Beruflich Dokumente
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User Guide
AVEVA Solutions Limited
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DRAFT User Guide
Revision Sheet
Contents Page
DRAFT
Introducing DRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1
What does DRAFT do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1
DRAFT Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1
Who Should Read this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1
Organisation of the DRAFT User Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:2
Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:2
Dimension and Label Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:2
Intelligent Text Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:2
Design Symbol Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:3
Autoblanking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:3
Dimensioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:1
Dimension Element Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:1
Linear Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:2
Linear Dimensions and How to Create Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:2
Multi-valued Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:6
Principal Attributes of Linear Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:8
Detail Attributes of Linear Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:12
Radial Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:21
Creating Radial Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:24
Appearance of Radial Dimensions - Specific Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:24
Appearance of Radial Dimensions - General Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:30
Appearance of Radial Dimensions - Ancillary Graphics Attributes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:31
Creating Radial Dimensions using the Cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:32
Modifying Radial Dimensions through Graphical Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:32
Pitch Circle Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:32
Creating Pitch Circle Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:33
Angular Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:34
Angular Dimensions and How to Create Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:34
Principal Attributes of Angular Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:39
Detail Attributes of Angular Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:40
Identifying Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:41
Suppressing the Display of Dimension and Projection Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:41
Dimensioning to GRIDLN Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:41
Dimensioning Skewed Pipe in Isometric Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:42
Updating Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:42
Summary of Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:43
Creating Linear Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:43
Positioning the Dimension Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:43
Setting Dimension Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:43
Creating and Modifying Radial Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:44
Creating Pitch Circle Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:44
Labelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:1
Creating and Manipulating Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:2
Creating Labels and Label Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:2
Labelling Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:5
Positioning and Orienting Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:5
Label Frame Manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:6
Hiding Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:7
Label Text Manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:7
Leader Lines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:10
Varying the Leader Line Connection Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:13
Leader Line Gaps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:14
Modifying Labels through Graphical Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:14
Special Labels and Label Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:15
Special Labels and Text Label Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:15
Special Labels and Symbol Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:16
Scaling and Mirroring Special Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:16
SLAB Leaderline Connection Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:17
Autotagging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:18
Defining the Autotagging Hierarchy and Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:19
Controlling Label Appearance and Elements to be Tagged. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:20
Querying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:21
Label Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:21
Tracking the Autotagging Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:22
Label Editing and Copying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:23
Tag Rule Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:23
DATAL Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:23
Schedule Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:24
Intelligent Label Placement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:24
Labelling GRIDLN Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:27
Summary of Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:27
2D Drafting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:1
Where 2D Drafting is Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:1
Backing and Overlay Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:1
Symbol Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:3
The Drafting Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:4
2D Drafting Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:5
Creating and Manipulating Drafting Primitives - Common Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:6
Re-use of Drafting Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:14
Visibility of Drafting Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:15
Enhancing Drafting Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:15
Creating and Manipulating Drafting Primitives - Specific Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:16
Text Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:35
Entering Text from DRAFT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:35
Displaying Text from a File on the Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:36
Summary of Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:36
Creating Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:36
Shifting the Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:36
Moving Individual Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:37
Rotating Individual Primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:37
1 Introducing DRAFT
This Chapter describes some general commands, common to several modules, and some
useful database commands. For information on using commands relating to multiple and
multiwrite databases, refer to the Database Reference Manual.
2.1 Saving
Example:
RECREATE /DS1
restores the display definition stored in file /DS1. (Refers to file saved by
RECREATE, not RECREATE DISPLAY.)
Note: Forms resized or moved using the cursor will be INSTALLed to their original size.
Example:
ALP LOG /LF1 OVER as above, but overwrite existing file /LF1
ALPHA FILE will only record commands you give, not the system's responses.
This Chapter describes how to create an unannotated DRAFT picture. It describes the part
of the DRAFT database that stores the main administrative and graphical elements, and
how to create them. It then describes Views, which are the areas used to display design
elements, and how to define their contents.
Note: Throughout this manual, view (lower case letters) means an area view, alpha view or
plot view, whereas VIEW (upper-case letters) refers to the VIEW database element.
All other database elements are also named using four upper-case letters (e.g.
DRWG, SHEE, LIBY), but may also be referred to in unabbreviated form with just a
leading upper-case letter (e.g. Drawing instead of DRWG).
DRAWING
SHEET
VIEW
The principal element is the Drawing (DRWG), which is the Database equivalent of the
traditional paper drawing. All the elements below DRWG in the hierarchy are used to store
the information required to completely define the Drawing.
A Drawing can own one or more Sheet (SHEE) elements, which correspond to the sheets of
a paper drawing (Sheet 1 of 3, Sheet 2 of 3 etc). A Drawing can consist of a single Sheet.
A Sheet is the highest-level element that may be displayed within a view.
