Autodesk - ADI 4.2 ================== The ADI 4.2 driver provided with your Cirrus Logic VGA is the TurboDLDClassic display list driver from Panacea. It has only two purposes: To speed up AutoCAD REDRAWs, PANs, and ZOOMs To provide a more productive, user-friendly, interface to AutoCAD (via the features described later in this manual). The driver is memory-resident and inserts itself between AutoCAD and the graphics board. It has no other effect on AutoCAD's operation besides speeding the program up; it runs with AutoShade 2 with RenderMan and 3D Studio to provide enhanced rendering support, but does not affect the speed of these programs, since they do not support Display Lists. Installing TurboDLDClassic does not change any of the AutoCAD program files or alter any of the drawing files stored on disk. TurboDLDClassic was designed to be an easy-to-use, feature-filled product that makes using AutoCAD faster and more productive, not one that makes AutoCAD more complicated and difficult to use. How does TurboDLDClassic make AutoCAD run faster? There are three things the driver does to speed operation: AutoCAD stores drawings in a hierarchical structure, with simple elements intermixed with complex ones. Every time the screen is updated, AutoCAD must decode this structure. TurboDLDClassic works differently. While you are working, it translates the normal hierarchical structure into a Display List, a series of vectors or polygon fills. When you pan or zoom, TurboDLDClassic uses the Display List, then writes the resulting vectors to the video board hardware. Since the hierarchical structure does not have to be decoded, drawing proceeds very quickly. TurboDLDClassic also maintains a Drawing Cache. The Drawing Cache is a compressed list which contains the current contents of a viewport. This pre-scaled portion of the Display List allows for even faster pans and zooms and redraws. TurboDLDClassic gives you numerous new user-interface features, such as the bird's eye view. (via the features described later in this manual). By how much does TurboDLDClassic increase the speed of AutoCAD? PANs and ZOOMs, aided by only the Display List, run from two to twelve times faster than a non-display list driver. The Drawing Cache further speeds things up to the point that REDRAWs can be up to twenty-five times faster with TurboDLDClassic, compared to the graphics drivers shipped with AutoCAD.Features The features provided by TurboDLDClassic include: Bird's eye view. Accelerated redraws, pans, and zooms. Easy to use - no new commands or special menus to learn. Protected-mode ADI 4.2 driver - completely compatible with AutoCAD Release 12, Release 11/386, 3D Studio and AutoShade 2 with RenderMan. No memory conflicts. Works with AutoCAD's built-in Virtual Memory Manager Includes CustomColors, which lets you interactively customize your logical and physical colors from within AutoCAD. Completely compatible with all Autodesk ADI 4.2 compatible third party software. Supports all AutoCAD Release 12 features, including rendering to viewports and 31-Bit regen space. TurboDLDClassic requires a '386, '486 or Pentium based PC which supports AutoCAD Release 12, 11/386, AutoShade 2 with RenderMan, or 3D Studio V1.x/2.x. Additional extended memory is recommended for optimal performance. Quick start guide ================= This section summarizes the basics of installing and using TurboDLDClassic. Please read the rest of the manual for details. What does it do? TurboDLDClassic 's main function is to speed up AutoCAD pans, zooms and redraws. The driver accomplishes this by creating and maintaining a Display List - a fast-displaying object list of the current drawing - dramatically increasing performance on pans and zooms. In addition to offering display list speed enhancement, TurboDLDClassic provides a bird's-eye view to allow you to move around large drawings. What's the catch? The only resource used by TurboDLDClassic is memory. The driver actively uses about 300Kbytes of RAM from extended memory for its operation. This memory is drawn from AutoCAD's memory pool and therefore does not affect normal DOS operation. The driver is loaded by AutoCAD at AutoCAD load time and is unloaded when AutoCAD is exited. Additionally, the Display List size can vary from one tenth to three times the size of the current drawing file, particularly when using AutoCAD 12's 31-bit regen space. You may wish to purchase and install additional RAM before installing TurboDLDClassic, since it shares memory with AutoCAD. If AutoCAD is using a lot of memory, TurboDLDClassic may not have enough. If there is significant hard disk activity while you are using TurboDLDClassic, it may be an indication that you should add more memory to your system. Installation ============ Insert the Cirrus Logic drivers diskette into Drive A: (or B:). Run the Cirrus Logic installation program (INSTALL.EXE), and choose the option for the Autodesk/AutoCAD drivers and specify the drive and directory where you want them copied to (such as C:\ACAD\DRV). Since the start-up is a little bit different for AutoCAD Release 12 than it is for older versions, please follow the instructions for the version of AutoCAD you will be using TurboDLDClassic with. To configure AutoCAD 12 Begin AutoCAD with the reconfigure switch by typing ACAD -R[Enter] Choose option 3, Configure Video Display from the AutoCAD configuration menu. Type Y at the Do you want to select... message to display the available video options for AutoCAD. Select TurboDLD Classic by Panacea Inc. from the list of display options. If you chose to install TurboDLDClassic into a sub-directory other than ACAD\DRV, be sure to modify the ACADDRV environment variable to include that sub-directory. Otherwise, the TurboDLDClassic selection will not appear in the list of available drivers. To configure AutoCAD 11/386 Run the FASTACAD.BAT that was copied to the TurboDLDClassic sub-directory by typing: C:\TURBODLD\FASTACAD[Enter] The above example shows that TurboDLDClassic was installed on drive C: in the TURBODLD sub-directory. Start AutoCAD and reconfigure it to use TurboDLDClassic by selecting option 5, Configure AutoCAD from the AutoCAD main menu. From the next menu, select option 3, Configure Video Display. Choose Item 1, P386 ADI 4.0/4.1 (R11) as your display device. (For