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CR 1212 3 

 

 
 

Chapter 1: What is the CR 1212 and How Does It Work? 

Section A: What is the CR 1212? 

CR 1212 is a graphics tablet that acts as an input device.  It allows for the translation of 
graphic information into digital, suitable for a digital device such as a computer. 

 

Steering a computer screen pointer 

 

Selecting locations on menus 

 

Drawing and tracing 

The components required for a functional CR 1212 are: 

 

Tablet 

 

Stylus or cursor 

 

Interface cable 

 

Power source 

 

The tablet is similar to a drawing board.  The stylus and cursor are handheld devices that 
are used for pointing or drawing on the tablet.  The interface cable connects the graphics 
tablet to the host (computer). 

Summary of Contents for CR-1212

Page 1: ...te Section C Communication Protocols Section D Report Formats Operating Characteristics and Functions Section A Controlling the Report Flow Point Mode Remote Request Mode Stream Mode Switch Stream Mode Report Rate Increment Mode Section B Setting the Resolution Resolution Predefined Resolution Definable Set X Y Scale Section C Other Functions Bit Pad Configuration Origin Relative Coordinates Delta...

Page 2: ...phics Tablet Section A Tablet Calibration Section B Power and Proximity Light Section C A Quick Functional Check Section D Diagnostic Functions Echo Self Test Operating Environment Care and Service Section A Operating Environment Section B Service Section C Care and Cleaning Section D Changing the Stylus Refill Specifications ASCII Conversion Chart 30 31 31 32 37 39 39 39 39 41 41 41 43 43 43 44 4...

Page 3: ... digital device such as a computer Steering a computer screen pointer Selecting locations on menus Drawing and tracing The components required for a functional CR 1212 are Tablet Stylus or cursor Interface cable Power source The tablet is similar to a drawing board The stylus and cursor are handheld devices that are used for pointing or drawing on the tablet The interface cable connects the graphi...

Page 4: ... to a inch of material drawings photos etc between the tablet and stylus cursor allowing it to issue reports The active area and proximity in effect establish a three dimensional volume within which the stylus cursor can issue valid reports Reports issued from outside of this volume are out of prox and therefore do not represent the current position of the stylus cursor Reports are measured in cou...

Page 5: ...on The tablet reports the same coordinates for any point within the square With different resolution settings you can receive different reports for the same tablet location In the illustration below points A and B are the same physical locations on the tablet but their coordinates are different because of the resolution setting ...

Page 6: ...presents the commands in ASCII For convenience an ASCII conversion chart appears in Appendix B The tablet accepts commands from the host at any rate except as follows After turning on the tablet wait approximately 300 milliseconds before sending commands Commands that require a tablet response If you send a command to the tablet that requires a response the tablet does so within two milliseconds W...

Page 7: ...ttach the tablet to the host and power source 3 Turn on the tablet NOTE Always have the computer and tablet power off when attaching or detaching any part of the CR 1212 If the power is on nothing serious happens to the CR 1212 but it could have the potential to corrupt the file being worked on or cause the computer to malfunction Installing CR 1212 Graphics Tablet 1 Plug the stylus cursor into th...

Page 8: ...rom one to the other turn off the tablet This allows the tablet s internal software to re initialize for each device 2 Plug the 8 pin phone connector on the interface cable into the tablet 3 Connect the 25 pin D connector of the interface cable into the host communications port ...

Page 9: ...r ON OFF switch on The tablet calibrates itself This takes approximately three seconds and once the calibration is complete the tablet beeps The power light is lit when the tablet is on It s also a proximity indicator that remains lit when the stylus cursor is in prox It blinks when the stylus cursor is out of prox If the light blinks when the stylus cursor is in prox then the tablet is malfunctio...

Page 10: ...2C with a 25 pin D connector The pin assignments are listed below RS 232C Interface 25 Pin D Connector Pin Assignments The computer must have an RS 232C communications port terminated with a 25 pin male D connector that is configured as DTE Data Terminal Equipment NOTE If the computer has a different connector contact your GTCO CalComp by Turning Technologies representative for information about a...

Page 11: ...able with 9600 baud or Autobaud The standard setting is 9600 baud unless Autobaud is specifically ordered Autobaud automatically matches the tablet baud rate to the host baud rate The tablet supports 9600 4800 2400 and 1200 baud With Autobaud you must send an ASCII space SP to the tablet just after starting it The tablet uses this character to identify the host baud rate The tablet then sets its b...

Page 12: ...rmat CR format similar to MM packed binary format Bit Pad One or Two compatible format for Relative Coordinates Delta Mode CR format for Relative Coordinates similar to MM packed binary format for Delta Mode The report formats are in packed binary The reports are in counts of resolution not in inches or millimeters Bit Pad One Compatible Report Format ...

Page 13: ...CR 1212 13 Bit Pad Two Compatible Report Format CR Report Format ...

Page 14: ...tible format for Relative Coordinates CR Format for Relative Coordinates Key LSB is the least significant bit MSB is the most significant bit Fa Fb Fc and Fd are the flag bits They identify the status of the stylus tip and cursor buttons ...