A Sheet may own one or more VIEW elements. These are projections of parts of the Design
Database. A VIEW element has attributes that:
define the viewing parameters (looking direction, through point, scale, etc)
define the size, position and orientation of the region on the Sheet that the View
occupies
refer to another DRAFT database element that contains a list of the Design (or
Catalogue) elements that make up the VIEW picture.
The full DRAFT database hierarchy is illustrated in DRAFT Database Hierarchy.
WORLD
DEPT
REGI
DRWG REPO
LIBY
SHEE
(or to a DESIGN
DLLB database element)
VIEW
DESIGN
IDLI IDLN
Database
ADDE REME
Note: You can have several VIEWs on a Sheet. Each VIEW can contain a picture of a
different part of the Design model, or different views of the same part of the model.
See Changing the Picture by Changing VIEW Attributes for details of manipulating
the contents of a VIEW.
The VIEW's IDLN (ID List Name) attribute is set to the name of the Design item or
IDList element to be drawn (/150-A-3-Branch1 or /Equipment-List in our second and
third examples).
The VIEW's THPO (Through Position) attribute is set to the World coordinates
corresponding to the centre of interest of the Design items to be drawn.
The VIEW's SIZE (View Rectangle Size) attribute is set to a value calculated such that
the Design items to be drawn will fit within the View rectangle. The current values of the
VIEW's DIR and VSCA attributes are used (these define the 'looking direction' and
scale).
Note: The AUTOSIZE command only sets the IDLN attribute if it has not already been set.
A second AUTOSIZE command will not change the IDLN (but the specified Design
item or IDList will be used in the recalculation of the SIZE and THPO attributes). An
AUTOSIZE command by itself will use the existing IDLN setting to recalculate SIZE
and THPO.
Note: The UPDATE command creates the VIEW graphics in a Central Picture Store (CPS)
within the computer's memory.
The SAVEWORK command is not necessary but is recommended. It will save the
graphics in the CPS to Picture Files in the Picture File directory. In a subsequent
DRAFT session, the graphics will be read from the Picture File without the need for
an UPDATE command.
If you leave DRAFT via a QUIT command the graphics in the CPS will not be saved
and any existing Picture Files will not be updated.
Where it is known that the Update Design operation will take a considerable time, you may
wish to initiate it as a Background Process (see Background Process Manager).
Library (LIBY) elements can appear at four positions in the hierarchy (see Appendix
A). They are administrative elements used to group together several types of sub-
library. The type of sub-library of interest here is the Drawing List Library (DLLB).
The DLLB is used to group together Id List (IDLI) elements.
The Id List is constructed by using ADD and REMOVE commands as in the following
examples:
ADD /ZONE.PIPES2-1
ADD /ZONE.EQUI2-1
REMOVE /PIPE2-1-12
REM /PUMP2-1-12
ADD and REMOVE may be combined on a single line, for example:
ADD /ZONE1.EQUIP, /ZONE1.PIPES REMOVE /VESS1, BRAN 2 OF /PIPE3
The ADD and REMOVE commands automatically create the Add Entry (ADDE) and
Remove Entry (REME) elements shown in Figure 3:2.: Top part of the DRAFT Database
Hierarchy, also setting those ADDE and REME attributes which refer to (in this example)
appropriate elements in the DESIGN database. Other Id Lists may be added or removed in
the same way. For example:
NEW IDLI /LIST1
ADD /ZONE1
ADD /LIST2
REM /LIST3
Note: When evaluated individually both /LIST2 and /LIST3 must define a set of design
elements which are then added to/removed from /LIST1, respectively. In particular if /
LIST3 is being used to remove a number of Branches (say) from /LIST1 then it
should be defined as:
Sequence 1 Sequence 2
In Sequence 1 the final command removes all branches owned by /PIPE1 - including /
PIPE1-1 which has been added by the second command (and implicitly by the first). In
Sequence 2 these commands have been reordered so that having removed all branches in
/PIPE1 (second command) the required Branch (/PIPE1-1) is added by the final command.
Having created an Id List it can be used to define the contents of a VIEW by setting the
VIEW's IDLN attribute directly:
IDLI /ID1
or indirectly:
AUTO /ID1
as described in Defining Views Using the AUTO Commands.
Note: GRIDSYstem and GRIDAXis elements may be added to IDLists but may not be the
sole member of the IDList. When drawn their GRIDLNs will be considered to be of
infinite length and so will be extended to the VIEW boundary. AUTO commands
ignore these elements when calculating the VSCA, THPOS, and SIZE attributes of a
VIEW.
Note: If the spatial map is not up-to-date the list of elements generated may not be correct.
