VARKON Version 1.15 1997-10-16

### Static 2D symbols

A static symbol is a 2D shape without parametrisation. When a symbol is inserted on a drawing VARKON uses the name of the symbol to locate a corresponding symbol file defining the shape of the symbol. If found, VARKON copies the contents of the file, makes necessary transformations (move,scale,rotate) and stores the result in its internal database.
VARKON can create and insert symbols in DXF and GKS format. DXF is an industry standard originating from the AutoCAD system and GKS is an ISO standard for 2D-graphics. Both are ASCII text formats. DXF can represent geometric entities like lines, arcs and text but the GKS format only uses polylines.
There are three ways to create a symbol in MBS...
plot_win(p1,p2,filename,origin); ! Plot selected area
plot_view(viewname,filename); ! Plot named view
hide_view(viewname,screen and/or file,filename,origin); ! Plot with hidden lines removed
plot_win and plot_view creates files on DXF or GKS format depending on the filename parameter. A filename ending with .DXF implies DXF format and filenames ending with .PLT are used for GKS format. hide_view creates an image with hidden lines removed and writes the image to a .PLT file on GKS format.
Symbols on DXF-format are inserted using a MODULE from the system library...
part(id,dxf_in(filename,p1,scale,rotation));
and symbols on GKS format are inserted using....
symb(id,filename,p1,scale,rotation);
In both cases the result is a part with the same name as the file and the contents of the file as the part members. For DXF files this can be points, lines, arcs or texts. INSERT-BLOCK is supported but other entities like PLINE or SOLID are converted to lines and arcs. For GKS files all members become lines.
Symbols are also used by VARKON for plotting or printing. The VARKON system includes a large number of hardware specific plotter/printer drivers that read .PLT or .DXF files and convert the contents to native commands. Popular drivers are HP7475, HP-CL, Postscript, IBM Proprinter, Epson, Tektronix etc. The Windows95/NT version of VARKON includes a driver for WIN32 that can print on any hardware installed under Windows95/NT.

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