CADVANCE February 2004 Newsletter

THIS ISSUE

"CADVANCE -- THE BOOK": NOW AVAILABLE!

Written by Mr. John B. Montgomery, AIA

FREE CADVANCE V6.5 Reaches 30,000 Downloads

"CADVANCE -- THE BOOK" NOW AVAILABLE!

Dear CADVANCE Users:

The long-awaited CADVANCE -- THE BOOK, a 3-year project created by Mr. John B. Montgomery, AIA

and longtime CADVANCE user for 20 years, is finally completed and is now available from F I T, Inc.! CADVANCE -- THE BOOK by Mr. Montgomery, is not a Reference Manual or a Tutorial, but is a Practical Manual for Operations for the Real World. Whether you are a beginner, novice, advanced, or expert CADVANCE User, CADVANCE -- THE BOOK will help you significantly with your productivity. Mr. Montgomery is an experienced Architect and is an expert CADVANCE User. You can now purchase CADVANCE -- THE BOOK for only $50 plus Shipping/Handling from FIT, Inc.

CADVANCE -- THE BOOK is a brand-new Book in PDF format and includes great new features.

Here are just a few of the features you will find.

New Bitmaps for your Toolbars
More convenient CADVANCE configuration files, for better practical use of CADVANCE
More fonts
New Symbols: Arch, Elec, Elev, HVAC, Plumbing, Site, Struct
Besides The Book, other valuable items included on the CD should be worth a lot more than $50!

Please visit Order Products On-line for the Order Form.

The top part of the BOOK is introduced here:

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Table of Contents

Book I

Introduction, Dedication, Goals
Chapter 1 Getting Started, Some Setup Stuff
Chapter 2 Doing an Exercise
Chapter 3 Working with Symbols
Chapter 4 Working with Dimensions
Chapter 5 Working with Text
Chapter 6 Working with Printers/Plotters
Chapter 7 Working with Textures
Chapter 8 Working with Layers
Chapter 9 Working with Reference Files
Chapter 10 Working with Draw Construction
Chapter 11 Working with Building Grids
Chapter 12 Working with Toolbars
Appendix A
Bonus disk

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INTRODUCTION

This book is written to fulfill a promise to Mr. Takashi Furukawa and myself to pass along the inside experience of

using the program known as "CADVANCE". The Program, at the present time (2002), is issued as CADVANCE

2002, a work in progress since before Furukawa Information Technology Inc. picked up the baton and kept it

going forward while not losing the relative ease of use which characterizes it.

DEDICATION

To Takashi Furukawa and the members of his staff who have worked diligently toward the goals of the Users to produce a better product.

To the people who have worked with me over the years and learned to use CADVANCE proficiently and competently.

To those who had used another program and came to embrace CADVANCE with a passion. I was recently thanked by a former employee for training him in CADVANCE.

To those who came on board early in the development of CADVANCE, shared their ideas, concerns and problems with each other and faithfully supported the program through some very difficult years before FIT, Inc. came along and made the product better.

And, most of all to my wonderful Wife and Best Friend, Wilma, for her patience with my foibles and idiosyncrasies.

GOALS:

• Learn how to use CADVANCE to gain speed and accuracy.

• Learn to set up productive directories and CADVANCE ".ini" files.

• Learn how to deal with problems

• Learn how to reuse work already accomplished.

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Chapter 1 – Getting Started, Some Setup Stuff

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK:

As we are aware, no book, no matter how well written, will do anyone any good what-so-ever, if one does not

read it thoroughly. At one time, I would suffer through the learning of a program by the "Hunt, Peck and Cuss

Method" and much to my chagrin, I lost many hours fumbling around not getting anywhere. SO READ IT.

First, reading the "Tech-no-babble" of a Manual is boring. TRUE!

Second, consider the Computer. It is a machine and only knows what someone tells it. It can crunch

number faster than the eye can blink, however, it cannot rationalized or initiate a drawing, design or write

a manuscript without the operator inputting data. It is not smarter than the operator and should not be

intimidating. Still, the neophyte is awed by what it should be able to do.

Forget it, computers are logical processors of data inputted by the operator and keep in mind that is all it is and

when an error occurs, think of the logical process in which the machine arrives or arrived at the error. Two plus

Two equals Four under normal circumstances.

What is next? Getting Started

I have written this book with the idea that you should place it next to your computer with the program running. It is

basically a follow along book. Do the exercises as you read the information provided.

If you are set up and ready, let’s get on with the business of learning CADVANCE. I am not going to deal with

the entire command structure in the beginning. We will take them up as we progress through the exercises.

