Changelog for ARRIS++ Version  8.3:     (Spin 117, Rel. 01)    through    (Spin #117, Rel. 03)

Beginning with Version 8.3, Spin #116, Rel. #02, all ARRIS++ enhancements and updates are now being released under a new annual subscription program. This changelog document all changes to ARRIS++ issued under the following version numbers:
• Version 8.3, Spin #117, Rel. 01      10-18-05
• Version 8.3, Spin #117, Rel. 02      10-23-05
• Version 8.3, Spin #117, Rel. 03      11-09-05

Note that there are links in the following material pointing to more detailed information contained in the main documentation.

This changelog is divided into the following sections:



• General Improvements
  
  
• Documentation Enhancements
  
  
• Menu Modifications
  
  
• Existing Sigmac Bug Fixes
  
  
• Existing Sigmac Enhancements
  
  
• New ARRIS++ Sigmacs

General Improvements:

The following table lists general improvements that have been made to the ARRIS++ menu system.

When the ARRIS++ module is loaded, it now automatically loads the Expert InfoCAD Expert DXF/DWG Translator if that module is installed on the system.

Documentation Enhancements:

The following table lists general modifications and enhancements that have been made to the ARRIS++ menu system documentation.

The ARRIS++ master documentation has been updated to reflect all changes reported here.

Menu Modifications:

The following table lists changes and additions made to the ARRIS++ menu system.

EDIT:	Scale Factor  Copy/Move Scale Prompt New options for 0.0833, 0.1, 0.25, 0.75, 1.0, 1.5, 10.0 and 12.0 have been added to make selection of these typical values easier. Note that 0.0833 will set scaling to 1/12th which, along with 12.0, can be useful for converting objects in an imperial database. Rotation Factor  Copy/Move Rotation Prompt New options for 0, 30, 45, 60, 90, 135, 180, 225, 270, 300, 315 and 330 have been added to make selection of these typical values easier.
MAIN MENUS:	Main Menu Modifications  DRAW Main Menu  DETAILS Main Menu  3D Main Menu  SITE Main Menu A new button has been added to each of the main menus to provide access to the new ARRIS++ TOOLS menu. This menus is discussed below. A new button labeled USR APP has been added to each of the main menus. This provides a means for individuals or firms to link in their own custom application menus to the ARRIS system. To activate this feature, see detained information below under the ARRIS++ OPTIONS section.
OPTIONS:	ARRIS++ Options Menu  ARRIS++ OPTIONS Menu A scrollbar and paging buttons were added to this menu to provide access to the expanding list. The following two options were added to support the new USR APP button on the main menus: USR APP BUTTON LEFT-CLICK COMMAND: The purpose of the new USR APP button is to provide a means for individuals or firms to link in their own custom application menus to the ARRIS system so that it can be accessed by clicking on that button. On the ARRIS++ OPTION menu, clicking on the button to the left toggles between the following options: NONE CUSTOM If NONE is selected, this disabling left-clicking on the USR APP button. If CUSTOM is selected, then clicking on that label in the box to the right causes ARRIS to prompt for the name of a menu that is to be loaded when the USR APP button is selected. For example, if you had developed a custom overwrite menu called MY_TOOLS that contained a set of utilities specific to your firm's operation, you could assign it to this button so that it was easily accessible by all ARRIS users. As another example, there may be an existing menu in another module that you often wish to access without having to first load that module's main menu. Let's say you normally have DETAILS loaded as your second module but frequently want to access the RENDER overwrite menu from the 3D module. You could assign the R_RENDER menu as the left-click action for the USR APP button and then this menu would be instantly available regardless of which main menu was currently being displayed. USR APP BUTTON RIGHT-CLICK COMMAND: This option determines the action to be taken when right-clicking on the USR APP button. The choices are the same as described above for the left-click option, but allows a different menu to be loaded when right-clicking on the USR APP button. For example, if you had a pop-up, flyout, or another overwrite menu that you wished to access, it could be assigned here.
QUERY:	Query Menu  QUERY Menu Under the ON_LINE DOCUMENTATION section, the right-click command for the ARRIS, ARRIS++ and the ARRISplus buttons have been changed to now display the current version information for that product on the message line.
TOOLS:	ARRIS++ Tools  ARRIS++ TOOLS Overwrite Menu  ARRIS++ TOOLS Main Flyout Menu A new ARRIS++ TOOLS menu has been provided. This is a repository for new utilities which are to be added to ARRIS in the future. Currently, there is just one new tool used to draw revision clouds which is discussed in detail below.
	Revision Clouds  Revision Cloud Status Menu Back in 1999, Tim Eickman wrote a sigmac to place revision clouds on the drawing and published it on the ARRIS mailing list. This code was subsequently revised by Jeff Rath, Steven Stromgren, Salleh Diab and others and widely distributed as :sd_cloud. I have taken that code and enhanced it in many ways to turn it into a production quality tool. Improvements include: Adding a status menu where an expanded set of revision cloud parameters can be examined and easily adjusted. Adding a facility to save a user's parameter settings, automatically making them the defaults when this command is first executed. Adding capability to adjust both the small and large arc factors and well as allowing the cloud to be drawn in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. Adding the capability of automatically placing a triangular revision marker when the cloud is drawn. When prompting for revision marker text, the current CAPS mode is honored. Adding an exit trap to the code to insure that the user's original environment is restored regardless of how the command is terminated. As soon as the revision cloud button is selected, the cursor changes to a pencil and the cloud may be drawn using the current parameters displayed on the status menu. Drag the cursor in a circular motion to enclose the portion of the drawing that has been revised. As the cloud is nearing completion, move the cursor towards the starting point. When it gets close enough, the cloud will automatically close and be terminated. If the PLACE MARKER parameter is set to YES, then you will be prompted for the revision marker text. Enter the desired string and then place the marker where desired. To place an empty marker select <NONE>. If no revision marker is desired for this cloud, select <SKIP PLACEMENT>. The command repeats allowing multiple revision clouds to be located on the drawing.  Revision Cloud Example  Revision Cloud Marker Prompt Status Menu: SAVE CLOUD PARAMETERS When any of the revision cloud parameters are changed from the defaults, this button text will display in yellow to indicate that there are unsaved modifications. Clicking on this button will cause the current parameter values to be written to disk and they will then be used as the defaults in the future. Once saved, the button will return to its normal appearance. If the default parameter file already exists, then a confirmation prompt will be displayed to help insure that the file is not accidentally overwritten. Right-clicking on this button automatically restores all of the current default values regardless of what changes may have been made. PEN This displays the pen used for the revision cloud and marker. Selecting this box prompts for a new pen number. If <Current> is selected, then the cloud and marker will match the current ARRIS pen. If <None> is selected, then the cloud and marker will match the current layer default pen. COL This displays the color used for the revision cloud and marker. Selecting this box displays the pop-up color selection menu and prompts for a new color number. If <Current> is selected, then the cloud and marker will match the current ARRIS color. If <None> is selected, then the cloud and marker will match the current layer default color. BULGE The bulge value determines how flat or round the arcs are that are used to draw the cloud. The initial default value is 0.7. Allowable values range from 0.05 to 1.0. Specifying a smaller value will create flatter arcs while a maximum value of 1.0 will generate semicircles. SMALL ARC The small arc factor determines the relative size of the alternating smaller arcs. The initial default is 3 and allowable integer values range from 1 to 10. LARGE ARC The large arc factor determines the relative size of the alternating larger arcs. The initial default is 3 and allowable integer values range from 1 to 10. PLACE MARKER Selecting this box toggles the setting between YES and NO. If set to YES, once a revision cloud has been drawn, there will be an option to place a triangular revision marker. As seen in the image above, there is an option to skip marker placement if desired. Setting this parameter to NO suppresses marker placement altogether. MARKER SIZE This parameter determines the size of the triangular revision marker in inches (imperial databases) or millimeters (metric databases). Select this box to enter a new value. DIRECTION This setting determines the direction of construction for the revision cloud. Selecting this box toggles the value between cw (clockwise) and ccw (counter-clockwise). Any attempt to draw the revision cloud in the opposite direction from this setting will cause the arcs to be inverted. Most individuals will probably find drawing revision clouds in the clockwise direction to be most natural, but this option provides a choice. Bugs: There is a serious problem in the ARRIS undo system that can cause the database to become corrupted, leading to the error: Cannot select to database position This error is easily triggered when undo is used during the active placement of attributal repeated items such as the revision marker used with this routine. To avoid any problems, do not perform an undo while this revision cloud command is running. If you wish to remove a cloud, exit this command normally and then perform the undo.

