Black Belt Systems BoardMaster CAD program Updates/Changes

Changes to v1.15:  (v1.14 was in internal release) 
 
Version 1.15 adds the ability to automatically load a ".mcr" ten-macro
setup file if there is one in the current directory or drawer named
exactly "BM_Defaults.mcr". We have provided one here that has F1 setup
to invoke the Autorouter, and F10 setup to cancel routing via the new
'RHALT' ARexx command.

Some internal changes were made to increase the performance of the
autorouter; please do not attempt to use the latest version of the
autorouter software with an earlier (v1.13) version of Board Master.

You can now pause the autorouters operation with the right mouse
button, and cause it to resume with the left mouse button.

Changes to v1.13:
 
Version 1.13 was partially prepared to operate with our full
AUTOROUTER.

Changes to v1.09:

The following information applies to information in the manual,
and in some cases to the program itself. Please read this carefully,
as this file may be the only location some of this important
information appears!

* Missing Files
The original program disk lacked two files that should have been in
the "For_S" Directory. These were the "boardproto.bm" and 
"partproto.bm" files. This diskette supplies both of those files,
so BoardMaster can now create icons for use with the WorkBench
interface.

* New icon capability
In addition to this, and not mentioned in the manual, BoardMaster
now can use three additional files (supplied in the For_S dir on
this diskette) "silkproto.bm", "holeproto.bm", and "iffproto.bm".

The program can now generate an icon for each file that it
produces. If you do NOT wish BoardMaster to produce icons of any
particular type, simply do NOT include the "xxxxproto.bm" file
that matches the icon type in the "s:" dir/assign in your system.

The reason that the program now handles this new series of icons
for you is so that WorkBench users can "grab" the files and move
them around, delete them, and so on. The previous method used
created one icon for the entire board, which was not "attached" to
that file, so you could not do anything with/to it.

* Use of the For_S and the For_C dirs and contents
These directories have files in them that should be copied to your
boot disk's "S:" and "C:" assigns. These directories are usually
in the root of your WorkBench disk or hard drive, however they may
be elsewhere. If you have a one drive system, when you follow the
directions below, insert and remove disks as prompted by your Amiga.
If you have a two (or more) drive system, insert the BB_PCB_CAD disk
in df1 or df2, and your WorkBench boot disk in df0. If you have a
hard drive that has the c: and s: assigns made to it, then you
can simply put the disk in any drive. To install these files, type the
following lines into any CLI:

     cd BB_PCB_CAD:
     copy For_S to s: all
     copy For_C to c: all

This should put all the required files in the proper places for you.

* WorkSpace accessability
As of v1r7, a bug has been fixed that caused previous versions of
BoardMaster to be unable to access the far right side of the workspace.
This bug was only a problem for very large PCB's.

* File Requester
As of v1r8, the file requester has been updated to a new one
which has a more standard means of clicking directly upon the
filenames. The "delete" and "sort" buttons have been removed, as has
the comment handling capability.

File Requester bug fixed:
As of v1r9, a bug that caused the file requester to be "blind" when
looking at the RAMDISK has been fixed. This is actually a bug in the
RAMDISK software which we have found a workaround for. If the RAMDISK
software (by CBM) is fixed, this workaround will still function
correctly. Operations on the RAMDISK can now be handled identically
with those on "real" diskettes and hard drives.

Status Window:
As of v1r9 a status window which informs you of the amount of free
memory has been added. It's in the first menu.

* Four metal layer capability
As of v1r9, Board Master has had added the capability to handle four
metal layers in memory at one time. Very little has changed that is
visible to the user via the user interface. Most of the software works
extremely similar to how it always has, but affects four layers instead
of two. Here is a summary of the differences:

    * Operating in the four layer mode takes additional memory: 256k
      more than operting in two layer mode. You can use the new STATUS
      operation in the first menu to see how much memory you have free.

    * There are two new menu items in the first menu. One reads
      "four layer". This turns the 4 layer capability on or off. the
      other is "opaque", and it changes the colors used so that the top
      layer is an opaque green, instead of a translucent green that you
      can see the other layers through. The reason for this is that
      when four layers are on screen, you have 4 layer colors, and 12
      other colors where the traces overlay. It's very difficult to see
      where the traces are going sometimes unless they are made a solid
      color. Operation of the Opaque capability is undefined for two
      layer work.
    
    * The swap operation works differently for four layer operation.
      when you have two layers, the concept of "swapping" them is
      clearly defined. When you have four layers, the question "swap
      which layers" comes up immediately. So, when you select swap in
      four layer mode, a requester with eight layer buttons in it is
      presented to you. There are two pairs of four buttons, each
      representing the top, upper, lower, and bottom layers. Select one
      button from the left column and one from the right, then press
      either the swap or cancel buttons. We think you'll find it easy
      to handle and understand.
    
    * When in four layer mode, the TAB key cycles through the layers in
      top, upper, lower, and bottom order.
    
    * When in four layer mode, pressing the Alt-T key will take you
      directly to the UPPER layer. T takes you to the TOP layer.
    
    * When in four layer mode, pressing the Alt-B key will take you
      directly to the LOWER layer. B takes you to the BOTTOM layer.
    
    * When in four layer mode, loading a 2 layer PCB just loads the top
      and bottom layers. When in two layer mode, loading a four layer
      PCB also just loads the top and bottom layers.
    
    * When in four layer mode, loading a block with two layers just
      loads the top and bottom layers. When in two layer mode, loading
      a four layer block just loads the top and bottom layers.
    
    * The UnDo operation (and the ARexx CLIP operation) now handles all
      four layers.

    * Viewing a silkscreen in four layer mode is very difficult, since
      all the screen bitplanes are occupied with trace information.
      We're working on this problem.
    
    * All other operations should work in four layers just as they do
      in two layers. Copy, Move, DePlane, Open, and so on all have been
      extended to operate correctly. Important: If you find some
      operation that does not operate the way you think it should,
      please give us a call. We'll fix it as soon as possible.