First post, by buenhembro
CONFIGURING GENERIC CADD 6.1 TO RUN WITHIN OPENSUSE 12.3 LINUX
USING DOSBOX 0.74, AND TO PRINT USING PRINTGL/W IN WINE
Background
Two and a half years ago I wrote another instructive in Vogons.org outlining, step by step, how to run Generic CADD 6.1 within DOSBox 0.74 in Windows XP Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate. Very soon after it was published, many knowledgeable readers, especially dgutman, added very valuable insight and several other possible configuration alternatives to accomplish this. I highly recommend that you read that original instructive and the entire thread found here:
Configuring Generic CADD 6.1 in XP and Win 7
It will give you a solid foundation for porting CADD 6.1 to Linux, not only to run it, but also to be able to print your CADD 6.1 drawings directly from that platform.
Please keep in mind that this instructive is NOT intended to be all-inclusive, nor am I prepared to answer questions or solve any difficulties you might experience along the way. That is the function of the forum; and in it you'll find an amazing amount of very knowledgeable individuals willing to lend a hand. Consider this instructive your basic roadmap, and with a bit of luck you'll probably have very few inconveniences.
Why Linux? I have been an OpenSUSE user for a number of years, since version 8.x. Today, over 95% of all the computer work I do every single day is through OpenSUSE, and I only venture into Windows 7 anymore when I have a specific application that only runs within said platform.
It is not my intention, however, to enter into any arguments regarding Linux's merits vis-a-vis Windows, nor promote any Linux distro over another.
Although the percentage of desktops that run any flavor of Linux in the world today is still, unfortunately, in the single-digits compared to those running all the different Windows iterations, the inescapable fact is that Linux already dominates the commercial server world and, through Google's Android and Chrome-- both Linux derivatives --the mobile, and tablet world as well. Linux is the future.
As you might already know, there are many different Linux distros. Some relatively simple, and others quite complex in the amount of possible customizations they allow you to perform. But all of them have similar underpinnings and use very similar basic kernel derivations. So you can pick and choose the right Linux distro to run according to your own particular technical needs and aesthetic considerations.
The best part is that ALL Linux distros (except the commercial variants maintained by Red Hat, OpenSUSE, and Canonical, among others) are absolutely free.
This instructive, although based on OpenSUSE 12.3, should run with just a few different tweaks in most Linux distros, both 32- as well as 64-bit, except those running basic text-based environments or very lightweight, single-purpose installations in old, low-powered machines.
Regarding equipment, I would say that the only requirements would be:
* A relatively recent dual or quad core CPU
* At least 2 GB of RAM, although 4 GB would be preferable
* A relatively recent mid-level video card or good motherboard-embedded Intel or AMD video
In other words, if you have a sweet running Linux distro with at least 2 GB of RAM and a somewhat decent graphical environment you should be in business to run CADD 6.1,
Installing in OpenSUSE 12.3
1. Copy your entire CADD 6.1 Windows installation into a new folder named CADD6 in your Linux's /home/yourusername/ partition. If you have not run CADD in Windows, then copy the entire CADD 6.1 program disk into CADD6. You should end up with the following main folder
/home/yourusername/CADD6/ and subfolders
/CMP
/FNT
/GCD
/HCH
/MCR
And in addition, when you are done, create a /DPF subfolder also within CADD6. It will hold your processed drawings to be printed, as I'll explain further along.
2. Go to the OpenSUSE Package Search page at
http://software.opensuse.org/123/en
and enter DOSBox in the search dialog. Click the Direct Install button for your distribution, 12.3, and under that select the 1-Click Install button to download and automatically install DOSBox. Follow directions and accept the given defaults.
Repeat this procedure for Wine. Again, follow the installation instructions and, if necessary, download any additional libraries or components that Wine says it requires.
3. To print your Generic CADD 6.1 drawings, you will need to go to the Ravitz Software site:
and download the share ware file PRINTGL.ZIP which contains the plotter emulator program PrintGL/W 1.62m which will be the intermediary between CADD 6.1 and your Linux CUPS-defined printers.