Existing Sigmac Bug Fixes:

The following table lists fixes that have been applied to existing sigmacs to correct problems and bugs.

:mn__labplc	Fixed bug that was causing label attributal text to be improperly rotated around the X and Y-axes as the label RI was rotated.
:mn_dim2	Fixed bug that was causing rectangular cursor modeling of the dimension string to be incorrectly sized if associative dimensioning was selected during manual placement mode.
:mn_dmtxloc	Fixed bug that was causing rectangular cursor modeling of the dimension string to be incorrectly sized if associative dimensioning was selected during manual placement mode.

Existing Sigmac Enhancements:

The following table lists revisions that have been made to existing sigmacs in order to provide some expanded or new capability beyond that offered by the original command.

:mn_clsl	Added support to update the revision cloud status menu.
:mn_sbrot	Added prompt options so that typical rotational values may be immediately selected rather than having to be typed in from the keyboard or selected from the subsequent pop-up menu.
:mn_sbscl	Added additional prompt options so that typical scale values may be immediately selected rather than having to be typed in from the keyboard.
:vers	Modified sigmac to suppress the display of the pop-up menu with expanded version information if the global variable icj_vr_nomenu is set to #true prior to calling this routine.

New ARRIS++ Sigmacs:

The following new sigmacs routines have been added to the current release of ARRIS++.

NEW COMMAND	CLASS	DESCRIPTION
:cj_ei_versn	arrisplus	Display current ARRISplus version information
:cj_rc_ckcol	cloud	Update color on the revision cloud status menu
:cj_rc_cloud	cloud	Manage all functions for revision clouds
:cj_rc_init	cloud	Initialize the revision cloud status menu
:cj_rc_trap1	cloud	Exit trap for the :cj_rc_cloud sigmac
:cj_mn_btn	menu	Perform left and right-click actions for various menu buttons. This new sigmac incorporates the functions for the now obsolete :cj_nt_btn and :cj_ra_btn sigmacs