more information, see your AutoCAD 'Installation and Performance Guide.') TurboDLDClassic configuration ============================= After selecting the proper display device, the TurboDLDClassic driver configuration menu will appear. Set-up of TurboDLDClassic requires configuration of its various operating parameters. These parameters have been logically grouped into menus based on their interaction with AutoCAD. A quick trip through each menu will complete the configuration process. Context sensitive help can be obtained by typing [?] at any menu option. Please note that the DLDSETUP.HLP file must be present in order for help to appear. If you get an error message, be sure that the file DLDSETUP.HLP is in the ACAD\DRV sub-directory (R12), or in the TURBODLD sub-directory (R11). If at any point during the configuration process you want to change an item on a previous screen, just press the [ESC] key to back up. Selecting NO SAVE, EXIT at the main configuration menu will return you to the AutoCAD configuration menu without making any changes. At a minimum, a graphics board and screen resolution must be chosen from the Select Graphics Board/Resolution menu. If no display options are configured, the driver will be automatically configured for Generic VGA, 640 x 480 resolution at 16 colors. The first menu, Select Graphics Board/Resolution, configures TurboDLDClassic for the graphics board, and display and rendering resolutions to be used. Prior to configuring TurboDLDClassic, run the Clmode utility and check the first screen to determine which Cirrus Logic chip and how much memory is on your VGA adapter. Select Graphics Board - Selects the graphics chip being used Select Display Resolution - Selects AutoCAD, 3D Studio and AutoShade main display screen resolutions Select Rendering Resolution - Selects AutoCAD 12, 3D Studio and AutoShade rendering resolutions When configuring TurboDLDClassic's display options, the Rendering Board/Resolution options described below will automatically appear ONLY when configuring AVE Render, 3D Studio or AutoShade. Otherwise, the Display Board/Resolution options will be the only menu choices available. Basic Configuration options set AutoCAD screen characteristics, number of text lines in the command-line area, font size and dual screen mode. AutoCAD Text Lines - Selects number of lines in AutoCAD command prompt area. The default is 3 lines, but values from 1 to 10 can be specified. A number larger than 3 might be useful if you are using this driver in a high resolution mode with small fonts, eliminating the need to frequently swap back and forth between the text and graphics screens. If you do not want any lines of text at the bottom of the display, use AutoCAD to disable the command area (see the AutoCAD 'Interface, Installation and Performance Guide' for more information). Press [Return] to continue with font selection. Font Size - Selects AutoCAD display screen font or font file to be used. Choose the Font Size you would like to use for your AutoCAD menus, pull-downs, and dialog boxes: 8x8/8x14/8x16/12x20/12x24. For resolutions over 800x600 we recommend the 12x20 or 12x24 fonts. The default is the 8x14 font. Dual Screen Mode - Enables or disables dual screen operation of AutoCAD. User Interface options include the parameters for maneuvering within AutoCAD. Using these options, the Big Picture, Panacea's bird's-eye view, can be configured to suit your needs or allow for better differentiation within a complex drawing. Double Click - The Double Click option allows you to set the delay for TurboDLDClassic's Big Picture pop-up. This time represents the largest amount of time that can elapse between the release of the digitizer button and the subsequent press of the same button in order to detect a double click and display the Big Picture. Setting this number too low will result in the computer seeing two separate clicks, while setting the time too high may slow down response time for single button presses. Values between 10 and 30 are recommended. The Double Click time is measured in hundredths of seconds. PC systems have a timing resolution of 5/100ths of a second, therefore, the entered time is rounded by the driver to most closely approximate the nearest multiple of 5. This means that a time setting of 23 is the same as a setting of 27, both of which get rounded to 25 (or one-quarter of a second). In simplest terms, when adjusting the timing value, it is best to use multiples of 5. BP Button - Sets mouse/digitizer button to use for Big Picture. With the BP Button option, TurboDLDClassic gives you the flexibility to use a double click on an available digitizer/mouse button as a Big Picture pop-up button. On the BP Button menu line, enter the number of any available digitizer button other than button 1 - button 1 is reserved as the pick button. Within AutoCAD, simply double click the chosen button to invoke the Big Picture. BP Highlight Mode - Controls how the Big Picture will appear on the screen. Patt Line will display the Big Picture using dotted lines to form the outer bounding box and the zoom crosshairs. XOR Rect will use a contrasting rectangle to display the Big Picture. The Both option will use a combination of Patt Line and XOR Rect to distinguish the Big Picture. BP Refresh - In it's fastest mode, TurboDLDClassic does not refresh the Big Picture until a DLDREFRESH command is issued. Depending on a drawing's complexity, in this mode, the Big Picture could become confusing, displaying vectors that are now actually erased, and no longer part of the drawing. To configure the Big Picture to be updated as objects are drawn or erased, enable the BP Refresh. If speed is a major concern, disable it. BP Cache - Enables or disables TurboDLDClassic's internal memory cache for Big Picture functions. This cache will speed up Big Picture operations on some graphics platforms, primarily on TIGA-based graphics boards. For this reason, the BP Cache is normally disabled. As a reference, on VGAs, the performance benefit of the BP Cache is as little as 1%. With a TIGA-based graphics board, however, the performance benefit of the BP Cache is as high as 400%. The Expert Configuration menu sets the function of TurboDLDClassic itself. This menu allows for customization of the driver for speed or to adjust for