Why this? Generic CADD is over 20 years old, and its included list of printer drivers most likely will not cover any modern laser or inkjet printers that you might be using today. Fortunately, most modern printers by major manufacturers are able to emulate the HP-GL plotter protocol that PrintGL/W will use, as I'll explain further along, to enable your CADD output to be printed.
Before you download PrintGL/W, you should make sure that your printer can emulate HP-GL. If not, HP-GL printers today are reasonably inexpensive and you should seriously consider investing in one. My favorite brands, just because of their excellent Linux driver support, are BROTHER and HP. If you do invest in a new printer, you'll have to install its Linux drivers (which you can download from the manufacturer) and configure it through CUPS.
Please be aware that Ravitz Software NO longer supports any flavors of PrintGL since 2004. Remember that this software was coded in the 90's. But be assured that PrintGL is pretty much quirk and vice-free and, as far as I am aware and after over a decade of using it, I consider PrintGL THE only way to print CADD output from any modern GUI platform to all manner of printers, even those connected through a LAN. Be very thankful that you can still find it.
Once you download PRINTGL:ZIP , extract the contents of the file to the following folder:
/home/yourusername/PrintGL/
It should contain both PRINTGLD.EXE (the DOS version of PrintGL) as well as PRINTGLW.EXE (the Windows version we shall be using), along with documentation, .ini, and other files. BE SURE to read the documentation and familiarize yourself with the most salient features and concepts of PrintGL.
Configuring DOSBox to run CADD 6.1
Once installed in OpenSUSE 12.3, the DOSBox configuration file,
dosbox-0.74.conf
is located in
/home/yourusername/.dosbox/ (NOTE that .dosbox is a hidden folder)
To properly establish the initial CADD graphical environment (you might vary it according to your own CADD 6.1 experience), and to mount the /CADD6 main folder as virtual C:, subfolder /DPF as virtual D:, and subfolder /GCD as virtual G:, open dosbox-0.74.conf and at the very end of the file type the following lines:
SET CADD_INIT= 107h
SET CADD_FONT= 10h
SET CADD_COLORS= 00h 00h 00h
mount C /home/yourusername/CADD6
mount D /home/yourusername/CADD6/DPF
mount G /home/yourusername/CADD6/GCD
C:
cadd
Please do NOT deviate from the way the last two configuration lines are enterd above. If you use other alternatives suggested by others in the Vogons Windows 7 instructive, when you invoke CADD through DOSBox in Linux it will probably fail and tell you that you need to increase your FILES= number in your DOS CONFIG.SYS file. Of course, you cannot do this in DOSBox 0.74 unless you use one of its other individually-compiled branches. And it is totally unnecessary. Just configure your CADD autostart within DOSBOx as stated above. Trust me.
Other dosbox-0.74.conf configurations should be made as explained in my Windows 7 instructive and can and should be modified according to your particular CPU, video card, and monitor(s) environment. Keep in mind that if the DOSBox/CADD installation worked properly for you in Windows 7, it should also work pretty much unmolested within your Linux platform as well.
Configuring Wine to run PrintGL/W
Wine, although NOT a virtual platform such as Oracle's VirtualBox, is able to emulate all modern versions of Windows and run .exe programs designed for said platforms. PrintGL/W is one of those.
You might ask, why not run the DOS version of PrintGL straight from DOSBox and save the wine installation? For one simple reason: According to the creators and maintainers of DOSBox 0.74, said emulator was never intended to have printing capabilities. Period. That said, you could find in the internet a recompilation done by others of a DOSBox capable of printing. However, I prefer to use the original DOSBox and use Wine to run PrintGL/W. They have worked very well for me, and I am sure they will for you too. Let's do it.
1. Open your OpenSUSE Application Launcher Menu (green button with the Gecko face on the left corner of your bottom panel) and select Wine > Configure Wine. Wine will launch and open a Wine configuration dialog.
(a) Clich the Applications tab in the upper part of the dialog. In the white box area click Add application, browse for the location of PRINTGLW.EXE, add it, and then, below that, make sure to specify the Windows Version to be used to run it as Windows XP.