Page 15: ...or Bit Pad One or Two configurations using relative coordinates Sx and Sy are the X and Y coordinate signs 1 is positive and 0 is negative PR is the proximity bit 0 is in prox and 1 is out of prox PH is the phasing bit which is always 1 X0 X1 etc and Y0 Y1 etc are the X and Y coordinate bits ...

Page 16: ...ote Request Stream and Switch Stream modes The secondary functions are Report Rate and Increment Mode Bit Pad One configurations Each time the tablet is turned on or issues the Reset command it defaults to Stream Mode CR and Bit Pad Two configurations Each time the tablet is turned on or issues the Reset command it defaults to Remote Request Mode Bit Pad One reports have no proximity bit CR and Bi...

Page 17: ...en the time the button is pressed and time it s released the reports will be different If the stylus cursor is out of prox the tablet issues the last in prox scanned report Remote Request Mode In Remote Request Mode the tablet issues one report each time the host sends a trigger command Issue the mode command once Thereafter send only a trigger command for each report After initiating Remote Reque...

Page 18: ...port three or four times before it stops transmitting Switch Stream Mode In Switch Stream Mode the graphics tablet issues report continuously while pressing a stylus cursor button The Report Rate described below controls the number of reports issued per second When releasing the button the tablet issues an additional report This report is the last scanned report but its flag bit is 0 zero If the s...

Page 19: ... report rate Therefore follow these recommendations No higher than 36 rps when using 2400 baud No higher than 18 rps when using 1200 baud Increment Mode Command Sequence mode command increment value Increment mode is an adjunct to Point Remote Request Stream and Switch Stream modes It is particularly useful for reducing data output In Increment Mode the unit sends a report only when the stylus cur...

Page 20: ...ary square without the tablet issuing a report When the stylus cursor touches the square the increment is met and the tablet transmits a report This point becomes the center of a new imaginary square The process repeats The following illustration shows the imaginary square created around a report point The increment is five The following example shows the reports issued as the stylus cursor travel...

Page 21: ... desired increment and then convert the sum into your preferred number base For example if the desired increment value is 10 decimal desired increment 32 increment value in hexadecimal increment value in ASCII 10 32 2A hexadecimal ASCII To disable Increment Mode set the increment to zero with the ASCII space character SP The length of a count can vary depending on the resolution and measurement sy...

Page 22: ...advises an updated report Stream Mode and Increment Mode The tablet issues a report only when the increment is met It can issue reports up to the established Report Rate Switch Stream Mode and Increment Mode If the increment has not been met the tablet issues one report when a button is pressed and another when it is released If the increment has been met and a button is pressed the tablet can iss...

Page 23: ...ed to a maximum of 4095 counts This in effect restricts the resolution to 341 lpi 13 lpmm over a 12 inch axis 4095 lpi 12 inches 341 lpi Higher resolutions can be used however the active area shrinks accordingly For example The axis is measured from the active area origin 0 0 Reports issued from beyond the axis are clamped to a value of 4095 Resolution Predefined ...

Page 24: ... each tablet axis independent of one another Specify the resolution to be any value from 10 lpi to 508 lpi Resolution is restricted in Bit Pad One and Two configurations Refer to Section B Setting the Resolution After issuing the Definable Resolution command wait at least 0 5 milliseconds before issuing another command to the tablet If Tablet is operating as a Bit Pad One or Bit Pad Two Here is ho...

Page 25: ...he resolution value to a whole number Example Matching the CR 1212 to a vertical portrait screen with a resolution of 800 X by 1024 Y pixels Other Device s Resolution Tablet Axis Length 800 pixels 12 inches 66 66 X axis 1024 pixels 12 inches 85 33 Y axis The tablet would truncate these values to 66 and 85 Therefore round them high to 67 and 86 This ensures that the entire screen is addressable fro...

Page 26: ... hexadecimal number into two 2 digit parts the most significant byte high byte and the least significant byte low byte Example 0324 03 high byte 24 low byte 0408 04 high byte 08 low byte 3 You re now ready to send the Definable Resolution command sequence to the tablet In the example of 800 by 1024 portrait screen the command sequence is Command X Low Byte X High Byte Y Low Byte Y High Byte 72 24 ...

Page 27: ...appropriate command or repower the tablet The Reset command does not control the configuration setting Origin Use the Origin command to define the location of the tablet s origin 0 0 It can be the lower or upper left corner of the active area The default is the lower left When the origin is in the upper left corner Y coordinates are positive not negative This departure from the standard Cartesian ...

Page 28: ... left corner with the Origin command Stylus cursor movement down to the right is positive up and to the left is negative Reset to Default Operating Characteristics Use Reset to return the CR 1212 to the default operating characteristics Coordinate system absolute Increment 0 Increment Mode off Origin lower left corner Report Mode In the Bit Pad One configuration the mode is Stream In the Bit Pad T...

Page 29: ...ration Send Configuration issues a report to the host that identifies the resolution of each axis The report format is one of the following Bit Pad One or Bit Pad Two Configuration Report Format CR Configuration Report Format ...