memory constraints. Display List - Enables or disables the display list feature of TurboDLDClassic. This option should always be set to enable, disabling the Display List will cause TurboDLDClassic to run as an ordinary non-display list driver. Drawing Cache - Enables or disables TurboDLDClassic's internal drawing cache, a compressed list of the current viewport, which speeds up pans zooms and redraws. As in the Display List option, Drawing Cache should normally be enabled. In low memory situations, it may be desirable to disable the Drawing Cache. Disabling the drawing cache will free-up memory for AutoCAD but may or may not have a visible effect on your ZOOM and PAN performance. For example, on VGAs, the performance benefit of the drawing cache is as little as 5%. With a TIGA-based graphics board, however, the performance benefit of the drawing cache is as high as 400%. AutoCAD Logical Drawing Space - Using AutoCAD 31-Bit Space, configures TurboDLDClassic for use with AutoCAD R12's 31-Bit logical drawing space. When set to Yes, the driver will use AutoCAD's extended 31-Bit drawing space. Selecting No, will use a 15-Bit drawing space, similar to that of AutoCAD R11. The 31-Bit logical space allows you to extend your Regen-less zooming ability by a factor of several million, at the cost of more memory. Additional memory is used by AutoCAD for the drawing space, and by TurboDLDClassic for the Display List. 31-Bit zooming and panning is about 10%-20% slower than for 15-Bit logical space. The Use AutoCAD 31-Bit Space setting is ignored for AutoCAD R11 installations. Internal Command Echo - The echo of TurboDLDClassic internal commands can be enabled or disabled with the Internal Command Echo option. If you would like to see TurboDLDClassic's internal commands display at the AutoCAD command line as they are executed, enable this option. Big Picture Zoom Mode - Sets the Big Picture (BP) zoom definition area display options. In a zoomed view of the static BP, as the current viewport is zoomed or panned, Float mode causes the image in the BP to move around within the bird's-eye window, keeping the zoomed viewport area fixed in the center of the bird's-eye. Freeze mode will lock the current BP contents into place to provide a better overall frame of reference. Regen Mode - As a convenience feature, a Regen Mode option has been added to TurboDLDClassic. A Fast Regen will store the AutoCAD drawing until the Display List has been created, and then display it, all at once. The Incremental mode displays the drawing in 'chunks' as the display list is created. The Fast mode causes Regens to process approximately 5%-10% faster than the incremental. Neither mode changes memory requirements. After all options have been set, use the arrow keys to scroll down to the Save and Exit option and then press the [Enter] key to continue. Next, configure the AutoCAD screen display characteristics and then type [Y] to accept the changes. Exit to the AutoCAD drawing editor to begin using TurboDLDClassic. The last step in setting-up TurboDLDClassic is to configure the colors for AutoCAD. From the AutoCAD Command Line, type DLDCOLOR[Enter], to start CustomColors, TurboDLDClassic's color configuration utility. Make any desired color changes and then Save the new color palette and then Exit to return to the drawing editor. Verifying your TurboDLDClassic installation To verify that TurboDLDClassic is running and installed correctly, follow one of these two simple tests. If you have the AutoCAD side menu enabled, look for the Panacea Logo in the lower right-hand corner. If you are running AutoCAD without a side menu, type DLDVER[Enter] at the AutoCAD command prompt. If TurboDLDClassic is loaded and running, this command should return your current version, and serial number. Reconfiguring TurboDLDClassic ============================= To reconfigure TurboDLDClassic follow the instructions below for your version of AutoCAD, Release 12 or Release 11. AutoCAD Release 12 If you need to make changes to your Release 12 TurboDLDClassic configuration, type CONFIG[Enter] at the AutoCAD command prompt or use ACAD -R[Enter] when starting the program. Select option 3, Configure Video Display. Answer No[Enter] to the Select a new videodriver ... prompt to start the TurboDLDClassic configuration program. Make the desired changes to the driver and then Save and Exit to continue to the AutoCAD drawing editor. AutoCAD release 11 To change a Release 11 configuration, select option 5, Configure AutoCAD from the AutoCAD main menu, and then from the configuration menu, select option 3, Configure Video Display. Answer no to the Select a new video driver ... prompt to start the TurboDLDClassic configuration program. Change the desired driver options. Save and Exit to return to the AutoCAD configuration menu. Open or begin a new drawing. To completely reconfigure TurboDLDClassic using Panacea's defaults, delete DLDSETUP.DAT from either the \ACAD\DRV sub-directory (R12) or the TURBODLD sub-directory (R11) and then follow the Driver Configuration instructions earlier in this chapter. Configuring an AutoCAD 11 environment During the TurboDLDClassic installation process, a FASTACAD.BAT file is created and placed into the TURBODLD sub-directory. FASTACAD.BAT contains four lines that set four separate environment variables: DLDCFG - used by TurboDLDClassic to find all of its configuration files; and DSPADI, RCPADI, RDPADI - used by AutoCAD, 3D Studio and AutoShade 2 w/RenderMan, respectively, to find the driver file. FASTACAD.BAT must be run prior to starting AutoCAD R11 and only needs to be run once per system boot. For automatic loading of the environment variables, FASTACAD.BAT may be added to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file or an AutoCAD start-up batch file. To add FASTACAD.BAT to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, insert the line CALL D:\TURBODLD\FASTACAD anywhere in the file. The above example assumes that FASTACAD.BAT resides in a sub-directory on drive D: called \TURBODLD. If you don't wish to put FASTACAD in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you may put it in a batch file which also starts AutoCAD, or simply remember to run the file before starting AutoCAD. If you get the message Out of Environment Space when you run FASTACAD.BAT, you