#CAD -MS-DOS- Amiga, etc
6 messages in this thread
Help!
I am trying to sell a system to a customer, and he would love to buy it from
me, but we have a small problem.
He has an MS-DOS machine at his work, and he wants to be able to use an Amiga
CAD package to generate flow charts, drawings, floor plans, etc. and be able to
print these out on their large HP plotter at work (floor model thing with about
a million pens, and its the size of an indoor pool).
I thought that maybe Draw Plus could handle that, because it can output a raw
plot file. Not so, according to Aegis. They told me that the plot file that
Draw Plus outputs is a unique format, and cannot be read by Autocad, or any
other program. He also claims someone was going to write a conversion utility,
but couldnt say who <because he didn't know>.
Does anyone have any idea what the best move is from here? Can anyone point me
to a rather simple solution? Would really appreciate any help on this.
Muchos gracias.
Jim
That comment from Aegis does NOT register with my version of reality.
"… the plot file that Draw Plus outputs is a unique format…"
Really? Interesting, as the Draw Plus manual ITSELF clearly states that the
Draw Plus plot file is HPGL (Hewlett Packard Graphics Language) format… which
means it will directly drive almost any fairly current HP plotter (you did make
it clear to them that you have an HP plotter, yes?). If you don't want to drive
the plotter directly from the Amiga, the manual also includes information on
changing the configuration files such that Draw Plus will generate whatever
format plot file you might need.
If it comes down to it, HPGL is very simple. So is AutoCAD's format. It
should be very straightforward for someone to hack up a minimal converter
program. I wrote one for BJD->IGES in a matter of weeks last year, and IGES is
much more complex than either of the two you are dealing with. You might want
to check with someone in your local user group.
Rick
Rick..
That is very encouraging. Thanks very much for the explanation. It doesn't
bring me any closer, because I don't know of anyone who might be able to
write/swing a conversion utility, but what the heck..at least there is a hope
that maybe someone has one out there now, and I guess thats my best bet, to
look for that. Thanks muchos!
Jim
Jim, it is not necessary to have any new programs to do what you (your
customer) wants. Aegis Draw Plus can create HPGL plot files just fine, and its
plotter drivers are very easy to customize. The output is simply an ASCII file
containing the plot commands (though it will be a fairly big file for complex
drawings). The only problem for your customer is how to get send the plot
files to the plotter at work. Fortunately that is not too hard either.
Presently, I do this kind of thing by sending the file to our VAX at work via
telephone/modem, and then get it from the VAX to (a) the plotter directly using
a dual-port terminal, or (b) an MS-DOS computer using an MS-DOS terminal
program. At that point, it is a simple matter to send the plot file directly
to the plotter. No MS-DOS CAD programs ever get into the picture.
I have done a lot of this work with HPGL CAD output and a similar procedure
for desktop publishing output to get to PostScript printers at work (only I
usually get the file onto a MAC instead of MS-DOS because most of the
PostScript printers are connected to Macs).
All this should get even easier when I pick up a copy of DOS-2-DOS, so that I
can write 3.5' MS-DOS disks directly. If your customer only has 5.25' MS-DOS
drives at work, then he could buy an Amiga 5.25" drive and use the PC utilities
to write to it.
Your customer can rest assured that these methods work – though it really
helps if he understands both computers himself, because if he asks for help at
work he is likely to get smart remarks about "non-standard" computers!
Good luck. Joel
Joel, you sent your message to me instead of Jim… but I imagine he'll see it.
Rick
Thanks Rick, I'll give him a short message telling him to read the long one.
Joel