TECHNICAL BULLETIN 09.27.91 AUTOCAD386 MWF (update 11.04.91) CAD SOFTWARE: AutoCAD 386 (Release. 10C10 & Release. 11), Autodesk, Inc. ___________________________________________________________________ Comment: AutoCAD 386 (Release 10 C10 and Release 11) is listed as compatible with LANtastic NOS 3.0X and 4.0X. The following information has been compiled from in-house testing and other resources on using AutoCAD 386 with LANtastic. Guidelines for using AutoCAD 386 with LANtastic: 1. AutoCAD 11 is a very processor-time intensive application that runs in protected mode on an 386 or 486 computer. It can access up to 4 Gigabytes of memory (either in RAM or virtual disk space), however the program uses less than 250K of conventional RAM when loaded. If the workstation is only used for AutoCAD 386, there is no benefit to loading TSR's into high memory because the conventional memory requirements are very small. 2. Using an AutoCAD workstation as a server for sharing a plotter or printer-plotter is not recommended since AutoCAD is a very processor-time intensive application. Performance of AutoCAD and/or the network can be severely reduced by background plotter or printer-plotter despooling. The ideal AutoCAD network configuration would include a dedicated server with harddrive and ports to control the plotter(s) and printer-plotter(s), thus allowing the AutoCAD workstations to have 100% of their own processor time available for AutoCAD functions. 3. Set FCBS=16,8 and FILES=40 in CONFIG.SYS on workstations running AutoCAD 386. NOTE: If AutoCAD 10 (DOS) and AutoCAD 386 will both be used on the same workstation running under DOS 4.01, set FCBS=48,8 in CONFIG.SYS. 4. Protected-mode video Display List Drivers are available in ADI format to use with AutoCAD 386 and work very well. Some real-mode DLD's are also available and no compatibility problems have been reported with LANtastic. Switching between real and protected-mode can degrade performance, so using a protected-mode video driver is recommended for maximum performance. 5. AutoCAD 386 loads entirely into RAM so there is no benefit to using a ramdisk [as far as AutoCAD 386 is concerned]. There are no overlay files, and if the workstation has enough RAM available, there will be only minimal disk access when editing a drawing. Whatever memory would be given to a ramdisk, would be taken away from AutoCAD 386. A small disk cache (256K) will improve performance when AutoCAD 386 is paging to disk. Don't give too much memory to caching as it will take memory away from AutoCAD and performance can suffer. 6. AutoCAD 386 Rel. 11 has a file-locking feature that is software selectable and will prevent multiple access to a drawing file. This can be enabled from the AutoCAD main menu by selecting "5. Configure AutoCAD", "8. Configure operating parameters", "11. Server authorization and file locking". File locking in AutoCAD 386 does not require SHARE.EXE to be loaded to function. 7. If using a common drawing fileserver, configure each AutoCAD workstation to have a unique network node name. From the AutoCAD main menu, select "5. Configure AutoCAD", "8. Configure operating parameters", "6. Network node name" and enter a three character name unique to each workstation. 8. If plotter performance is slow, or pauses intermittently, on an AutoCAD 386 workstation/server that is sharing a plotter, increase the CPS to the plotter (using the max of 32767 is OK, but the tradeoff is poor AutoCAD 386 performance). NOTE: The only way to eliminate the performance degradation of an AutoCAD workstation during plotting or printer-plotting is to have the server not running AutoCAD during the despooling function. See note 2 on using a dedicated print server. 9. To share a plotter or printer-plotter, AutoCAD must output to file. The important item to keep in mind is that AutoCAD 386 never communicates with the plotter (or printer-plotter), instead, it outputs to a file on disk. All communication with the plotter or printer-plotter device(s) is handled by the network. Configure AutoCAD 386 to plot to a file, set the filename to the name of the port that is redirected to @PLOTTER. Set the LPT TIMEOUT to 0 (zero). The recommended serial communication protocol for the network to the plotter is 9600, 8, 1, N, using XON/XOFF flow control. Some plotters that will only accept HARDWARE flow control require a HARDWARE cable - a straight-thru serial cable will not allow HARDWARE flow control communications. The next best protocol is 9600, 7, 1, E, XON/XOFF. If the plotter and @PLOTTER shared resource are not configured exactly the same, plotting will not be successful. NOTE: If the plotter does not automatically go OFF-LINE at the completion of a plot, it is recommended to edit the SETUP STRING for @PLOTTER (located in NET_MGR, Shared Resources Management) to include the ASCII or codes needed to take the plotter off- line at the start of a plot to allow for paper changes. If this is not done, it will be possible for multiple plot jobs in the spooler to be plotted over the same sheet of paper. If the plotter has an automatic paper feeder/cutter, this may not be necessary. 