will need to enlarge your system's environment. This is accomplished by adding the following line, SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P /E:768 to your CONFIG.SYS file. The /E:768 specifies an environment size of 768 bytes. Change this number as appropriate. You will need to reboot after modifying your CONFIG.SYS file, in order for the changes to take effect. Configuring AutoShade, 3D Studio and AVE Render =============================================== AutoShade ========= To configure AutoShade v2.0 to use TurboDLDClassic, first run the FASTACAD.BAT file from your TurboDLDClassic sub-directory to set the AutoShade environment variables. Next, start AutoShade with SHADE /R[Enter], which will allow you to reconfigure AutoShade. For the display device, select P386 Autodesk Device Interface display driver, and for the rendering display select the P386 Autodesk Device Interface rendering driver. If you are running the display and rendering screen on the same monitor (i.e. single monitor), make sure to tell AutoShade this. A single monitor approach will require a redraw of the display screen after a rendering screen. Next, follow the same installation steps that were used to select the graphics board and display and rendering resolutions for AutoCAD. 3D Studio ========= Configuring 3D Studio requires three steps. First, you need to set the environment variables for 3D Studio by running the PANA3DS.BAT file that was copied into your TurboDLDClassic sub-directory. Next, edit the 3DS.SET file, located in your 3DS directory. The following three lines may be changed to use the RCPADI rendering driver. Locate the lines that begin with RENDER-DISPLAY MAIN-DISPLAY MATERIAL-DISPLAY and change them to read RENDER-DISPLAY=RCPADI MAIN-DISPLAY=RCPADI MATERIAL-DISPLAY=RCPADI Make sure to remove the ';' or any spaces that may be present at the beginning of the line. It is only necessary for the RENDER-DISPLAY line to be set to RCPADI in order to render at high resolution. If you do not need a high resolution main display screen or if you will not be using the materials editor, you may keep MAIN-DISPLAY and MATERIAL-DISPLAY set to their defaults. For 3D Studio 1.x, there is no RENDER-DISPLAY line. The corresponding line is DEFAULT-DISPLAY and should be changed to read DEFAULT-DISPLAY="RCPADI" The quotes around RCPADI must be used for this version of 3D Studio. The MATERIAL-DISPLAY should only be configured for RCPADI when BOTH the Display AND Rendering Resolutions of TurboDLDClassic are configured for 256 color resolutions. An unpredictable Materials Editor screen will appear if anything other than 256 colors is selected. If you are unsure about the function of the Materials Editor screen, use the Materials Editor as VGA, you should not have any problems at all. Please note too, that the use of the Materials Editor will not give you any more colors to choose from. Save the above changes and start 3D Studio to begin the last part of the configuration procedure. From your 3D Studio directory, delete the file 3DADI.CFG by typing DEL 3DADI.CFG[Enter] This will cause 3D Studio to start in its reconfiguration mode. Start 3D Studio by typing 3DS[Enter]. During the 3D Studio reconfiguration start-up, you are prompted with a series of questions. After the first 3D Studio question appears and is answered, the TurboDLDClassic configuration program will appear. Select a graphics board and display and rendering resolutions as you would for AutoCAD use. Because RCPADI device drivers, by definition, are combined display and rendering devices, during 3D Studio reconfiguration, you will be brought to the TurboDLDClassic configuration menu more than one time, once each for Display and Rendering. It is not necessary to select display and/or rendering resolutions a second time. Simply press the [Enter] key to remove the help screen and then highlight Save and Exit to continue to the next question. Also if FASTACAD.BAT is used instead of PANA3DS.BAT to define the AutoCAD operating environment, the TurboDLDClassic configuration menu will also appear for RDPADI and DSPADI devices if they are present. TurboDLDClassic only provides still rendering support for 3D Studio. TurboDLDClassic will not play back rendered .FLI or .FLC files. This is a limitation of 3D Studio.The Mapping Icon colors, which are usually yellow and green, will appear as black when using any external ADI driver. Also, 3D Studio has problems with large fonts. It is recommended that you use the default font settings. AVE Render ========== AutoCAD 12's AVE Render uses TurboDLDClassic's rendering capabilities to render objects and drawings. If AVE Render has never been configured, when you first select the AutoCAD render command, you will be forced to run through the configuration process. You will be prompted as follows. Select a Rendering Display Device. Since TurboDLDClassic is a combined display/rendering device, choose item 1, P386 ADI Combined Display/Rendering Driver from the available choices. Configure the Rendering Graphics Board and Resolution. Here the TurboDLDClassic configuration program will appear on the screen. Press the [Enter] key to continue past the help screen and display the Rendering Configuration menu. Choose Select Graphics Board/Resolution to display graphics board and resolution menu selections. First, choose Select Render Graphics Board to select the graphics board to be used for renderings. Next, choose Select Render Resolution to select the desired rendering resolution from the list of available choices. Select Return to Previous Menu and then select Save and Exit. Select Render Mode. Then select the rendering mode for TurboDLDClassic. Select either Render to Viewport or Render to Screen depending on how you wish to view your renderings. Note that in order to render to a viewport you must be using a display resolution of at least 256 colors. Otherwise, AVE Render will not allow a render to viewport selection. Select a Render Hard Copy Device. If you are using a render hard copy device select your device type from the list of choices. If you are not using a hard copy device, accept the default of NULL. After configuring AVE Render, you will return to the drawing to render the current drawing. If you have previously configured AVE Render, type RCONFIG[Enter] at