SpheriCAD 2.0 README FILE   
 
 
SpheriCAD is an AutoCAD application that facilitates the plotting and analysis 
of large sets of structural orientation data. The principal feature of 
SpheriCAD is the ability to view a map (i.e., an AutoCAD drawing) and plot 
equal-area nets of structural data by selecting regions of interest on the 
map.  The application also handles the preliminary steps of digitizing field 
stop locations from paper maps and plotting attitude symbols from lists of 
structural measurements in ASCII or database files. The program presently 
works with the DOS and Windows versions of AutoCAD Release 12. 
   
   
OBTAINING SpheriCAD   
   
SpheriCAD can be obtained from the internet (anonymous ftp or WWW) or by mail, 
and is supplied in the form of three files:       
   
README.TXT         This file       
SCAD.EXE           Self-extracting zip file containing all the program files  
SCAD-DOC.EXE       Self-extracting zip file of user's manual (MS Word 6.0) 
   
README.TXT is an ASCII file, the other two are binary files. This is important 
to keep in mind if you download the files from the internet. 
   
To obtain via anonymous ftp, use the following parameters: 
   
	ftp site: 	isum1.iastate.edu   
	userid: 	anonymous.cejac   
	password: 	your e-mail address (including domain name; e.g., 	 
			cejac@iastate.edu)   
   
On the World Wide Web use either:   
   
	http://www.public.iastate.edu/~cejac/anonymous   or   
	http://hercules.geology.uiuc.edu/~schimmri/geology/structure.html 
   
The former is my personal homepage. The latter is the homepage of Steven 
Schimmrich of the University of Illinois, and provides links to a number of 
ftp sites containing structure-related software.   
   
The program can also be ordered by mail from:   
    
Carl Jacobson   
Geological Sciences    
Iowa State University    
Ames, IA 50011-3210.   
   
The cost is $7 US for both the disk and hard-copy user's manual. The disk 
alone is $5, the manual alone is $4. Add $3/disk and $2/manual for overseas 
shipments. The disk will be 3.5" unless specified otherwise. Make check or 
money order payable to "Geological Sciences."   
   
INSTALLING SpheriCAD   
   
To begin the installation, copy all three files to a directory on your hard 
disk named SCAD. It is not necessary that this directory be on the same hard 
drive or partition as AutoCAD. At the DOS command prompt, type:       
       
	scad -d       
       
This will cause the compressed file SCAD.EXE to be expanded into all its 
component files. The -d option is absolutely essential in order that 
subdirectory structure be preserved. Three subdirectories should be created: 
LISPSQL, MENU, and SAMPLE. Some of the files will have to be moved to various 
AutoCAD directories. Consult the user's manual.       
       
To expand the file containing the user's manual type:       
       
	scad-doc       
       
at the command prompt. The user's guide contains bit-mapped graphics, which 
are not stored very efficiently, and the expanded file is approximately 1.5 
megabytes. Locations of page breaks and other formatting characteristics will 
depend on your printer and printer driver.       
       
       
MISCELLANEOUS   
       
SpheriCAD is freeware; distribute it as you see fit. However, if you obtained 
the program other than by mail order, then please let me know by E-mail or 
regular mail. The program has been entirely rewritten in the last couple of 
months and undoubtedly contains bugs!!!  I anticipate that I will be receiving 
notices from users regarding problems and I need to be able to notify you of 
any corrections to the program.    
    
There is an omission from the current "printing" of the user's manual. If you 
do not rename the SpheriCAD menu file to ACAD.MNU (i.e., make the SpheriCAD 
menu the AutoCAD default menu), then you must make a copy of the file ACAD.MNL 
and give it the same name as the SpheriCAD menu file, except with a MNL file 
extension. For example, if you name the SpheriCAD menu SCAD.MNU then you will 
have to make an exact copy of ACAD.MNL and call it SCAD.MNL. Both the MNU and 
MNL files belong in the AutoCAD SUPPORT directory.    
       
Anyone who has worked with AutoCAD knows that it is not learned overnight.  
Adding SpheriCAD introduces an extra level of complexity. I tried to make the 
program as user friendly as possible, however, a certain amount of care and  
reading of instructions will be necessary to obtain proper results. In  
particular, proper construction of the database files is critical. For Excel, 
the user's manual describes a technique of importing an ASCII file of  
measurements and then saving the file in dBASE format. I have not been  
successful in saving a properly formatted dBASE file from data directly typed  
into Excel. I am a long-time Quattro user and fairly new to Excel. If you know  
the solution to this problem, please let me know. In the meantime, if your  
data are already in  Excel, save them to an ASCII file. Import the ASCII file  
back into Excel and then save it to the dBASE format (as described in the  
user's guide). I could write an AutoLISP routine that would create properly  
formatted dBASE files directly from an ASCII file without going through the  
spreadsheet intermediary. Let me know if this would be of interest.  
    
Regarding the dBASE files, I want to pass along an experience one of my  
graduate students recently had. He had taken a file of attitudes in a Quattro  
Pro for Windows spreadsheet and used SAVE AS to convert it to dBASE format.  
The file worked fine with all the SpheriCAD functions. Later, he read the  
dBASE file back into Quattro, sorted the measurements by dip angle, and  
resaved the file, still in dBASE format and with the same name. This latter  
file he then read back in several times in order to subdivide it into smaller  
dBASE files, each containing a limited range of dip values. He subdivided the  
file by simply cutting out the rows he didn't want and then using SAVE AS with  
a new name. For some reason, these newer files would not work with SpheriCAD  
even though the columns appeared to have the correct widths, data types (text  
vs. numeric), and justification. The problem was solved in the following  
manner: The first dBASE file was read in and sorted. Next, SAVE AS was used to  
convert the file back to Quattro Pro format (we suspect this step may not be  
necessary). The COPY and PASTE functions were then used to copy sub-blocks of  
the first spreadsheet to a new spreadsheet page. The new spreadsheets were  
then saved to dBASE format. These worked fine. We do not know if this problem  
is specific to Quattro or is inherent in the dBASE file structure.  
    
     
Carl E. Jacobson       
Phone: (515) 294-4480       
Fax: (515) 294-6049       
E-Mail: cejac@iastate.edu