peter@methods.UUCP (Peter Blake Mr Sys Adm) (01/29/87)
If anybody can help us with the following, we would be very grateful.
We would like to obtain some sort of an online graphics manipulation
package/editor to accomplish a certain task.
The task is, essentially, to generate some nice flow charts. We have
a piece of software that generates a sort of plot specification; it
writes out things like:
- condition box,
- joined to box A to the North,
- joined to box B to the East,
- joined to box C to the South,
- containing text "If valid input",
- label on N.E. side "L10".
We want to "import" this kind of file into a graphics editor, and
have it portray the raw diagram on a screen (with the condition box
represented as a diamond, for example). Then a user should be able
to fix up the diagram to resolve crossing lines, cluttered areas,
and so on. The resulting diagram (i.e. the nice pretty flow chart)
is to be plotted.
The graphics package would need the following attributes:
1. it would need to import and interpret a file of original object
description and position information. The objects would be shapes
(circle, rectangles ...) and associated text.
2. it should allow online manipulation of the objects in terms of
size, location and associated text.
3. it should allow the diagram to be plotted.
4. it should allow pan and zoom operations.
5. it should allow the types of icons used to be pre-specified
(for example, we might want to use a flattened hexagon instead of
a diamond for a condition).
We currently have a PC/AT (MS-DOS), Microvax II (ULTRIX), LNO3 laser
printer, and a Roland plotter. We also have a Tektronix 4014
compatible terminal, connected to the VAX.
Should we look at PC software (does anybody know off the bat whether
Auto CAD would do what we want)? (I think that we would prefer to go
this route.) But any information (names, prices, equipment needed ...)
of such a graphics package for any system would be appreciated. We
are particularly interested in anything that is not expensive (say,
less than U.S. $ 5,000).
Please e-mail your answers, if possible.
Thanks
Peter Blake Deadline!?!? What's a deadline?
Meta Systems, 3385 Harvester Rd., Burlington, Ontario, L7N 3N2
phone: (416) 632-6500
UUCP: ...!{utzoo!mnetor!genat!maccs,watmath}!methods!peter