MGMS (Micro Graphics Manufacturing Station) Professional CAD for Macintosh is a computer assisted drafting software package. MGMS CAD has been created primarily for mechanical engineering applications, although it is also appropriate (but not widely used) for architectural drafting.
Advanced CAD users and engineers will find MGMS CAD very complete and may be amazed by some of its capabilities. MGMS CAD offers more than 200 functions. The commands are simple and straightforward for someone with extensive CAD background and expertise, but may not be appropriate for a novice or mid-level user.
Some of the powerful tools in MGMS CAD include Grouping [groups can be shown or hidden), dimension (allows several locations of text on the dimension) and libraries, which displays large icons of stored parts on the right side of the screen, making It easy to find and choose a required part. A feature called project non points is an excellent tool for views construc
tion in mechanical drawings (I have previously only seen this feature in mainframe CAD applications). MGMS CAD also allows PICT format files to be pasted onto drawings, a very important capability.
MGMS is very different from other CAD packages in the way it handles some basic operations. For example, a drawing can only be reduced if it has previously been stored as a library part. This requires a couple of extra steps if you suddenly realize that your design has become larger than the page size. It is difficult at first to deal with the program's coordinate system, but you can place objects with the mouse as well as by coordinates.
Any size grid can be used for drawings. MGMS CAD accepts graphics input frgm the keyboard in cartesian absolute, cartesian increments, polar absolute or polar increments. Calculations are automatic for ail fangency points A drawing can have up to 48 distinguishable layers and a number of symbol libraries, limited only by available storage. MGMS CAD can output drawings in standard A through E sizes, either to an ImageWriter, LaserWriter or to a variety of pen plotters.
The MGMS CAD manual is fairly easy to read and user-friendly, although quite technical (semi- technical is a good description). I tested their telephone support extensively and it was very good.
Two valuable accessories are included with the program. The Geometry Analyzer lets you quickly find perimeters, areas, centers of gravity and moments of inertia for selected objects, saving a lot of calculation time. The IGES Transfiterator allows you to convert MGMS CAD files to IGES format files and vice-versa for transmission to minis and mainframes.
The first release of MGMS CAD was shipped with a hardware key, but versions since 2.02 have a software copy protection scheme. The software allows you to make a backup copy either to a floppy or hard disk.
MGMS CAD is reasonably priced at $799, compared with other Macintosh CAD packages and especially compared to similarly capable packages for the MS-DOS environment, which can cost $2000 a pop. Overall MGMS CAD is one of the most powerful CAD packages seen for the Mac so far, but look for the introduction of the Mac SE and MAC li to spawn a number of new programs as well.— Ernesto Moran
List Price: $799. Published by MICRO CAD/CAM.
5910 Noble, Van Nuys t CA 91411.(818) 376-
6860. Requires Mac 512K+. Version 2.07 reviewed. Copy protected.
(There's no download available for this software yet. If you've got a copy of that software,
Macintosh 512K with addtional disk drive, Macintosh XL or Macintosh Plus.
Missing files
Micro CAD/CAM Inc.
Applications
out of 10 (0 vote)
Emulating this? It could probably run under: 
Mini vMac
