Initial Setup

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New for Scalz versions that are compatible with Visual CADD Version 5: System Setup

There is now a User Setup Dialog for Scalz, accessable by typing ZZZ. This dialog allows you to install and uninstall the Scalz toolbar and menu items easily along with option settings for various tools. Most of these files are automatically installed during the initial installation and can be uninstalled using this dialog.

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New in Scalz V5.00 for Visual CADD Version 5:

Scalz V5 has introduced utilizing the new Visual CADD V5 feature of being able to create "Groups" into a few of it's tools. For example, you can now have all the arcs created when you draw a Cloud become a group when the tool completes. The settings for this are on the User Setup Dialog (ZZZ).

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Drawing System Setup
Many of the tools supplied with Scalz need no setup at all, but if you choose to use the Scalz drawing system, you should take some time to set up your text, dimension, attribute and leader settings the way you like to see them in your drawings. These settings are made in the Scalz.ini file. You should become familiar with this file as it controls many of the settings you will want to make for using Scalz to your benefit. This file should resides in your Visual CADD "System" folder as defined in the VCADD.ini.

The settings made in this section (see below) of the Scalz.ini file should be set up to depict the way you would like to see a drawing that is printed at full size to look. If you like your text to be 1/8" tall, you would set the "Text Height" setting under the "[Text]" heading equal to .125, like this...

[Text]
TextHeight=.125

These settings should always be made in decimal form. The example below is set up for a metric system user. The settings in the metric system are made in Millimeters.

[Text]
TextHeight=2.5

[Dimension]
TextHeight=2.5
TextHorizSpace=1.25
TextVertSpace=1.25
ExtAbove=2.5
ExtBelow=5
ExtOffset=2.5
ArrowLength=1.25
ArrowFlipDist=2.5
OrdinateTextOffset=.0625

[Attribute]
AtbHeight=2.5

[Leader]
TextHeight=2.5
TextOffset=1.25
ShoulderLength=0
ArrowLength=2

Once you have made these settings in the Scalz.ini file, you will never need to change them again unless you decide to change the look of your drawings. Now that you have made the settings for a full size printed drawing, the only other information the drawing system needs to know are the different "Scales" you will be printing in. This information is set up in you Cmdext.def file. Again, when Scalz was installed, we added lines to your Cmdext.def file to set up 11 different Standard Architectural Scales for imperial units. The examples below are for setting up 11 different popular metric scales. The number that appears near the end of each line is a multiplier used by Scalz to make the proper settings for each of your drawings. This number is the factor which each of the settings you made above is multiplied by in each scale you use. As you can see, you can add and or delete as many "Scales" as you like.

Scale96,Z96,,Set 1/8" Scale,Set 1/8" Scale,DllName;Scalz.dll;DllFunName;SetDrawingScale;DllCmdLine;96;DllRun;
Scale64,Z64,,Set 3/16" Scale,Set 3/16" Scale,DllName;Scalz.dll;DllFunName;SetDrawingScale;DllCmdLine;64;DllRun;
Scale48,Z48,,Set 1/4" Scale,Set 1/4" Scale,DllName;Scalz.dll;DllFunName;SetDrawingScale;DllCmdLine;48;DllRun;
Scale32,Z32,,Set 3/8" Scale,Set 3/8" Scale,DllName;Scalz.dll;DllFunName;SetDrawingScale;DllCmdLine;32;DllRun;
Scale24,Z24,,Set 1/2" Scale,Set 1/2" Scale,DllName;Scalz.dll;DllFunName;SetDrawingScale;DllCmdLine;24;DllRun;
Scale16,Z16,,Set 3/4" Scale,Set 3/4" Scale,DllName;Scalz.dll;DllFunName;SetDrawingScale;DllCmdLine;16;DllRun;
Scale12,Z12,,Set 1" Scale,Set 1" Scale,DllName;Scalz.dll;DllFunName;SetDrawingScale;DllCmdLine;12;DllRun;
Scale08,Z08,,Set 1 1/2" Scale,Set 1 1/2" Scale,DllName;Scalz.dll;DllFunName;SetDrawingScale;DllCmdLine;8;DllRun;
Scale04,Z04,,Set 3" Scale,Set 3" Scale,DllName;Scalz.dll;DllFunName;SetDrawingScale;DllCmdLine;4;DllRun;
Scale02,Z02,,Set Half Scale,Set Half Scale,DllName;Scalz.dll;DllFunName;SetDrawingScale;DllCmdLine;2;DllRun;
Scale01,Z01,,Set Full Scale,Set Full Scale,DllName;Scalz.dll;DllFunName;SetDrawingScale;DllCmdLine;1;DllRun;

Once you have made these settings, the drawing system is ready for you to use. The only other changes you might need to make would be would be to the .mnu file you use. If you changed your Cmdext.def file from the originally installed settings, you may need to change your .mnu file to match those settings.

If you are not familiar with how to draw using various scales, please see A Tutorial to Drawing in Different Scales.

There are many Scalz tools that are set up to read the current Text Height as set by the commands above. These tools scale different entities as you use the tools. Read about each of these tools to see how they use the text height to scale different aspects of your drawings.

Place Text - Automatically place text in your drawing at fixed positions according to the current text height.
Symbols Ribalog - Place symbols (bubbles) in your drawings and the symbol scale is set according to the text height and the bubbles are filled in with the text you choose automatically.
Change Dimensions to Match Current Scale - If you started a drawing, and need to change the print scale becuase it became larger or smaller so your text is the wrong size, this tool will fix it!
Draw Clouds - Draw revision clouds. The size of the arcs is based on the current text height.
Scale Selected to Full Scale - When creating details, there is a frequent need to scale entities to full size. This tool works from the current text height and scale all the selected entities to full scale.
Leaders Ribalog - Create leaders and have the text, offsets and arrows come out the same size in all scales.
Match Scalz Scale - Select one dimension, text line or leader and set the current scale to match it.
Store the Print Scale in the Drawing Header - this must be done before any of the Scalz printing tools are used.
Print at Current Scale - This tool simply opens the print dialog and automatically sets the print scale.
Batch Printing - Print an entire folder (directory) of drawings automatically using the print scale

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