the AutoCAD command prompt to manually display the Render Configuration menu. Follow these steps to re-configure AVE Render. Select option 2, Configure Rendering Device to choose a new rendering driver. Answer [Yes] to the Select Different Rendering Device question. Select option 1, P386 Combined Display/Rendering Driver. Configure the rendering graphics board and resolution. Here the TurboDLDClassic configuration program will appear on the screen. Press the [Enter] key to continue past the help screen and display the Rendering Configuration menu. Choose Select Graphics Board/Resolution to display graphics board and resolution menu selections. First, choose Select Render Graphics Board to select the graphics board to be used for rendering. Next, choose Select Render Resolution to select the desired rendering resolution from the list of available choices. Select Return to Previous Menu and then Save and Exit. Select the rendering mode for TurboDLDClassic. Select either Render to Viewport or Render to Screen depending on how you wish to view your renderings. Note that in order to render to a viewport you must be using a Display resolution with at least 256 colors. Otherwise, AVE Render will not allow a render to viewport selection. Select Exit to the Drawing Editor from the Render Configuration menu and then type [Y] to keep the changes you've just made. Press the [F1] key to change to the graphics screen if necessary. Changing colors Included with TurboDLDClassic is the CustomColors color configuration utility. What is so unique about CustomColors is that it gives you the ability to modify all of your changeable AutoCAD colors, including menu colors, text colors, dialog box colors, and even drawing colors, while running AutoCAD. CustomColors simulates an AutoCAD screen, complete with all possible objects. At the AutoCAD drawing editor command line, type DLDCOLOR[Enter] to edit the color configuration. Once you enter the utility, you are provided with the following configuration menu at the bottom of the screen: (O)bject, (D)rawing, (P)hysical, (A)DI reset, (V)GA reset, (L)oad, (S)ave, (E)xit The menu items perform the following functions. Object - Selecting this option will allow you to change the color of any AutoCAD screen object, such as the graphics area background color, the menu area text color, or the border line color. Select the object whose color you want to change by moving the highlight box around with the left and right cursor control keys and pressing [Enter] when you have highlighted the desired object. Note that a one line description of the object type is displayed at the top of the screen as you move the box around. Once you have selected the object, another highlight box will appear around the color boxes nearest to the bottom of the screen. These are the physical colors that the video board supports. Use the left and right cursor keys to select the physical color to be used for the object you have selected and press [Enter]. The screen will quickly redraw with the new color selection for the object you have chosen, and you will be back at the start of object selection in case you want to change the color of another object. Note that at any time during color configuration, you can press the [Esc] key once or twice and return to AutoCAD. Also, pressing the question mark [?] key will provide you with context sensitive help. Drawing - This option allows you to modify AutoCAD drawing colors 0, 8 and 9, in a fashion similar to the way you change object colors. When this option is selected, a highlight square appears in the drawing color area of the simulated AutoCAD display. The square can be manipulated using the four cursor keys. You may notice that the drawing color portion of the display is laid out just like the CHROMA drawing supplied with AutoCAD. When you press [Enter], the highlight moves down to the 16 physical colors, just as it does during the object color selection. Using the arrow keys, pick the physical color you want to represent the selected drawing color. Press [Enter] to have your selection take effect. Physical - choosing the Physical option from the menu allows you to alter the red, green, and blue components of the physical colors. A highlight box will appear in the row of 16 physical colors at the bottom of the screen. Use the arrow keys to select the color you wish to edit and press [Enter]. Three sliders will appear near the bottom of the display, with the horizontal position of the slider for each of the color components (red, green, or blue - RGB) indicating the relative intensity of the component. You can use the left and right arrow keys to move the slider for the selected component, or type in a number from 0 to 255. Many graphics boards do not support 255 different intensities for each color component. Therefore, when you enter an intensity, Custom Colors will round it to the nearest intensity which your graphics board supports. For example, VGAs support 64 intensities per RGB color component. This means intensities increase in multiples of 4 (256/64), therefore an intensity of 0 is the same as an intensity of 3. The up and down arrows allow you to select which component you want to alter. As you manipulate the sliders, all objects on the display that are of the same color as the selected physical color will change in hue. This way you can visually determine the most appropriate setting for your display. Pressing [Enter] will set the RGB values you have selected for the physical color you were modifying. ADIreset - constructs a default ADI color palette, as defined in the Autodesk Device Interface Driver Development Kit. VGAreset - constructs a default VGA color palette in the first 16 color entries. The remaining palette colors remain identical to those used for ADI devices. Load - reloads the color information from the file DLDCOLOR.DAT. It will be loaded from the directory pointed to by DLDCFG (AutoCAD R11), or from the AutoCAD R12 \DRV directory. If DLDCOLOR.DAT cannot be found, an error message will be displayed. This command is useful because it allows you to go back to your previously edited color configuration in case you have made some mistakes in configuring your colors that you want to undo. Don't Accidently Wipe Out Your Changes. Selecting ADIreset, VGAreset, or Load