an arc is drawn between the first and third point, passing through the second point.

 Number :
A small dialogue box appears requesting a number to start from (defaults to 1). The first number appears at the current mouse position and can be moved anywhere on the screen. The number is set in the desired location using the left mouse button and the number at the cursor is then incremented. This continues until the right mouse button is pressed.

 Text :
This is similar to the 'Number' option but the dialogue box requests a text string. Several locations can be confirmed using the left mouse button. Right mouse button exits.

 Fill :
Fill an enclosed area with a colour. Note that repositioning or deleting objects can sometimes result in the fill bleeding out somewhere. Repositioning existing objects can stop this effect but adding extra objects will not since they are drawn in sequence. 

There are two additional items on this menu used for temporary construction lines. The second of these '<Multiple>' is useful for drawing a set of equispaced parallel lines between two points. These make positioning of weld layers on multirun weld drawings much easier.

Construction lines are deleted when the 'Redraw' option is selected or when redraws occur due to edits.


6. ATTRIBUTES

During drawing functions, the colour, font, and line width attributes can be changed from the 'Options' menu and 'Line Styles' menu at any time until placement is confirmed with the left mouse button.

NB Redrawing the screen resets some of the default attributes for new drawing objects.


7. EDITING

Editing drawings with QuickCAD for Windows is significantly different from the Atari ST version.

'Select Mode' activates the editing tools.

In 'Select Mode', moving the mouse around the screen displays the control handles for each drawing component as the mouse passes over them.

7.1 The user may delete a highlighted component by simply pressing the <Delete> key.

7.2 Right clicking with the mouse enables its attributes can be changed from the pop-up menu. The colour option does not effect numbers and text because these can be set from the font option and the differentiation makes editing easier.

7.3 Pressing and holding down the left mouse button with the cursor in one of these controls allows the control to be dragged to a new position. Releasing the mouse button moves the control and redraws the screen so that the result can be seen.

7.4 If the cursor is not over a control when the mouse is dragged, a rectangle is rubber-banded over the desired area. When the left mouse button is released, an image of this box can be moved to a new location and confirmed with a left mouse click. Alternatively the right button allows the user to abort this operation or change the attributes for the group.

When moving a group of objects, the action taken depends on whether 'Move Mode' or 'Copy Mode' is ticked in the 'Edit' menu :-

 If  'Move Mode' is ticked, any control points enclosed in the dragged rectangle (source) are moved to the relative position in the target rectangle. To move a complete component, all its control points must have been enclosed.

 If 'Copy Mode' is ticked, any component that has one or more control points enclosed in the source rectangle are copied to the position indicated by the target. Dragging the source rectangle around a single control point will make a copy of the individual component.


8. File Operations

QuickCAD loads and saves its own format (*.QCD) and will perform a one-way import of version 1 Atari ST QuickCAD files (*.QUI). When importing old files, a new version with the extension .QCD is created in the same directory using the conversion program QUI2QCD.EXE. Some editing may be required to reposition text because of the difference between fixed and proportional fonts.

QUI2QCD.EXE must be located in the same directory as QUICKCAD.EXE for automatic import within QuickCAD.

The 'Save Bitmap' option creates a file called QUICKCAD.BMP in the current directory. Bitmaps can take up a lot of space so, to discourage wastage, there is no option to save a bitmap with any other name. For example, a typical QuickCAD file takes up around 5KB of disc space but an uncompressed bitmap saved from an 800x600 x 256 colour screen has a file size of 469KB.

However the user may copy the drawing to the Windows clipboard for use in other applications and advanced users may wish to use the DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) support.


9. DDE

See separate Help entry.


10. CONVERTING VERSION 1 (*.QUI) FILES

The QUI2QCD.EXE program may be run independently of QuickCAD to convert individual files.

Fills and paint objects are not converted.

When converting arcs from QuickCAD version 1 to version 2, the program will calculate the end points (v2 points 1 & 3) of the arc from its circle origin, radius, and start/finish angles. The mid point of the arc is used as the v2 second point. During conversion an image is displayed highlighting these points.

