Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1982 - 20

COMPUTER EXCHANGE
The age of the cOllIputer is here alld rhe
applicarioll of this 1001 ill the rhearre is
!illlired only by illlagillariolls (alld perhaps
budgers). Begillning wirh rhis issue, TD&T
will carry a regular COIUIlIIl de 1'0 red ro rhe

use of COlllpllfers in rhearre. Ir is being coedired by Roben Reinecke and Willialll
Daniel File. Their own inrroduclion 10 rhis
colullln alld an anicle by iVlr. Reinecke
follow. We hope you will rake adl'aniage

At the August 1982 ATA Convention, there were two sessions concerning
use of computers in the theatre. We are
convinced that many of you are using
computers. Certainly, as prices drop
and commercial software becomes
available (witness RaSCO's newly announced software) the number of users
will grow.
With this issue we want to begin
reporting how you are already using
computers and how you plan to use
them. Since we see the time when every
department/office/shop will have its
own computer, we are most interested in
how you are using micros. But whatever
you are using, let us know.
For each application tell us what the
computer does for you, who uses it,
where it is located, the specific hardware
details, software source, etc. And, if
you wish to tell us about a program, we
would appreciate receiving it in machine
readable and printed form.
It will speed our review if you would
send your material to the person having
the proper equipment.

Computer Calculation
of Lumber Required
for Flat Construction

Apple (all)
Zenith
VAX 11/780
IBM 3081
Wm. Daniel File
Design Area
215-A Taylor Bldg.
University of orth Carolina
Greensboro, NC 27412
919 379-5543

TRS-80 (all)
COII/II/odore/Pet (all)
Burroughs 6800
Bob Reinecke
Department of Theatre
Kutztown State College
Kutztown PA 19530
215 683 -4-WO
Compuserve 71675,634
Material nO[ requiring hardware can
be sent to either editor.
18

of rhis forulll 10 exchange your cOlllpurer
knowledge wirh orher rhearre professionals.
-eds.

by Robert Reinecke
The computation of lumber requirements for a series of flats is a repetitive
time consuming process-thus ideal for
a computer. Listed below is a TRS-80
Model I Level I I Basic program for
computing the lumber needs of a series
of flats. It is written to run on a 16K
machine. If you have more memory,
load the program as wrillen; if you have
only 16K, then do not enter the remark
lines.
All you have to do to use this program is enter prices of lumber, and the
quantity and dimensions of flats. The
computer will then display how many
pieces of standard length I x 3's (8-16
ft.) are needed, the total number of corner blocks and keystones, the number
of plywood sheets needed and the cost
of the I x 3. If you frame in'/, or some
other stock, the quantity will be correct
even though the display will read
"lx3."
Some restrictions were imposed to
allow the program to run in a 16K
machine and to simplify calculations.
(1) A maximum of twenty each plain,
door, and window flats can be processed
at one time. (2) Maximum outer dimensions for any single flat are 5 '9" by
16'0". (3) Corner blocks are used at the
top and bottom of door and window
stiles. (4) You must specify your standard toggle spacing. (5) There is no
provision for corner braces.
Essentially, the program calculates
lumber needs in the manner you might.
For each flat, it computes the number of

Theatre Design & Technolog~ USITT /Winler / t 982

toggles and rails, and tries to "cut" as
many as possible out of a single piece of
lumber. Stiles are "cut" in much the
same way. In choosing lumber, it first
checks the "scrap" created by its own
construction process. Only when no
scrap is available is new stock "pulled."
So efficient is this process, that forgetting to add your standard waste percentage will leave you short. We regularlyadd 10010 to the quantity of each
standard length. Besides, when was the
last time you had too much framing
material?
As written, the program is completely self-prompting and reasonably crash
proof. If you follow the instructions as
they appear on the screen, you will be
able to sit back and watch the computer
work. It takes the computer about 5
minutes to process 40 flats.
I would be pleased to hear from
readers who improve or add functions
to this program.

NOTES
otes are identified by program line
number.
280. PF, OF, WF are Plain, Door, and
Window Flat arrays. They determine
number of plots the program can
process.
340. Initializes New Pine array to 8',
10',12',14',16' lengths of I x3.
360. Initializes a Pine Scrap array to
comain lengths from 2' to 15.5' in V2'
increments.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1982