will irrevocably wipe out any current color changes you may have made, unless you have just saved your new setting, so use them only when you really need to, such as when you have made so many color changes that you can't seem to get back to a reasonable place and just want to start over. Save - Saves the current color palette to DLDCOLOR.DAT. It will be saved to the directory pointed to by the DLDCFG environment variable in FASTACAD, or to the \ACAD\DRV (R12) directory if FASTACAD is not used. Exit - Exits CustomColors. If you have made palette changes, but not saved them, you will be asked if you want to save your changes before exiting. When running at more than 8 bits-per-pixel (256 colors), setting physical colors via DLDCOLOR will have no visible effect until a SAVE and EXIT occurs. TurboDLDClassic commands ======================== TurboDLDClassic offers AutoCAD users many features and productivity options. This section alphabetically lists the basic commands found in TurboDLDClassic and provides the correct syntax for their usage. For a brief summary of TurboDLDClassic commands type DLDHELP at the AutoCAD command prompt. The most important feature of TurboDLDClassic is the addition of a world view called The Big PictureTM or BP for short. Bringing up the BP allows you to view where in the current drawing you are currently located in your active viewport, and it also gives you the ability to dynamically move to another part of the drawing without having to exit the function you're currently executing. DLDBIGPIC To call up the Big Picture, at the AutoCAD command line, type DLDBIGPIC[Enter], or double click the right mouse button or button 2 on your digitizer puck. (if you haven't redefined your BP Button double click). This will bring up the BP on the display. You will see cross-hairs and a highlighted section indicating which part of the whole drawing you're currently viewing - the size of the image will be determined by the AutoCAD logical drawing space being used, 15-Bit or 31-Bit. The selection or pick box will have an 'X' through it. Move the mouse/digitizer around to locate your pick box. If you can't see a small box moving, click the left mouse button (the pick button) to size down the pick area. In size mode, the pick box will have a right pointing arrow in it ("-->"). If the contents of the BP are too small to work with, you may increase the size of the image in the window by pressing the [+] key on your numeric keypad this performs an incremental zoom within the BP. Likewise, pressing the [-] key will reduce the size of the contents of the BP. Pressing the [Home] and [End] keys will put the BP into its smallest and largest size, respectively. The smallest BP size is defined as being exactly the same view as that in the viewport referenced by the BP. The largest BP size is defined as the largest image possible without causing a Regen. The BP pick box is always proportioned to the proper aspect ratio for the current viewport. Clicking the pick button again will put you back into the pick box move mode ('X'). This operation is very similar to using the Zoom Dynamic feature of AutoCAD. Once you have positioned the pick box on the area you would like displayed in the active viewport, click any button other than the pick button to initiate the zoom, or press the [Enter] key. If you want to abort the operation, just hold any button down, other than the pick button, until the BP disappears. You can also hit any key on the keyboard, other than [Enter], to cancel the BP. Note that the BP is updated with new drawing commands, but that moves or erases will not update the image unless BPREFRESH is enabled. A DLDREFRESH or a REGEN will manually update the BP with the current drawing changes. DLDBPCACHE* Enables or disables TurboDLDClassic's internal cache for BP features. This cache speeds up TurboDLDClassic's Big Picture functions. DLDBPCACHE is normally disabled. Performance benefits of the BP Cache with will vary from one graphics platform to the next. For example, on VGAs, the performance benefit of the BP Cache is as little as 1%. DLDBPDIM Resizing and repositioning the BP can be accomplished by typing this command at the AutoCAD prompt. DLDBPDIM allows you to tell the driver where you want the BP placed and how large you want it to be. The size is limited to being between one-quarter and one-half the width of the display. This command functions like the pan/zoom selection box in the BP, as far as positioning and dimensioning goes. To abort, hold the right mouse button, or any other digitizer button, down until the moving box disappears. DLDBPFREEZE Sets the Big Picture (BP) zoom definition area display options. DLDBPFREEZE toggles the Big Picture Zoom Mode parameter in TurboDLDClassic's Expert Configuration Menu. In a zoomed view of the static BP, as the current viewport is zoomed or panned, Float mode causes the image in the BP to move around within the bird's-eye window, keeping the zoomed viewport area fixed in the center of the bird's-eye. Freeze mode will lock the current BP contents into place to provide a better overall frame of reference. DLDBPHILIGHT* Changes the highlight used to display the Big Picture among three modes, Patt Line, XOR Rect, and Both. Patt Lines will use dotted lines to outline the Big Picture pick box. XOR Rect will use a contrasting rectangle to highlight the pick box, and Both will use a combination of Patt Lines and XOR Rect. DLDBPREFRSH* This convenience feature of TurboDLDClassic, toggles the Big Picture update mode. If disabled, the BP is updated manually by issuing a DLDREFRESH command. When enabled, DLDBPREFRSH will cause the BP to refresh automatically when an object is drawn or erased. The BP operations therefore will be slower with DLDBPREFRSH enabled. DLDBPSTATIC Toggles the BP to stay on the screen at all times. Use this command if you want the BP on the screen in order to conveniently move into it whenever you want to zoom or pan. Typing DLDBPSTATIC will put up the BP at the position you set with DLDBPDIM. Note that the static BP will disappear when other menus pop-up on the screen, and it will also disappear if you draw any objects which may overwrite the BP. With these exceptions, the BP will remain on-screen until you either exit the drawing screen or you type DLDBPSTATIC