(b) Now click on the Drives tab. Click the Add button and add the following three drives:
D: /home/yourusername/CADD6/DPF/
G: /home/yourusername/CADD6/GCD/
P: /home/yourusername/CADD6/PrintGL/
This is not mandatory, but it will simplify your navigating through your CADD6 .GCD drawings, your ready to print .DPF drawing files converted to be used by PrintGL, and your PrintGL folder itself so that you can click and execute PRINTGLW when you are ready to print drawings. Feel free to modify this Drives layout according to your own needs, but wait until you are more experienced in running PrintGL before attempting it.
(c) Now click the Graphics tab and specify a Desktop size of whatever resolution you are running CADD 6.1 in. In my case I entered 1280 X 1024 which corresponds to the SET CADD_INIT= 107h specified as part of the CADD graphical environment for starting CADD within DOSBox. This will create a 1280x1024 Wine window that fits very nicely in either of my two 1920x1080 monitors.
(d) Finally, click on the Desktop Integration tab and just browse the list of system folders that Wine found in your Linux system. You should not need to add or modify any of them.
(e) Click on the Apply button at the bottom of the Wine configuration dialog. Then click OK. Wine will close.
2. At this point Wine is ready to go.
Configuring CADD 6.1 to print through PrintGL/W
If you are a longtime user of CADD 6.1 you probably are used to printing your drawings, more likely than not, using a printer connected directly to your computer. PrintGL/W is a HP-GL pen plotter emulator that is capable of translating HP-GL printing protocols and sending them to any HP-GL-aware printers (most modern ones are), no matter if they are directly connected or are configured through a LAN or yhrough another computer.
Therefore, instead of using your old printer configuration, you are going to create a new pen plotter one to print your drawings with. You'll specify a HP 7475A plotter for this purpose, which is included in CADD 6.1's list of supported plotters and is the preferred one of PrintGL/W. Once this is done, make sure to further configure the 7475A as follows:
1. In CADD 6.1 click Plot within your FILE menu, or simply type DP.
2. In the Print Output menu that opens, click
1) and specify Plotter. Then, click
2) and specify the full path of your plotfile such as D:\filename.DPF (Note: This will save a copy of the processed drawing to your drive D: within Wine, which corresponds to your /home/yourusername/CADD6/DPF/ folder. In this folder is where PrintGL/W will find your processed drawings to print.) Then, click
3) and enter a Page Size of Length: 10.50, Width: 7.800 (for letter size paper, or enter whatever paper size you are printing on; you'll need to experiment a bit with this according to your specific needs.
4) Configure plotter and pens as follows (step numbers not mentioned leave as they are):
2- Plot Hardware Arcs and Circles – off
3- PenSettings – Pen Speed – 50, Pen Width – 0.300 mm, Number of Plotter Pens – 6, Pen Sort by Color – on, Prompt for Pen Change – n/a
4- Import plotter command file – off
5- Number of copies – 1
When done, press ESC to return to the former screen..
5) Select view type – Fit full drawing
6) Define your page setup as usual for your type of drawings, but do so when you are ready to print a drawing, NOT now.
7) Start Plot – press this when you are ready to print a drawing, NOT now.
ESC out of the Print Output menu and save your environment through FILE > Environment, or simply by typing EN. Now every time you invoke DP, the only items you need to re-specify would be steps 2), 5), 6), and 7) in the Print Output menu.
Configuring PrintGL/W to run in Wine.
In order to run Wine, and within it PrintGLW.EXE, open your OpenSUSE Application Launcher menu and then select Wine > Wine File. It will open a window showing its Z: drive which corresponds to your /home/yourusername/ partition.
If you configured your Wine drives as instructed before, if you press the D:\ drive button you'll open the folder where all your .DPF drawings are saved. Likewise, if you press the G:\ drive button, then all your .GCD drawings will be shown.
But to run PrintGL/W, press the P:\ drive button. Once there, highlight and click on the file PRINTGLW.EXE and PrintGL/W will start.
Configuring PrintGL/W
Once PrintGL/W starts, click alongside a Ravitz reminder/origin dialog box to close it.
The main dialog consists of a small window divided into two portions separated by a horizontal line across the dialog.
