 Periscope(tm) 2.20                             May 1, 2003

 Copyright 2003 ManuSoft (http://www.manusoft.com)
 All Rights Reserved


  ** Legal Stuff **

By using this software, you agree to the terms of the Periscope 
End User Software License as written in the accompanying 
License.txt text file.

Periscope(tm) is a shareware program. The shareware version may 
be freely distributed by any means so long as this file and 
all associated files are included. The registered version of 
Periscope may not be redistributed or otherwise utilized for 
any purposes for which permission has not been explicitly 
granted by ManuSoft. Violators will be prosecuted to the full 
extent of the law.


  ** What it is **

Periscope displays entity information in a small popup window 
as the AutoCAD cursor moves over the entity in AutoCAD or 
AutoCAD LT.


  ** Manual installation **

If you wish to configure additional AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT 
installations after you initially install Periscope follow 
these steps:

[AutoCAD]
Inside AutoCAD, use the ARX command's Load option to load 
PScope14.arx (AutoCAD R14), PScope15.arx (AutoCAD 
2000/2000i/2002), or PScope16.arx (AutoCAD 2004). Once Periscope 
is loaded, you can use the PERISCOPE command to change 
settings, including setting Periscope to load automatically 
when AutoCAD starts.

[AutoCAD LT]
Exit all instances of AutoCAD LT, then execute LTSetup.exe in 
the Periscope folder. Select your LT configuration(s), then 
press the 'Install' button to complete the installation.


  ** Uninstalling **

To uninstall Periscope and completely remove all Periscope 
files from your system, use the Add/Remove Software icon in 
Windows Control Panel to uninstall Periscope . To manually 
uninstall Periscope without removing Periscope files:

[AutoCAD]
From inside AutoCAD, enter the PERISCOPEUNINSTALL command to 
unload Periscope and remove all Periscope registry settings.

[AutoCAD LT]
Exit all instances of AutoCAD LT, then execute LTUninst.exe 
in the Periscope folder. Select your LT configuration(s), then 
press the 'Uninstall' button.


  ** How it works **

Periscope tracks cursor movement in AutoCAD. If AutoCAD is in a 
quiescent state (e.g. no command is active) and the cursor 
remains stationary for approximately one half second, Periscope 
"selects" the object beneath the cursor just as though it had 
been selected by pressing the pick button, and displays any 
relevant information in a small popup window. The popup window 
disappears as soon as the cursor moves or a mouse button is 
depressed.

*HINT* Press the <Ctrl> button to get information about 
objects nested in blocks! When displaying information about 
nested objects, Periscope places an asterisk (*) character at 
the beginning of the first line of text.

Either the PERISCOPE command or the Periscope icon in the 
AutoCAD status bar can be used to enable or disable the 
Periscope window, change the timer interval and display font, 
and to set Periscope to load automatically when AutoCAD starts. 
These settings and states are saved in the system registry for 
each user and restored every time Periscope loads.

The PEEK command can be used to trigger the Periscope window 
at any time, even when Periscope is disabled. This is intended 
to be used in conjunction with an accelerator key defined in 
the ***ACCELERATORS section of your menu file (see AutoCAD's 
online 'Customization Guide' for more information about 
editing menus and defining accelerators.)  Here's an example 
menu item which makes the F9 key pop up the Periscope window 
at any time by issuing the PEEK command transparently:
  ["F9"]'PEEK


  ** Known problems **

If the Periscope window pops up while you have grips activated, 
the grips flicker slightly. This is a side effect of code which 
saves and restores the 'Previous' selection set, and there 
doesn't appear to be any way to prevent the flickering. You can 
disable the saving and restoring of the 'Previous' selection 
set with the PERISCOPE command, however the tradeoff is that 
the 'Previous' set is not saved when the Periscope window is 
displayed.

If you find any other problems please contact us with 
information about the problem and how to reproduce it.


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