Using DataCAD with OS2 by Curtis B. Wayne-Cheap Tricks reprint

[Evan H Shu <eshu (Evan H Shu)>]

REPRINT OF ARTICLE FROM CHEAP TRICKS, NOVEMBER 1994
Published by Shu Associates
10 Thacher St., Suite 114
Boston, MA  02113
(617)367-9622 Phone & Fax
eshu@world.std.com
                                       Copyright 1994, All rights reserved

                ************************************

Using DataCAD in Windows
by Curtis B. Wayne

Editors Note: Here we expand our definition of DOS to mean all Disk 
Operating Systems, not just MS-DOS. And we welcome to our stage, Curtis 
Wayne of Wayne Architects who tells us about using DataCAD under the OS/2 
operating system -- a subject that many of you have asked about.

"I feel the need for speed."
Wouldn't it be great to be able to have two or three different DataCAD 
drawings running at once so you could compare alternative versions of a 
design? And wouldn't it be great to speed up your machine's performance 
with DataCAD without having to mess with QEMM, and the many variations of 
your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files?

We do all this by running under OS/2 - the lesser used "concurrent 
application" operating system - which is much like Windows but better.

You've probably read the ads: "Better DOS than DOS," and "Operate at a 
higher level . . ." We find that, in fact, OS/2 is better for running most 
of the DOS business software we've accumulated over the years as well as 
being a superb "platform" for DataCAD.

In OS/2, you create an icon on the "desktop" to launch each session of 
DataCAD. Each session can have different EMS settings, but if you want to 
have different paths (for different screen resolutions, for example) you'll 
have to copy DataCAD's configuration and *.exe files to a new subdirectory 
and call RUNDCAD.BAT from that file.

Decisions, decisions. . .
You can configure OS/2 to offer you the choice of either a pure DOS machine 
or OS/2 machine at initial boot-up via the  "Boot Manager". This requires 
you to reformat your drive to provide separate "logical" drives for OS/2 
and DOS (parts of your drive that act as if they were separate physical 
drives.) This is not so bad if you are starting out with a "virgin" machine 
- and not at all pleasant if you already have lots of data on a 
gigabyte-sized drive.

We partition our drives as "C:" for DOS; "D:" for 0S/2; and "E:" for data 
and applications.

What's in it for you - the DataCAD user?
We frequently run two, sometimes three simultaneous DataCAD sessions in 
"virtual DOS" sessions. Each independent DataCAD session remains intact and 
separate, as if each was on its own computer linked by a very, very fast 
network to share layer files with the other sessions.

To copy information from one drawing to another is a matter of saving the 
data to a layer file, popping to the session where the information is 
needed, and copying in that layer. This saves, depending on the speed of 
your hard disk, five minutes or more, closing and re-opening different 
drawings to accomplish the same task.

When presenting to clients, we will run a Quick Shaded view, flip to 
another session where an alternative scheme is running - shade the same 
view but with the alternatives, go to yet another version, shade it, and so 
on. We can compare changes extremely easily this way in the near-virtual 
reality world of Quick Shade.

As for speed, we get up to 32 memory pages (per the MemCheck function in 
Directory.) OS/2 creates a separate 640K DOS environment for each DOS 
session you run. The mouse driver sits "outside" your DOS session.

DataCAD runs faster, period. Disk caching is very fast, expanded and 
extended memory can easily be set to however much or little you need in 
each session's "DOS settings".

Why not Windows NT or Chicago or '95 . . . ?
The high end Windows platforms need much, much more memory than you 
probably have on your machine. If you've got the basic 8MB of RAM shipped 
with Windows-equipped machines, you should be able to run at least three 
sessions of DataCAD in OS/2, each set to provide ample expanded memory for 
quick shade, without any performance degradation. (That's when the mouse 
starts moving like molasses.)

If you've got Windows, now you can add OS/2 for Windows for a very cheap 
price. (Something like $49.)

If your world is still only DOS, you will like knowing that when you get 
OS/2 you also get Windows 3.1, which 0S/2 contains (under an agreement 
dating to well before the IBM v. Gates divorce.) A new addition to OS/2 
also makes Windows 3.21 available.

Caveat emptor 
In OS/2, some of your other favorite DOS applications may not be very 
happy. For example: we send our plotting to a local service bureau via 
modem. The software we use to do that, as well as most of our other 
DOS-based communications software, does not behave well in OS/2. But then, 
Windows communications programs will usually bring your computer to a slow 
grind when they run in the background (if they run at all.) Communications 
with pure 0S/2 applications is fine, though.

You will find that when running certain DOS programs in the background, 
your cursor will get that molasses touch. (Our wordprocessor does this, for 
example.) These programs do weird things like trying to grab control of all 
the video memory, access all the COMM ports, and so on. Just don't run them 
all the time in the background and DataCAD will be cool.

The most annoying limitation of the current release of OS/2 (Version 2.11) 
is that it will not support background operation of a high-resolution 
graphics program such as DataCAD (specifically anything requiring higher 
than 340 x 200 pixels,) So when you switch to another DataCAD session, or 
to, say, your spreadsheet, the session you are leaving "goes to sleep." So, 
no hidden line removal in the background and no plotting in background.

You will also find the "Shell to DOS" feature found in DataCAD's File I/O 
menu leaves you without any mouse or keyboard control. Typing exit + enter 
returns you to normality. OS/2 sessions (including your DataCAD virtual DOS 
session) shell to the OS/2 de
top by switching sessions, not from within each session. This means that 
some of the future functions planned for DataCAD 6 won't work under OS/2. 
There's always the Boot Manager for pure DOS - back to one thing at a time.

If you shift from one DataCAD session to another application while the disk 
is reading or saving, you risk a fatal error crash. This, however, is not a 
great problem because your swap file can be renamed from File.SWP to 
File.DC5 moved to your drawing directory after blowing off or renaming the 
last saved version of the file. Your last action before the crash won't be 
saved, but you will have a more complete file than the last .ASV version. 
Files recovered in this manner remain uncorrupted.

Those of you who want to try OS/2 should find a software aficionado (i.e. 
"nerd" or paid consultant) to install it. It's worth the couple of hours 
you'll have to pay or swap services for. Your time is better spent doing 
what you do best, which we hope is architecture. Although OS/2 is available 
on CD-ROM, which makes everything faster (one disk instead of 18!) 
installation is fun only for the masochists among us.

We love working this way. If you took away our OS/2 and made us go back to 
plain 'ol DOS, or yeeeech Windows, we would be very unhappy campers.

If there are other adventurers out there with DataCAD in OS/2 experience, 
we'd like to compare notes. Feel free to call us at (203) 869-6691.

Curtis Wayne, RA, NCARB 
PRESIDENT 
WAYNE ARCHITECTS, P.C.

Editor's Note: Some of the limitations noted above were to have been 
addressed by the New Warp release of OS/2, which unfortunately has hit some 
severe bugs and its release date originally scheduled for this month [Nov 
'94] has been put off (just a "little bit" says IBM.) Still reports of 
serious problems with Warp still abound, so we would advise waiting a bit 
until some of these issues get resolved.

                         **************************

REPRINT OF ARTICLE FROM CHEAP TRICKS, NOVEMBER 1994
Published by Shu Associates
10 Thacher St., Suite 114
Boston, MA  02113
(617)367-9622 Phone & Fax
eshu@world.std.com
Copyright 1994, All rights reserved