The upper portion contains several rows of commands and configuration options. The bottom one contains a list of the files you'll select to print, and navigation (Up, Down, PgUp, PgDn) buttons.
Contrary to CADD 6.1's own Print manager, that can only print one separate drawing at a time (unless batched), PrintGL/W can print as many as you need in a single session if they have the same basic configuration.
Let's configure.
1. Go to the bottom part of the PrintGL/W dialog and make sure to enter in line s1 the path to your .DPF files, as follows:
z:\home\yourusername\CADD6\DPF\*.dpf
2. In the upper part of the dialog, click on 'destination'. In the subsequent dialog that will open, click on 'Win prt manager:' Leave the rest of choices as they are. This is the single most crucial configuration of PrintGL/W as it will seamlessly direct the output to your CUPS printers through an emulation of Windows original Print Manager.
3. 'output format' -- specify 'Win prt b/w:' if you are using a black and white printer of whatever type (inkjet or laser), or specify 'Win prt color' if you have a successfully configured color printer af any type in CUPS and you need to print your drawings in color. Forget the rest of the choices.
4. 'magnification' -- configure the second, 'magnify:' option line to 0.9. The upper one, 'fit, then magnify' should be left at its default 1.0. If your drawings tend to print either too small for the page or they tend to extend somewhat into or out of the borders, this is the place to correct that. Experiment until you find the right balance.
5. 'origin/rotate -- select default.
6. 'position' --click on 'plot center at print window center' Again, experiment with other choices here until you find your best output.
7. 'plotter'-- I am only going to enter here the selected answer for every line therein, top to bottom:
D
S
N
N
N
N
10, 5, 180
N
N
N
(blank)
1016
8. 'scaling pnts' -- plotter default.
9. 'pen width' -- single column at 2.
10. 'pen color' -- single column at k (for b/w output) for color you need to experiment or read Ravitz's documentation
11. 'pen shade' -- single column at 100%.
12. 'pen mode' -- single column at opaque.
13. 'pen all' -- leave as default.
14. 'window/margins' -- specify either default, or second line, 'width, height, left mar, top mar:' and enter 7.9,10,0,0 for letter sized paper. Or enter the specs for the size paper you use. Again, experiment until you find your best output for your paper size.
15. 'form feed' -- specifiy first line, 'form feed'.
16. 'box' -- specify fist line, 'no box' , unless you want PrintGL/W to encase your drawing in a single line printed box in which case you'll specify the second line 'box the print window'
17. 'reverse image' -- specify the first line, 'normal image'.
18. 'tiling' -- leave as default, fist line 'h,v tiles: 1,1'.
19. 'copies' -- specify here the number of copies for each drawing in the batch, in the first line, 'number of copies:'. Leave the second line as is.
20. Leave 'menu config' , 'other', and 'auto opt' as they are.
21. I guess that 'auto run' is used when you have configured a complex batch of printing and you need to run it unattended. I have never used it. Play with it if you want.
22. When you are done, click on 'save configs' to save your basic configuration. Should you need an alternate configuration, make the necessary changes in the different configuration options and then press 'Alt config'
Running PrintGL/W
1. Once you have configured PrintGL/W, open it. Then click on 'plotfile' and then go to the bottom dialog and click on line s1. Immediately, to the right of that dialog, a column will open listing all the available .DPF files that you could print. Go down that list using the arrows or the PgUp, PgDn buttons and click on each drawing that you want to print. They will be added each to an individual PrintGL/W line such as s3, s4, s5, etc. You can choose as many drawings as you want to print from the list. The only requirement being that all should be subject to the same configurations, especially paper size and palcement. If you need to clear the file list, just click on the line above s1. You could manually edit each added line of files to be printed if you wanted to perhaps include another .DPF file that is saved in a different folder elsewhere.
2. Click on 'plot page' and specify 'all pages' You can leave that as the default it is.
3. Finally, when everything is ready, click on 'Run PrintGL' and within seconds your drawings should be processed and printed.
4. When you are done printing, click on 'eXit' and PrintGL/W will close. Then close Wine File Manager.