Did you boot up your computer and get CADVANCE up on the screen so you can follow along? Take a look at

the top of the screen. As in most programs this is where CADVANCE displays the drop down menus, "File",

"Edit", "Alter", etc. as shown in the figure below. The commands under each category do what the indicated

category says, for instance, "Draw" has under it the command "Line" the arrow to the right of Line opens a

submenu for "Single Line", "Line Sets", Tangent", etc. Try each of the different lines out and see what they do.

Figure 1-1

Using CADVANCE or any other CADD program is not as easy as one would think. The dog and pony shows, that

some of the software companies put on, are just that, a canned program demonstrating their product. There is a

lot of setup connected to the "Whiz-bang" demos. At times, I have attempted to get the demonstrators to

deviate from their routines and things went haywire, if they even would try to appease me. Normally, it takes

about as much time to CADD draw a project as it would to do it by pencil and paper the old way, but then, its

advantages are as follows:

Duplicating of elements. (Copy and paste in hand drafting was messy and time consuming by comparison to CADD.)
Efficient reuse of details, symbols and complete drawings.

Laying out multiple items, i.e. Joists on a structural drawing is a good example of the ease and efficient use of the machine's capabilities.
Accuracy of drawing with a CADD program. The drafter has the capability of drawing to a tolerance not available with pen, pencil, and paper.
Modification of existing drawings for revisions or corrections becomes easier than the old way.

WHY BOTHER DRAWING ACCURATELY? WHY NOT?

We now have in our grasp, the ability to achieve work of greater accuracy and consistency not known before the

development of Computer Aided Drafting and Design programs. This accuracy and consistency is necessary to

eliminate mistakes and errors at the construction site and in the estimation phase as well. This applies to any

process of construction or manufacturing. Errors and Omissions account for the most cost increases to projects

and may lead to litigation. Therefore, it behooves the drafter/designer to use the machine to achieve the

accuracy necessary eliminate the errors. Omissions are vested in the knowledge and experience of the

drafter/designer.

"MISTAKES".

We all should take pains to eliminate "mistakes" from our vocabulary and work. I have always believed in the

concept of; "DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME", whenever possible. It can be accomplished if one has the desire

of not having to do a task over and over to get it correct. Our employers/clients often have us redo the work over

and over due to changes in minds or requirements, this cannot be helped. Employers and Clients will many times

will change their minds. However, we have the opportunity to reduce the tendency for change by presenting a

clear and concise design which will instill a feeling of confidence in our work and perhaps, reduce the need for

change.

How do we achieve accuracy?

First, by using our minds and thinking about the elements necessary for a complete drawing. Second, by using

the machine’s program to its fullest. CADVANCE makes this task fairly easy once you are acquainted with its

methods. In CADVANCE there are usually several ways to accomplish the same task. Which one you use will

depend on your knowledge of the program and which method will serve you best.

COORDINATE MODES

Before we get into an actual exercise, I would like for us to explore the Coordinate Modes available in CADVANCE. Imagine the screen as the CADD world, divided into four areas by a vertical line and a horizontal line intersecting at the center of the screen. Just like the "X" and "Y" lines from Trigonometry or Analytical Geometry, if memory serves me.

Below is how the different modes are used in CADVANCE:

ABSOLUTE (ABS): This mode uses coordinate points located "X" and "Y" distances from absolute "0,0" of the coordinate system or the center of the cad world.

RELATIVE (REL): This mode is based on the "X" and "Y" distances from the last point (Vertex). Relative mode is one I use most because it does not require me to compute the distances from 0,0 to get the length of the line or position of a point/object.

POLAR (POL): This mode is based on distance and angle from the last point and is easy to use also. The exception would be drawing rectangles.

POLAR ABSOLUTE (PAB): This mode is much like the name indicates a combination of both angular and distance modes. I have never used it very much.

Of the four modes, the Relative and Polar are the best and easiest to use. Absolute mode is very handy on Site

Plans for the location of buildings and objects relative to a coordinate point or base point located on the site which

has been established by using data from Global Positioning Satellites (GPS).

ANGLES

As in Analytical Geometry, the way CADVANCE handles angles is that 0º is to the right on the screen, 90º is at

the top of the screen, 180º is to the left and 270º is to the bottom. The angle numbers go up counter-clockwise

which is backwards to the normal compass points we are more familiar with. The use of distance and angle will

be discussed later.

Figure 1-2

SPECIAL KEYS:

RIGHT BRACKET KEY ( ] ):

When touched brings up a dialog box which requests input from the user. Depending on the Coordinate Mode, the input will be the distance in the "X" direction and the "Y" direction or the distance and angle from a point. For example: If the user wishes to draw a single line and has called the DRAW/Line/Single from the menu and wants to draw a line to the right, the user would click the mouse at the point on the screen to start the line. Then by touching the Right bracket key, the dialog box would appear and the user wound input: X=25’-3" and Y=0, this would yield a line going from a

point to another point 25’-3" to the right on the screen.

The next illustration shows the dialog box.

