
Function set TAILORS for AutoCAD R14 and 2000
by Armin Antkowiak, March 2000
including functions SEW, XSLICE, IRON, POLYFIT



Function SEW
creates a 3D polyface mesh composed of selected objects.

Points, lines, 3D faces, polygon meshes and polyface meshes
can be associated.
They don't necessarily have to be in spacial connection
(they do not need to share a common corner, edge, or area);
such a connention will not be generated by this function.
All components stay on their positions.

The first selected object determines layer and color of the mesh created
(similar to AutoCAD 14 "union" command for 3D solids
 and AutoCAD "pedit" command for polylines).

Objects with a non-zero thickness cannot be selected.
The number of components of a polyface mesh is limited.

The AutoCAD "explode" command dismantles a polyface mesh
into its components, i. e. points, lines, and 3D faces.



Function XSLICE
slices lines, rays, xlines,
3D faces, polygon meshes, and polyface meshes with a plane.

Options of XSLICE are similar to those of the AutoCAD "slice"
command for 3D solids.

If there are objects not intersected by the slicing plane
but situated on the undesired side of the plane,
then you can choose to erase these objects.

Objects with a non-zero thickness cannot be selected.
Objects on locked layers do not get sliced.

All the sliced mesh components on the desired side of the plane
are reassembled to a polyface mesh
if their total number does not exceed 8191 (per side).
Otherwise the faces, lines, and points will remain individual objects.



Function IRON
puts objects onto a plane intended for a 2D drawing.

IRON moves or projects the selected points, xlines, rays, lines,
circles, arcs, ellipses,2D polylines, 2D and 3D splines
onto the same plane parallel to the current UCS XY plane.

The desired elevation of the plane (Z coordinate in current UCS)
may be defined by entering the Z value on the keyboard
or by specifying a point that already has the right Z coordinate.
Default value is  Z = 0.

The translation or projection direction is perpendicular
to the XY plane.
Z coordinates get modified;
but all X and Y coordinates in current UCS are maintained.

Xlines, rays, and lines will not be changed if they are
perpendicular to the XY plane;
circles, arcs, ellipses, 2D polylines and 2D splines
will only be changed if they are parallel to the XY plane already;
oterwise IRON considers their current positions
as being corresponding to your wishes
("in dubio pro reo").
This is also the reason why 3D polylines, 3D faces, meshes,
regions, and other 3D objects are filtered out from selection.
(From the start, the "circle", "arc", "ellipse" and "pline" commands
 always create objects parallel to the current UCS XY plane.
 On the other hand, the "spline" command easily may create
 3D splines by mistake.)

Objects with non-zero thickness are excluded from selection.
Objects on locked layers generally do not get modified.
IRON has no effect on hatches, dimensions, texts, and blocks.



Function POLYFIT
creates 2D polylines with straight line segments
along equivalently divided length or perimeter of planar curves.

Lines, circles, arcs, ellipses, 2D polylines, and 2D splines
can be selected.
Their thickness must be equal to zero.

You may choose whether the curves are to be divided
into a certain number of sections or into sections of a certain length
(cf. AutoCAD "divide" and "measure" commands).

Note that a curve gets divided into sections of equal length
but the generated polyline segments differ in length;
the sharper a curve section is bending, the more a generated
polyline segment is shortened.

If a selected object is closed, POLYFIT will create a closed polyline.

The polylines are created on the current layer
with the current color and linetype assignments
(independently of the original curves).

The POLYFIT conversion function may assist or enable
execution of various AutoCAD commands:
- joining with other objects, creating closed objects
  by means of "pedit"
- extruding
- creating tabulated or ruled surfaces
- marking boundaries of areas,
  especially for "xclip", "clipit", "extrim", "wipeout"
Besides, compatibility is improved concerning export
into other CAD systems (e. g. former AutoCAD versions).



Function TAILORSHELP
displays information about the TAILORS functions
by means of a browser.


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Installation

Conditions:
Basic condition is an installation of AutoCAD R14 or 2000.
Applying this software within former AutoCAD releases
probably does not succeed completely and was not tested.
In order to display the help files yous need a browser;
PNG images are supported
e. g. by Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer,
versions 4.0 and higher.

Simple load for temporary use:
The AutoCAD "appload" command can be used to load "Tailors/Tailors.lsp";
in AutoCAD 2000 "Tailors/Tailors.vlx" is a faster alternative.
But "appload" neither creates a toolbar, nor inserts a menu section,
nor makes the help files accessible directly.
The functions have to be issued by entering their names on the keyboard.
Depending on the "preferences" settings, "appload" remains in effect
only during the current AutoCAD session
or as long as the current drawing is open.

Permanent installation,
1st step:
Copy the "Tailors" directory to a place where AutoCAD can find it.

You are provided with information about possible places
by the AutoCAD 14 "preferences" command
or by the AutoCAD 2000 "options" command
  (last item of the "Tools" menu);
"Files" tab,
click on the plus sign standing before "Support File Search Path".
Now you may copy "Tailors" into one of the directories listed,
or you may also define a new path
  ("Add" button, "Browse" button).
Note that not the "Tailors" directory itself but its parent directory
should become a valid search directory.

2nd step:
Enable access to the "Tailors" toolbar.

In order to do this, invoke the AutoCAD "menuload" command
  ("Tools" menu, "Customize Menus..." item, "Menu Group" tab).
Load the "Tailors.mns" file from the "Tailors/English" subdirectory
  ("Browse" button, "Load" button, "Close" button).
This should have established the "Tailors" toolbar.
If not, use the AutoCAD "toolbar" command
  (last item of the "View" menu);
under the "Tailors" menu group this toolbar should be marked
for being displayed.

Pull-down menu:
If you wish to have a "Tailors" menu bar section,
the "menuload" dialog box will be suitable again
  ("Menu Bar" tab).

Uninstall:
The AutoCAD commands mentioned may also be used to uninstall "Tailors".
Before deleting a support file search path make sure that AutoCAD
does not need to find another application on this path.



Since AutoCAD has to be able to find all files needed,
you should not rename the "Tailors" directory!



Contents:
Tailors (71 files, 5 subdirectories)
   Deutsch (12 files, 1 subdirectory)
      Hilfe (7 files, no subdirectory)
      LiesMich.html
      LiesMich.txt
      Schneiderei.dcl
      Schneiderei.mnl
      Schneiderei.mns
   English (12 files, 1 subdirectory)
      Help (7 files, no subdirectory)
      ReadMe.html
      ReadMe.txt
      Tailors.dcl
      Tailors.mnl
      Tailors.mns
   Images (42 files, no subdirectory)
   License.txt
   Tailors.fas
   Tailors.lsp
   Tailors.prv
   Tailors.vlx

If loading is successful AutoCAD automatically will generate
two additional files named "Tailors.mnc" and "Tailors.mnr".
It is not necessary to copy these files when redistributing this
software; but all of the files and subdirectories mentioned above
have to be included in the "Tailors" directory.



Copyright:

"AutoCAD" is a registered trademark of AutoDesk, Inc.

"TAILORS" is free software.
You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the
GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation;
either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of
merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program;
if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.



Author:
Armin Antkowiak, Berlin
info@polyface.de




31 March 2000