10. AutoCAD 386 Release 11 has an environment variable that can be used to create and send spool files to a redirected plotter or printer-plotter automatically. The recommended configuration is as follows: 1) Create a directory under the ACAD directory called TEMP (C:\ACAD\TEMP). Add that directory to the DOS environment path (see "SAMPLE BATCH FILES:" at end of this document). 2) Configure AutoCAD to put temporary files and the SPOOLED print/plot files there as follows: 1) From the AutoCAD main menu, select "5. Configure AutoCAD". 2) Select "5. Configure plotter" and "6. Configure printer plotter". Keep the same plotter and printer, 3) Select "YES" when asked to output to a file. 4) Select "8. Configure operating parameters." A) Select "3. Default plot file name", enter "AUTOSPOOL". B) Select "4. Plot spooler directory", enter "C:\ACAD\TEMP\". 5) Save the changes and exit AutoCAD 386 to the DOS prompt. 3) If you are using a batch file to load AutoCAD, put the following lines in that batch file (otherwise put them in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file on each node). (NOTE: the "%%s" MUST BE LOWER CASE.) SET ACADPLCMD=NET PRINT %%s COM2 (Port redirected to @PLOTTER) SET ACADPPCMD=NET PRINT/BINARY %%s LPT1 (Port redirected to @PRINTER) (Printer-plots must be sent in BINARY format or the printed output may be cut off, distorted and/or spread out over multiple pages.) This will create a spooled file for every print or plotjob sent by that node. The files that begin with "R" are printer-plot files (raster) and the ones beginning with "V" are plot files (vector). These files, if not deleted, will quickly fill up a harddrive. The following lines can be added to a batch file to automatically delete the spooled files (see SAMPLE BATCH FILES: at end of this document): C: CD\ACAD\TEMP :REM CD\ to the spooler directory. DEL R*.* :REM Delete all printer-plot files. DEL V*.* :REM Delete all plotter files. CD\ Memory Managers: 1. AutoCAD 386 can be configured to use Extended memory or Expanded memory but not both. If the memory manager is not VCPI compliant, configure all memory as Extended; if it is VCPI compliant, configure all memory as Expanded. QEMM386, 386 to the MAX and MS-DOS's HIMEM.SYS in combination with EMM386.EXE are listed as compatible with LANtastic and will provide VCPI-compliant EMS. HIMEM.SYS that comes with MS-DOS 5.0 creates XMS which is not VCPI compliant and should not be used with AutoCAD 386 without also loading EMM386.EXE. Consult the AutoCAD Installation and Performance Guide for more information on compatible memory managers. 2. Network drivers can be loaded into high memory using the utili ties provided with the above listed memory managers, however, if the workstation is only used for AutoCAD 386, there is no benefit to loading programs high. SAMPLE BATCH FILES: AUTOEXEC.BAT: PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;\BATCH;C:\UTILITY;C:\LANTASTI AEX :REM Load netbios drivers. Can be loaded high. AILANBIO REDIR ALEX1 LOGINS=5 :REM Can be loaded high. LANCACHE CACHE_SIZE=256 TYPE=EMS :REM 256K cache (using expanded memory). SERVER :REM Server is optional. Can be loaded high. NET LOGIN \\ALEX1 ALEX1 :REM Login to servers as needed. NET USE LPT1 \\ALEX1\@PRINTER :REM Redirect LPT1 to the shared printer-plotter. NET USE COM2 \\ALEX1\@PLOTTER :REM Redirect COM2 to the shared plotter. NET LPT TIMEOUT 10 NET QUEUE HALT \\ALEX1 COM1 :REM If a server, halt QUEUE for mouse/digitizer port. PROMPT=$P$G MENU LOADACAD.BAT: REM Add "C:\ACAD;C:\ACAD\ADS;C:\ACAD\TEMP" to the DOS environment path. PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\BATCH;C:\UTILITY;C:\LANTASTI;C:\ACAD;C:\ACAD\ADS ;C:\ACAD\TEMP NET LPT TIMEOUT 0 :REM Set LPT TIMEOUT to zero. CD\ACAD\DWG SET ACADPPCMD=NET PRINT/BINARY %%S LPT1 :REM Printer-plotter command. SET ACADPLCMD=NET PRINT %%S COM2 :REM Plotter command. SET PLPADI=C:\ACAD\PLPHPLP.EXP :REM Protected-mode plotter driver. SET DSPADI=C:\ET4\DLDVG256.EXP :REM Protected-mode DLD video driver. SET DLDCFG=C:\ET4\ :REM DLD configuration file path. SET ACADPAGEDIR=C:\ACAD\TEMP :REM AutoCAD 386 page file directory. SET ACAD=C:\ACAD;C:\ACAD\SAMPLE;C:\ACAD\ADS SET ACADCFG=C:\ACAD ACAD :REM Load AutoCAD 386. SET ACADCFG= SET ACAD= :REM Clear environment variables. SET ACADPAGEDIR= SET DLDCFG= SET DSPADI= SET PLPADI= SET ACADPPCMD= SET ACADPLCMD= C: :REM Remove all spooled files. CD\ACAD\TEMP DEL R*.* DEL V*.* CD\ FINAL NOTE: This document has been designed to provide a guideline for con figuring AutoCAD 386 with LANtastic. Additional configuration may be necessary to accommodate your specific network setup. If a unique problem arises which we are unable to resolve either through phone contact with our technical support or through this bulletin, a problem report can be filed through our technical support staff. ARTISOFT, Inc. makes no warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of this document. LANtastic is a trademark of ARTISOFT, Inc. Brand names and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Any questions or suggestions on this bulletin may be mailed to our offices: Artisoft, Inc. 575 East River Road Tucson, AZ 85704 ATTN: Compatibility Department / AutoCAD Support Vendor Info: Autodesk, Inc. (415) 331-0356 (Contact your Autodesk dealer for questions concerning AutoCAD.)