In the coordinate system (0,0) is at the intersection of the X-Y Axis and is the base point for the Absolute

Mode.

Figure 1-3

LEFT BRACKET KEY ( [ ):

This key is used to change the Coordinate Mode. When touched a selection list near the status line

at the bottom of the screen will indicate: ABS, REL, POL or PAB. To select either click on your

choice or touch the letter underlined on your choice thus: "R" for RELATIVE, "P" for POLAR.

Relative Mode requires dimensional input both in the "X" direction (plus or minus) and also the "Y"

direction (plus or minus). Remember the Coordinate system, Plus ( + ) "X" is right on the screen and

Negative ( - ) "X" is left on the screen, while Plus ( + ) "Y" is up on the screen and Negative ( - ) "Y" is

down on the screen. The same is true with any input for the different Modes. A negative dimension

or Angle in Polar Mode will reverse the directions, try it.

The next Illustration shows the selection box in the lower right of the screen just above the status line.

Selection may be touching the keyboard key which is underlined under the mode desired or you may

click on the mode you want to work in.

Figure 1-4

This method of dimensional input applies to anything needing that form of input. Some inputs are either setup

ahead of time or on the fly. We will take this up next in Chapter 2..

Before we go on, I need to point out that your screen may not look exactly as shown. If you loaded the files I

have included, and followed the instructions, it should look as depicted above. Especially with respect to the

toolbar buttons. If setup correctly, the tool buttons will display tool tips if you hold the cursor over the button for a

moment as with other Windows programs.

CADVANCE was, to my knowledge, the first CADD program to actually embrace the Windows environment fully.

One of the other major brands tried to shoe horn their code into the environment much to the dismay of their

users. Considerable Lockups, Crashes, etc. would occur for no real reason at all. The users of CADVANCE at

that time could only grin to themselves and keep on using.

I would like to point out at this point that when I use the term, "Touch" it is with respect to keyboard strokes, rather

than using the word, "HIT". Let’s not destroy the keyboard yet. Also, whether you use a mouse or a tablet, they

usually have a right and left button or other method of selection. In CADVANCE, if you are set up for righthanded

use, the left button is to select with and the right is for "escape" or "deselect" CADVANCE has several

ways to do just about everything, thus giving it the versatility we long time users continue to enjoy. No one way is

more correct than the other and the user should explore to see which methods are the most efficient for the task.

I use a combination of mouse and keyboard input with my left hand on the keyboard to execute such commands

as; Duplicate (copy) (Shift + F2), Move (F2), Offset from a point (Ctl + F2), Find (F3), Redraw Screen (F5),

Repeat Last Command (F6), Set Cursor Step Size (F7), Change Cursor Type (F8), Start a Macro (F9) and use

Help (F1).

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You can now purchase CADVANCE -- THE BOOK for only $50 plus Shipping/Handling from FIT, Inc.

CADVANCE 2002 - "What's New" Feature List

CADVANCE 2002 is a perfect tool for architects, engineers, and designers.

Free Demo CD of CADVANCE 2002

Mr. Montgomery has already begun work on "Book 2" for distribution.

CADVANCE STILL GOING STRONG!

CADVANCE FREE V6.5 DOWNLOAD HITS 30,000 DOWNLOADS WORLDWIDE!

Dear CADVANCE Users:

In April of 1999, F I T, Inc. officially re-released CADVANCE Version 6.5 as a free download from www.cadvance.com web page, based on Mr. Takashi Furukawa's belief in contributing to society by providing a needed service to many people worldwide with professional CAD software, CADVANCE V6.5. Those people may have limited financial resources to purchase such professional CAD software.

Today our record shows that the number of downloads of Free CADVANCE V6.5 reached 30,000 downloads worldwide. In January, there were approximately 800 downloads. Among the people downloading were a wide variety of professions, including Students, Hobbyists, Home users, Attorneys, Musicians, Woodworkers, Scientists, Researchers, and so many others you can think of, in addition to Architects and Mechanical Engineers. There continue to be about 30+ downloads per day, worldwide, from all over the world: many countries ranging from north Europe to Africa, the Middle East, from north America to south America, from Russia down to Australia, covering the world where internet is available.

In response to our question how you learned about Free CADVANCE V6.5, we have received a variety of responses, including "Web," "Associates," "Friends," and "Dad." F I T, Inc. is pleased to be contributing to society, and we are proud of this achievement, in keeping with our original intention to significantly contribute to society.

Visit HERE for our download page for FREE CADVANCE 6.5:

Free CADVANCE 6.5

CAD software system designed for Windows 3.1, yet also runs on Windows 95/98/NT/ME/2000, Windows XP Home, and Windows XP Professional. Originally released in 1995 at a suggested retail price of $1950, it is now available to anyone free of charge for the software.

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