again. DLDCOLOR Invokes CustomColorsTM, Panacea's color configuration program. DLDCOMPACT Forces a manual garbage collect of Display List memory thereby returning unused display list memory back to the AutoCAD memory pool. DLDDCACHE* This command toggles the TurboDLDClassic drawing cache on and off. The Drawing Cache is a compressed form of the current viewport which speeds pans, zooms and redraws DLDDLIST* This command toggles the display list function of TurboDLDClassic on and off. Please note that if the display list is turned off, you will be running AutoCAD as though you were using a standard non display list driver - pans, zooms and redraws will be MUCH slower with DLDDLIST disabled. DLDECHO* Toggles internal TurboDLDClassic command echoing at the AutoCAD command line. When TurboDLDClassic commands are executed via the digitizer or pop-up menus, they generate internal commands which will be displayed at the AutoCAD command line if DLDECHO is enabled. Disable DLDECHO to simplify the command line. DLDHELP Provides a list of TurboDLDClassic commands with one-line description of each, within AutoCAD. It's recommended that you flip to the text screen by pressing the key to view the output. DLDREFRESH Refreshes the Big Picture to reflect the most current changes to a drawing. If the static BP is up, it will be updated. If not, the next time the BP is brought up, it will contain a current representation of your drawing, provided no changes were made between the DLDREFRESH command and the DLDBIGPIC command. For Automatic update of the Big Picture, see the DLDBPREFRSH command above. DLDSTAT Displays the current TurboDLDClassic status. A listing of the current TurboDLDClassic parameters will be displayed at the AutoCAD command line. A flip to the graphics screen is recommended for this command. DLDUSAGE Use DLDUSAGE if you want a to-the-byte breakdown of how memory is being used, specifically for display list processing. DLDUSAGE returns information regarding the memory each viewport is occupying. Since AutoCAD supports multiple viewports, it is possible to have multiple display lists. DLDVER Displays the TurboDLDClassic version, serial number and registered user's name at the AutoCAD command line. DLDVISREGEN* Toggles between the Fast and Visible Regen modes of TurboDLDClassic. A Fast Regen will create the display list and then display the drawing all at once. A Visible Regen will display the drawing in chunks as the display list is created. This command is a dynamic form of the Regen Mode parameter in the Expert Configuration Menu. Since TurboDLDClassic's Fast Regen mode is faster than AutoCAD's, we highly recommend its use. Please note that the commands above with a '*' following them, when issued within AutoCAD, will override the selections made during TurboDLDClassic configuration, for the current drawing session only. Exiting AutoCAD and subsequently restarting will cause all feature settings to revert back to those selected in the TurboDLDClassic configuration menu. If you wish to make the current changes permanent, reconfigure TurboDLDClassic. Memory usage and lists TurboDLDClassic shares extended memory with AutoCAD via the PharLap Virtual Memory Manager. This means that TurboDLDClassic will automatically page to disk if it uses up all the RAM that AutoCAD has left for its use. See the AutoCAD 'Installation and Performance Guide' for more information on Virtual Memory Management. Please note that if you start seeing excessive hard disk accesses during PANs, REDRAWs, and ZOOMs while using AutoCAD with TurboDLDClassic, try using the DLDCOMPACT command. If this doesn't affect the amount of disk access it's probably time to add more memory to your system. Contact your AutoCAD dealer for assistance in upgrading your memory. Regarding display list memory, it's important to realize that TurboDLDClassic speeds up AutoCAD operations by creating a Display List in memory, and sending that list to the graphics board for pans, zooms and redraws. But a display list takes up memory. How much memory? For production use, we recommend that at least 1 megabyte is available for TurboDLDClassic. To determine how much memory AutoCAD is using, use the status command while in AutoCAD (refer to the AutoCAD 'Installation and Performance Guide' for more information). The Display List for a simple drawing like the shuttle Columbia might only require 20 Kbytes for the Display List. Complex drawings may require several megabytes. We have seen Display Lists for a drawing range from one-tenth the size of the drawing file to three times the size; in general, the Display List averages about the same as the DWG file size. This means that you should count on the Display List generally taking up as much as twice the DWG file size. Also, complex objects such as circles and text "expand" when translated into display list format, so a drawing with a lot of complex objects and text will have a larger Display List than a simpler drawing. Keeping the Display List small Text takes up a disproportionate amount of space in the Display List. To keep the list small, put text in its own layer of the drawing. Then don't display the text layer when editing the rest of the figure. This will keep memory consumption down and speed up PANs, REDRAWs, and ZOOMs. Read the AutoCAD manuals The AutoCAD manuals have an excellent section on performance, concentrating on memory usage. To get the most performance out of the program, read the appropriate sections of those manuals as well as this one. Tips and tricks Upgrading from older Panacea DLD drivers Be sure to remove any reference to previous DLD driver commands (FASTACAD calls or SET parameters) or sub-directories that may be in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file or in AutoCAD start-up batch files. Such references could cause AutoCAD and TurboDLDClassic to look in the wrong place for setup information. If have been using a previous Panacea DLD driver and wish to use the color palette you customized for it with TurboDLDClassic, you may copy the DLDCOLOR.DAT file from your older DLD's sub-directory to the sub-directory you specified during the TurboDLDClassic installation process. Maneuvering Through AutoCAD Zooming When zooming into an image, be aware of your AutoCAD grid snap setting. If you are zoomed extremely