                      
                            CAREWARE

                    !DrwCgm Version 0.5 Readme.


Last updated : 24th March 1990
                                       
                      
!DrwCGm is a Utility for converting Acorn Draw files to CGM Computer
Graphics Metafiles as may be imported into Lotus FreeLance and other
Graphics tools on the PC.

It has been tested with Freelance V2.01

Installation

The DrwCgm_arc file should have been restored to a directory named
!DrwCGM. Which should contain the following files :-


           !Run      : DrwCgm Startup file.
           !Sprites  : DrwCgm Application Sprites
           DrwCgm    : DrwCgm Application.
           ~~config  : Configuration file for DrwCgm.
           readme    : This Readme file.

Tailoring.

    The !run file should be altered to suite your requirements :-

    1) The Shared C Library should be loaded as appropriate for
       your setup. The supplied !run file assumes that the C
       shared library module is in !system.modules.

    2) cgm$path : !DrwCgm processes an input draw file and writes
       out a converted Cgm File. As the source and target may
       well be applications it is not possible for !DrwCgm to use
       Wimp$Scrap as it is possible that both the input and output
       could both be Wimp$Scrap files. !DrwCgm therefore outputs
       a temporary file in the cgm$path directory. This allows for
       the situation when the target is an application using Wimp$Scrap.
       It is therefore a good idea to keep any files within cgm$path
       locked just in case you try to convert a file of the same name.

    3) !DrwCGm has been tested with a wimpslot size of 64k lower
       values maybe possible. The buffer used for the conversion
       processing is claimed from the next slot. The space is return
       immediately after the conversion, so you should not be able to
       see the change. The next slot size must be large enough to 
       process any individual object within a draw file. If !DrwCgm 
       prompts that it does not have enough memory to process, 
       then !DrwCgm must be restarted, having made provision that 
       the next slot is large enough.


Operation.

     1) First click on the !DrwCgm icon. This will install the !DrwCgm
        icon on the icon bar.

     2) Click Menu on the !DrwCgm icon and select the correct paper size.
        ( This is necessary as Draw does not store the paper size ).

     3) To convert a Draw file, drag the file to the !DrwCgm icon on
        the icon bar. This will popup a save Cgm window. Drag the Cgm
        file icon to the required destination. 

        NOTE : 

        As the same filename is used the source and destination must
        be in different directories.


Restrictions

       Sprites are not supported in the translation to Cgm.

Apparent Freelance V2.01 Restrictions

       Freelance does not allow for filled objects with filled objects.
       Freelance does not use standard Metafile descriptions of polygon
       outline line types, but uses a user defined description unique
       to itself.
              
Current Restrictions to be removed in a future release

       TextAreas are currently not supported.

Translation

       Colour Translation.
        
       DrwCgm tries to convert any colour to the nearest colour under
       freelance. If a coloured line is being translated to black then
       the algorithm with DrwCgm is failing and a adjustment to the
       palette is required.
                                   
       Bezier Curves.

       These are translated to a polyline or polygon.

       Ellipse Translation.

       Draw holds ellipses as a series of bezier curves. these are
       therefore translated as polyline or polygon.

       !FontEd Characters.

       !FontEd allows individual characters to be transferred to another
       application as draw files. Therefore a character dragged from
       !FontEd into draw will be translated by DrwCgm accordingly.

Config File.

       The config file controls font translation.

       The first entry is the number of font entries.
       
       The appropriate number of font entries then follow.

       A font entry consist's of :-

          An Acorn Font name.
          The required Freelance font number    ( Integer ).
          height adjustment multiplier          ( Integer ).
          height adjustment divisor             ( Integer ).

       Height adjustment 

          The height read from the draw file is adjusted as follows

             ( height * multiplier ) / divisor.

        I believe this facility is required because not all Freelance
        fonts plot the same size. Time will tell if this is true or not.
        Anyway by setting the multiplier and divisor to be the same, this
        facility is not having any effect.

       
Hints on creating foils.

       Rotated & Fancy Characters.

       Characters from Outline fonts may dragged from !FontEd to
       !Draw. Once in !Draw they may be enlarged, rotated. They
       will be translated to a filled polygon in

CGM File type

       I have arbitrarily choosen 666 for the CGM file type. This may
       change in future, if there is found to be standard file type
       allotted to ANSI Graphic Metafiles.

Importing into Freelance

       Transfer the file to the PC. The easiest way to do this is with
       !PCDir. !PCDir allows for a draw file to be drag directly to the
       !DrwCgm icon and then straight to a PC diskette.

       Make sure the file has an extension appropriate for
       importing into Freelance, the default file extension is GMF.
       
             Select : File.
                      Import
                      Then file to be imported.

       The file extension and path to be used for loading maybe changed
       with Option selection.


Note  : From !PCDir version 0.8 onwards, it is possible to have a 
        configuration file that translates file type 405 to GMF.

Copyright & Contributions
-------------------------
 
This software carries no warranty, either express or implied. 
I can not guarantee that it is free of bugs or give any warranty
about it's suitability for use.                                                 
THE STATUS OF DrwCgm is CAREWARE

The software contained in this package is Careware. The word 'Careware'
means many things to many people, so I'll explain what I mean by it.

Careware  means that if you find the program useful and would like
to make a contribution, then there is a nominated charity to send a 
donation to. This of course is voluntary and there no formal 
obligation to do so. However if you are a regular user and 
have therefore found DrwCgm useful, then please send a small 
donation say 5.00 to :-
 
Heatherley Cheshire Home
Effingham Lane,
Copthorne,
Surrey.
RH10 3RS.

or

Chipstead Lake
Cheshire Home
Chevening Road
Chipstead
Sevenoaks
Kent
TN13 2SD.

If you require to be kept abreast of updates to the program, then please
request in your letter that your address is passed onto me.

You may freely copy as long as :- 

   1) This is not for commercial purposes. 

   2) That you do not charge for copying. Or include on a disk for
      which you are charging.

   3) That the application is not tampered with. Tailoring
      of !boot & !run files apart.

   4) This readme file is always included with the application.

   5) You do NOT upload this version on a bulletin Board.

      ( With the current level of charity contributions, it
        is clear that the inducement of updates is required ).          

Norwich Computer Services are excempt from 1) & 2) as all charges
for Careware disks go to charity and written permission has been obtained
for inclusion on their careware disks. They will also be supplied with 
updates.

The author reserves the right to amend the above in cases were
he deems miss use.

All other rights reserved.
 

(C) Keith Sloan.



Version History.

    0.4b      Fixes  : short text must be 22 chars or less not 30.
    0.5       Filetype changed to 405  ( N.C.S./Eureka  Allocated ).

Norwich Computer Services ( ArchiveBBS ) Allocated File numbers

N.C.S. Un-officially manage Filetype numbers 0x400 - 0x5FF.

I would like to encourage others to obtain file allocations from
N.C.S as this helps to avoid filetype clashes.


FootNote
--------

  Version for converting cgm to draw & dxf to/from cgm are nearing
  completion. See Author for more details. ( User 146 on ArchiveBBS ).