Mini-Draw 1.0 12/31/03 ========================= by David Grissom (dgrissom@knology.net) An original (I hope!) drawing program for the TRS-80 Model 100 computer. This program is written entirely in BASIC. Standard disclaimer: I wrote this program to have fun with my Model 100. I can't guarantee that this program will like you. It may eat your drawing and destroy the space-time continuoum! Mini-Draw is a simple (I hope) drawing program for the Model 100. It utilizes single keystroke sequences to draw points, lines, boxes, and circles on the screen. You can draw a picture and save it as a file to memory (Currently, it does not directly support cassette or disk saves and loads.). Unlike a paint program this program remembers each command (step). This allows the screen to be refreshed by reading the file (or array). It has full "Undo" capacity to remove step by step sections of your drawing. Since this program remembers each "step" in making the drawing it DOES have memory limits! It tries to estimate the memory available before setting the maximum number of steps. (This feature is not fully tested - I recommend that you save the file often and test the system by reading in the file. If the file will not load due to memory then see if you can delete any excess files from your M-100 or edit the file with TEXT editor on the M-100/102 to remove some of the commands at the end of the file!) Prepping the Program: --------------------- Load the MDRAW.DO file using BASIC (Load"MDRAW.DO). Save the file to get a BASIC file. You can delete the original "MDRAW.DO" file with the kill"MDRAW.DO command. After that you can load the program directly by highlighting it and pressing enter on the main screen. Getting Started (First Steps): ------------------------------- When the program loads it shows a small startup screen. This screen shows the a simple list of the command keys and the number of steps allowed in the drawing. At the bottom of the screen it asks if you want to "R"ead or "P"lot. Read will allow you to load an existing file to view or continue working with it. To get started for the first time you can press the "P" key to Plot. Note: The key must be DOWN for the command keys to work. When the screen clears the program will present a blank screen with a single point blinking in the center. Adjust the contrast on your machine to make the cursor easily visible. If you cannot see the cursor get new glasses or a new computer. You are ready to begin your drawing. Command Keys and Cursor Movement: --------------------------------- You move the cursor (a single pixel point) on the screen using the keys. Pressing an arrow key will move the cursor one pixel. If you press a + key you will accelerate the movement of the cursor. When you are ready to set or place a dot on the screen press "P" to Plot. This will draw a dot and if you move the cursor around the dots will follow. While this is fun -- it EATS UP MEMORY. Remember!: Each dot represents a STEP. Press the "M" key to move without setting points (You will hear a BEEP sound). The "M" key is very important. It not only allows you to MOVE the cursor; it, also, MARKS the start point of a Line, Box, or Circle. For example to make a line you would move to a part of the screen to where you want to start a line press the "M" key to Mark the start point. Move to where you want to end the line and press "L" for Line. A line should immediately appear between the 2 points. Making a Box (Rectangle (filled = "X" ; empty = "B") or Circle ("C") follows the same basic steps! Go ahead try it. It probably won't crash :-). Exiting and Saving your Masterpiece!: ------------------------------------- When you are ready to quit then press "Q". You will be asked if you want to save your drawing. If you press "Y" then a Draw file will be generated. (This file can be loaded when you first run the program.) Note: "Q" does not exit you to the "Menu" screen. This allows you to re-run the progam easily! Help!: ------ Press "?" (question mark) at anytime. It will show the commands and number of drawing steps left in the computer. Commands: --------- <-|-> (Arrows) - Slow Move ... Use Arrows to move faster! P - Plots or sets points (Memory Hog - be careful) M - Move / Mark - Allows you to move without plotting (turns of the plot command). Marks the start point of a line, box, or circle. L - Draws a line from the last Marked (or Plotted) point. B - Draws a empty box from the last Marked (or Plotted) point. X - Draws a filled (black) box. C - Draws a circle with the center at the last marked or ploted point. The diameter is your current cursor position. This is a slow command (what do you expect it is BASIC ~ which is Latin for SLOW -- Also - Sloppy circles!). U - The famous Undo command. It will remove the last step from the picture array and redraw the screen. You can undo back to the beginning of the file if you want (This can be slow with the screen redraws.). R - Redraw the Screen. When the cursor moves across the screen it will mess up the display. Redraw restores the screen. E - Erases the drawing. Will ask "Sure?" An upper case "Y" must be entered to erase the screen. Be careful, This will zap your drawing quick! Q - Quits and allows you a chance to save your file. Press "Y" to save your file. Standard 6 character names are used. There currently is no provision to select a disk or cassette save. ? - Brings up a quick help screen (Slightly resembles the above commands :-) Future Plans (y'all tell me if it is worth it! :-) -------------------------------------------------- 1. Add a Text command to put plain text on the screen. 2. Add a filled circles 3. Speed up the circle routines. 4. Make a clean circle. 5. Add "white" filled Boxes (Retangles). 6. Add other shapes (stars etc.). 7. Add more error traps. 8. Shrink the program file some more. I've not tried to use the progams in the Club 100 library. This was my first BASIC coding in a long, long, long time - I didn't want to screw it up. 9. Oh yeah...Fix the bugs! Please E-mail me if you have any questions, nice comments, suggestions, or bug reports. This document (mdhelp.do), mdraw.ba, mdraw.do, hny.do are all given to the public domain and Club 100. Feel free to distribute, modify, do anything you want to this code after January 1, 2004 (or 1904 on an TRS-80 Model 100/102/etc.). David Grissom Prattville, AL dgrissom@knology.net