What's the easiest way to send the answer?

A manual drawing or a self manufactured pieces is known to be unable to send through a telephone wire connection to your provider. That's the reason why I wrote these hints for your information to make sure the understanding of your (maybe arduously solved) answer without problems. There are a few possibilities available:

Extracted directly from a CAD system

If you have drawn your answer with any CAD software (Please attach some additional hints in form of text blocks and dimension lines about your construction!), it's the best way when you export your drawing file into a DXF or IGES file. (Please set up the highest number for places after the decimal point as possible! [e.g. 16 on AutoCAD]). You can complete your postal address and some other comments with any text editor of your choice because this are pure ASCII formatted files. Then send it by e-mail. I'm going to import it directly in my program for checking e.g. measuring of important lengths and angles with commands like DIST, ID (AutoCAD) directly on the screen.

Other graphic software packages

If your are using an easy pixel painting program or any similar software like Designer, CorelDraw!: Simply send me a bitmap file (BMP, PCX, GIF, IFF, TIF etc.), HPGL, CorelDraw! (up to version 4.0, unfortunately I haven't got a higher version yet!) as a binary file mail (e.g. convert the answer graphic file with the command uuencode path\file.pic file.pic file.asc to a standard text file, then send file.asc e.g. with mailx -s "Answer to the converting problem" info@dreael.ch <file.asc under UNIX) to me together with a normally written covering mail with the construction report (It's not needed to send these two mails one after the other, I normally see on the system generated header, which ones are belong together.) It's necessary to attach some dimensions and hints on this variant because it isn't possible to measure precisely in any way!

No graphic software whatsoever?

If you are at loggerheads with graphic software packages and if you are still preferring pencil and paper as your best tools: Tell me all the coordinates (with so much places after the decimal point as possible!) of all used reference points in tabular form, in addition of a list, between which points it's necessary to make a cut in form of a straight line, arc (radius?) or another geometric curve, completed with any indications for the resulting pieces. It's possible to make a easy text character figure with a little of skill and your fantasy, e.g.:

             G             Name |   X [mm]     |   Y [mm]
      A+-----+------+B     -----+--------------+----------------
       |  3  |  2   |       A   |   0.00000000 | 200.00000000
    Y E+--__ |      |       B   | 200.00000000 | 200.00000000
    ^  |    \+-___  |       C   |   0.00000000 |   0.00000000
    |  |   1 F    \_|       D   | 200.00000000 |   0.00000000
    0 C+------------+D      E   |   0.00000000 | 125.00000000
       0--> X               F   |  85.00000000 |  86.60254038 (50*sqrt(3))
                            G   | 115.47005384 | 200.00000000

  Straight line cuts: E-F F-D G-F
  Resulting pieces: CDFE -> 1 FDBG -> 2 EFGA -> 3
  Answer:
               ^(D)
              / \
             / 1 \
            /\__  \
           /    T\_\     __ original points (help for orienting the pieces)
          /   3 | 2 \   /
      (F)/______|____\(D)

You can also write a small construction report alternatively, e.g.:

1.) square s=200 mm => ABCD
2.) divide side BC in half => E
3.) divide line AE in proportion sqrt(3) (1.7320508..) : 1.0000 => F (EF = 1)
4.) straight line cuts between BF, AF, CF => piece ABF = Nº 1 piece BCF =
    Nº 2 piece CDAF = Nº 3

Answer: +------+
       /|3 /\  |\ (Nº 1 turned up)
      / | /  \ | \
     / 2|/    \|1 \
  (B)+--+      +--+ (F)

Important: No works of art are expected, only anything to understand your answer clearly is needed. If you are using a word processing system for writing your answer mail, it's recommended to use a font with fixed width (e.g. Courier), make sure that you are using the ASCII format while saving the text (e.g. option Text only under File format in WinWord 6.0).

These advices aren't to taking as harassments, they are well meant hints to send any graphics documents. Have a lot of pleasure while puzzling nevertheless! If you have any questions in spite if these detailed instructions, simply send me a mail about that!


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© 1996, 1998 by Andreas Meile