Page 30: ...r the resolution is indicated as the total number of counts over the length of the axis Example The tablet is the CR configuration The resolution setting is 200 lpi The X and Y axis are 12 inches long Therefore the resolution is 2400 for each axis The Send Configuration report is Tablet Beep Use this command if you want to disable the tablet beep To enable it again issue the Reset command or repow...

Page 31: ...t does not buffer reports for subsequent transmission However if you issue Stop Transmission while data is being transmitted no data is lost The CR 1212 severs the data transmission at the end of the report When you issue the Resume Transmission command the tablet continues operation While the CR 1212 is on standby it accepts and executes commands from the host During this state however Tablet doe...

Page 32: ... the application Present high level commands from the application that control the tablet A typical driver consists of four major parts Configure Host and Tablet o Structure the host communications port port address baud rate etc o Shape the tablet resolution report mode etc Report Collection Interrupt Routines o Assemble the report collect the report s data bytes into an array o Check for errors ...

Page 33: ... The following flowcharts are for a CR 1212 in the Bit Pad One configuration Configure Host and Tablet Structure the host communications port port address baud rate etc Shape the tablet resolution report mode etc ...

Page 34: ...CR 1212 34 Report Collection Interrupt Routines Assemble the report collect the report s data bytes into an array Check for errors ...

Page 35: ...CR 1212 35 Cont ...

Page 36: ...CR 1212 36 Process Reports from the Tablet Decode the report Filter reports if required by the application Notify the application if applicable that a report is ready to be issued to the application ...

Page 37: ...nd drawing the stylus tends to feel more natural For tracing the cursor provides the user with more control and precise sighting Also the cursor has multiple buttons to which can assign specific functions in your device driver The cursor and stylus are interchangeable However before changing from one to the other turn off the tablet This allows the tablet s internal software to re initialize for e...

Page 38: ...e pressure on the stylus cursor button when you re done performing a function When you turn off the computer turn off the tablet The unit is affected by conductive materials Do not trace through metal or metallized paper Do not use metal objects such as rulers on the tablet However with the cursor you can trace through some conductive materials such as X rays or drawings in pencil or conductive in...

Page 39: ...onal Check Here is a quick functional check that you can perform Its purpose is to ensure that the interface is working and that all parts of the tablet active area are being read by the stylus cursor 1 Connect the tablet to a dumb terminal The terminal must be set up to communicate in full duplex at 9600 baud If the unit is a Bit Pad One or Two configurations the terminal s data protocol must be ...

Page 40: ...CR 1212 40 The X and Y coordinates should increase as you slide the stylus cursor up and right as shown below ...

Page 41: ...properly the sent character matches the echoed character Note that character sequences are passed through not acted upon by the tablet Therefore remote commands issued while Echo is in effect are ignored by the tablet To abort the Echo function issue the Reset command or repower the tablet Self Test The Self Test function tests certain parts of the unit and transmits the results to the host The re...

Page 42: ... of prox 0 Tablet calibration pass 1 fail 0 Total test result based on A D and CA pass 1 fail 0 Bit Pad One and Two configurations If the test result is a Hex 17 or 1F or equivalent the tablet passed the tests Any other result means that the tablet failed CR configuration If the test result is a Hex 9F or 97 or equivalent the tablet passed the tests Any other result means that the tablet failed ...

Page 43: ...eratures can occur in some rather surprising places atop a TV set in direct sunlight or in a car on a hot or cold day Section B Service You should have no problems with the CR 1212 However if a problem arises try one or more of the following Check the hardware connections Ensure that the computer is working If possible perform the tests described in Chapter 7 If applicable check that the device dr...

Page 44: ...unit from its power source before cleaning Using a soft damp not wet lint free cloth wipe the case clean with a mild detergent solution Never disassemble any part of the CR 1212 except to change the stylus refill Never immerse in liquid Never bang it around or drop it Never scratch or mar the tablet Cursor The transparent part of the cursor that encases the cross hair is called the paddle The top ...

Page 45: ...tylus refill grasp the refill by the tip and pull straight out Since the tip is small and slippery you will probably not be able to pull it out with your bare fingers We recommend using needle nose pliers or two coins Insert the new refill until it is firmly seated ...

Page 46: ...y The area of the tablet that senses the stylus cursor location and where valid reports are obtained Jitter Stylus or cursor 1 count of resolution Jitter is the different in values collected by the graphics tablet for the same point for example 200 201 and 202 Jitter can be caused by electrical noise from environmental sources or from the tablet s analog to digital conversion circuitry Noise affec...

Page 47: ...CR 1212 47 Appendix B ASCII Conversion Chart ...

Page 48: ...CR 1212 48 ...

Page 49: ...CR 1212 49 ...

Page 50: ...on contained in this document is subject to change without notice GTCO CalComp by Turning Technologies assumes no responsibility for technical or editorial errors or omissions that may appear in this document or for the use of this material Nor does GTCO CalComp by Turning Technologies make any commitment to update the information contained in this document This document contains proprietary infor...

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