far into a drawing and you are having trouble moving your digitizer cursor, you may be snapping to a point which is not part of the zoomed viewport. If the cursor only moves to a single point, or is not on screen at all, turn the grid snap off. TurboDLDClassic and Paper Space TurboDLDClassic features do not work in AutoCAD's Paper Space. The execution of any TurboDLDClassic command in Paper Space will result in an error message at the command prompt. Zoom Dynamic We do not recommended using ANY TurboDLDClassic features while in the Zoom Dynamic mode of AutoCAD. Because TurboDLDClassic cannot determine when Zoom Dynamic has been initiated, unpredictable results will occur. Use the Big Picture feature of TurboDLDClassic to accomplish the same task as Zoom Dynamic, in a much more efficient fashion. Switching Color Modes When switching color modes, (i.e. from 16 to 256 or vice versa) the DLDCOLOR command should be run in order to reconfigure your color palette for the number of colors selected. A black cursor and disappearing crosshairs are both symptoms of a color palette problem. AutoCAD R12's CONFIG command Configuring TurboDLDClassic in the middle of a drawing session using the CONFIG command is a bit like exiting and re-starting AutoCAD. If are using the static Big Picture, you will have to re-initialize it after returning from the Configuration menu. Sticky Cursors Sometimes, when using the Big Picture, the digitizer cursor will appear to stick to the edge of the bird's-eye. This is normal and is the result of the digitizer puck responding to the whole screen area while the Big Picture only occupies a small portion of the screen. Because of the difference in resolutions between the screen and the digitizer, when the screen cursor enters the Big Picture area, the digitizer puck has more drawing area to cover in order to get to the same location as the screen cursor. Using AutoCAD Commands Since TurboDLDClassic is totally transparent to users with respect to using normal AutoCAD commands to REDRAW, PAN, and ZOOM, you still have to suffer from some of AutoCAD's nuances. One of these nuances is that ZOOM ALL and ZOOM EXTENTS both force a REGEN, because AutoCAD does not keep track of various boundaries necessary to avoid the REGENs. And REGENs are rather time-consuming and don't use any display list processing to speed themselves up. One way around this problem is to use another of AutoCAD's built-in features, namely the VIEW command. When you first load your image and see the whole drawing on the screen at once, just type VIEW Save ALL[Enter], which will save the display position you see under a view named 'All'. Then, after you've done some detailed editing and want to return back to the big picture, type VIEW Restore ALL[Enter], instead of ZOOM All[Enter] or ZOOM Extents[Enter], and the full drawing will be restored to the display at display list speeds, without a REGEN. Another nuance of AutoCAD's is that if you zoom in too far or pan over too far, you may inadvertently cause a REGEN. AutoCAD again provides a very simple solution: the REGENAUTO command. Just type REGENAUTO Off[Enter] at the AutoCAD command prompt, and automatic REGENs will be disabled. The REGENAUTO setting is also saved as part of your drawing file, so you only need to execute it once per drawing. You may even want to set REGENAUTO off in your ACAD.DWG drawing template so that all your drawings are created with REGENAUTO set off. Third-Party Software If you are having trouble with TurboDLDClassic and third-party AutoCAD applications, be sure that the third-party application supports ADI 4.2. In order to use the ADI 4.2 specification, third-party applications require new T-Drivers and therefore must be revised. If an application does not specifically say that it is ADI 4.2 compatible, it probably is not. Check with the manufacturer to be sure. If your third-party application is ADI 4.2 compatible and you are having trouble using TurboDLDClassic, try running AutoCAD without the third-party application to try to isolate the problem. Also, try the third-party application with the VESA compatible driver shipped with AutoCAD, this will also help to isolate the source of the problem. Also note that any third-party TSR that needs to access the display may not work properly when using AutoCAD with any advanced ADI display driver, especially if the TSR switches graphics modes. Most TSRs will not support the same graphics platforms as TurboDLDClassic and therefore, will not be able to accommodate mode switching back and forth. Command summary This section alphabetically lists the basic commands found in TurboDLDClassic. Commands have been listed alphabetically. DLDBIGPIC calls up the Big Picture - use digitizer clicks to define an area and zoom into it. DLDBPCACHE enables or disables the Drawing Cache for TurboDLDClassic advanced features. DLDBPDIM allows resizing and repositioning of the Big Picture. DLDBPFREEZE toggles the Big Picture Zoom Mode between Float and Fixed modes. DLDBPHILIGHT selects the highlight mode used to display the Big Picture. DLDBPREFRSH enables and Disables the Big Picture automatic update mode. DLDBPSTATIC toggles the Big Picture to stay on the screen at all times. DLDCOLOR invokes CustomColorsTM, Panacea's color configuration program. DLDCOMPACT forces a manual clean-up of Display List memory returning any unused memory back to the AutoCAD memory pool. DLDDCACHE toggles the TurboDLDClassic drawing cache on and off. DLDDLIST toggles the display list function of TurboDLDClassic on and off. DLDECHO toggles internal TurboDLDClassic command echoing at the AutoCAD command line. DLDHELP provides a list of TurboDLDClassic commands with one-line description of each, within AutoCAD. It's recommended that you flip to the text screen to view the output. DLDREFRESH refreshes the Big Picture to reflect the most current changes to a drawing. DLDSTAT displays a listing of the current TurboDLDClassic parameters. A flip to the graphics screen is recommended for this command. DLDUSAGE gives a to-the-byte breakdown of how memory is being used for display list processing. DLDVER displays the TurboDLDClassic version, serial number and registered user's name at the AutoCAD command line. DLDVISREGEN toggles between the Fast and Visible Regen modes of TurboDLDClassic.