QUI2QCD.EXE can also perform batch conversion of a whole directory of files:-

Use the load button to locate the directory containing the files and type ALLFILES as the filename. All *.QUI files in the directory will be interpreted and saved as new QCD variants (so make sure there is enough disk space before you start!).


11. TECHNICAL INFORMATION - QuickCAD File Format

QuickCAD files can be viewed in any text editor or used/created by other programs. Although drawings are saved as text, they are fairly compact because for each component only the changes to the previous variables are saved (a form of delta compression).

Internally, QuickCAD uses a 1 dimensional string array and a multidimensional array to store the information. The multidimensional string array is defined as follows :-

Type QPoint
Name As String * 10
FontName As String * 30
Txt As String * 4	(used for storing the number text for the number tool)
x1 As Long
x2 As Long
y1 As Long
y2 As Long
x3 As Long
y3 As Long
radius As Long	(used internally, saved but not used in reloading)
thickness As Long
textindex As Long	(pointer to first array used for storing text)
ForeColor As Long
FontSize As Integer
FontBold As Integer
FontItalic As Integer
FontUnderLine As Integer
Selected1 As Integer	(used internally, not used in storage)
Selected2 As Integer	(used internally, not used in storage)
Selected3 As Integer	(used internally, not used in storage)
End Type

When storing a drawing on disk, QuickCAD precedes each portion of information with a two letter code followed by '>'. Each variable is examined for each component in turn and if it is different to the last one stored, then it is saved.

There is a two line header preceding the data. The first line reads 'QuickCAD Drawing' and must not be altered if QuickCAD is to recognise the drawing. The second line is used to store version information and is user-defined.

The end of this second line may contain screen resolution information. Version 2.01 onwards includes text in the format :- RES ###.. where ###.. is the number of horizontal pixels available on the screen display when the file was saved. If QuickCAD loads a drawing with, eg. 'RES 800' at the end of this second line, onto a PC using a 640 x 480 (VGA) screen, QuickCAD will scale the diagram to fit the smaller screen. These changes are permanent when the file is resaved at the lower resolution.

The converse operation (a small picture into a larger screen) does not perform automatic scaling because this is unnecessary. If desired the picture can be scaled manually from the 'Special' menu.

Anything following the line with a component name, 'NM>', is treated as attributes/variables for that component.

Quite complex drawings can be stored in this manner with far less disk space than would be required by the equivalent compressed bitmap file.

Incorporation of QuickCAD pictures within user-written applications is also extremely easy. Registered users may obtain a copy of the latest VB source code for the redraw and load routines by contacting the author. 


12. CONDITIONS OF USE / LICENSE AGREEMENT

12.1 QuickCAD is the intellectual property of the author, Kevin Millican, and is supplied to educational establishments and individuals for home use under the FREEWARE concept.

12.2 Any other usage of the software requires registration and the payment of a one-off license fee. This is governed by the SHAREWARE principle; ie. you may evaluate the software for 30 days but if you continue to use it, then registration and payment of the license fee is required. 

12.3 Registration costs 50 Sterling and covers the following :-

12.3.1 Use by any number of individuals directly employed by the company holding the license.

12.3.2 Supply of the QuickCAD program to work in conjunction with another software application via DDE server mode. This does not include applications consisting solely of macro code for word-processors, spreadsheets etc.

12.3.3 Re-distribution of the QuickCAD program and documentation files on magazine CDROM or other media (The registration fee may be waived for PD libraries and small-user groups by written permission from the author). Those in receipt of the software may evaluate it for 30 days but should register the software if its use falls outside the criteria in 12.1 above

12.4 Disclaimer : This software is provided with no warranty of any kind and the author accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from it's use. By using the software you are expressing your agreement to these terms.

12.5 Please send cheques to :-

Mr K Millican
3 Leonard Drive,
Lowestoft
Suffolk
NR32 4WB
England

Email : support@millican.info