The ADD ... WITHIN method may produce very long Id Lists. These are liable to
become out-of-date as elements are added to, and removed from, the Design
databases. Better results may be yielded by setting the IDLIs LIMI attribute (see
Command Summary section at the end of this Chapter) to define the required
volume and only ADD the relevant SITEs and ZONEs to the Id List.
Example:
LIMITS @ TO @
LIMITS ID @ ID @
Set limits as 3D coordinates via Design elements selected with the cursor.
leaves the scale of the VIEW contents unaffected, but moves the point at the centre of the
picture to the centre of the new VIEW frame.
The SIZE attribute is also be changed by the VREGION command, which may be used to
resize and reposition the VIEW. For example:
Example:
VREGION FROM @ TO @
VREG AT @
VREG corner AT @
The default size is that of the owning Sheet. The VREGION command also affects the
XYPS attribute (see View Centre).
The SIZE command can also be used at SHEE level to change the Sheet size.
ONPOS is the position of the centre of the VIEW contents, relative to the centre of the
VIEW. VIEW contents are centred within the VIEW by default, so this attribute takes the
default values x0 y0. ONPOS is set directly, for example:
ONPO 45 -25
See Figure 3:4.: Changing VIEW ONPOS. Changing ONPOS will make the existing VIEW
graphics out-of-date, so an UPDATE DESIGN command must be given.
ONPO ONPO
Two positive values have to be specified but the TO may be omitted. Setting VRAT will
cause the existing VIEW scale (VSCA attribute) to be recalculated. Setting VSCA directly
causes VRAT to be unset. The AUTO command calculates and sets VSCA directly so this
will also cause VRAT to be unset.
Care should be taken when changing VSCA, as it is easy to move the VIEW contents over
the VIEW frame. The AUTO command takes the ONPOS value into consideration when it
calculates the VSCALE.
ADEG 0 ADEG 90
Figure 3:5. Changing Orientation of VIEW Contents
Note that the degree of rotation produced is relative to an ADEG value of 0, not to the last
value of ADEG.
Varying RCOD (rotation code) produces a similar effect to varying ADEG, except that the
VIEW is rotated as well. RCOD may be set to UP, DOWN, LEFT or RIGHT, corresponding to
the direction of the top of the VIEW region relative to the top of the screen. Default is UP.
3.5.6 Perspective
PERS (perspective) can be used to give a perspective projection, the value taken by the
PERS attribute being related to the view angle. The default value of 0 gives a parallel
projection, which would be the normal setting for drawings. If PERS is changed, an
UPDATE DESIGN command must be given to change the picture.
3.5.7 3D View
A 3D View can be generated from a 2D View using the GENERATE MODEL command. This
view can be amended using the user interface. Elements can be added using the DESADD
However, for a plan VIEW with RCODE LEFT, the result would be:
Viewdirection Left N
and for a plan VIEW with ADEG 120 (and RCODE UP) the result would be:
Viewdirection Left E 30 N
Modelled Wireline representation gives slightly greater realism by blending the intersection
of primitives, but without incurring the computational overheads of removing hidden lines.
Figure 3:7.: Typical Modelled Wireline View shows a modelled wireline display.
Wireline Hidden Line Removed representation produces a View where hidden lines are
removed from individual significant elements (EQUI, SUBS, etc) but not from items hidden
behind them. A typical View is shown in: Figure 3:9.: Typical Local Hidden Lines Removed
View.
Local Hidden Line representation gives a picture where hidden lines are removed from
individual significant elements (EQUI, SUBS etc), but not from items hidden behind them.
This gives a picture as shown in Figure 3:9.: Typical Local Hidden Lines Removed View.
This representation differs from Wireline Hidden Lines Removed because individual
significant elements are properly modelled so that intersections between primitives and
holes are correctly shown.
Global Hidden Line representation gives a picture where all hidden lines are removed,
giving a picture as shown in Figure 3:10.: Typical Global Hidden Lines Removed View.
Universal representation (see Figure 3:11.: UNIVERSAL VIEW Type) gives a picture where
all hidden lines are removed (as in Global HLR), but in addition intersection lines between
clashing significant elements (e.g. EQUI and STRU or SUBS and SUBS) are generated.
Whether you will need to use this View type will depend on the way in which you have
created the model. The need for VTYP UNIVERSAL will be greater if the model is
composed of a large number of significant elements each with a small number of primitives,
rather than vice versa. It is also more likely to be needed in non-orthogonal Views, where
missing intersection lines are most noticeable.
VTYP UNIV global hidden lines removed and intersection lines generated
Note: A significant Design element will not be found in a View if it only owns other
significant elements. It must own visible primitives. This affects EQUI, STRU and
FRMW elements; they will not be found unless they own visible primitives.
views can be worked on, including Views in the same Sheet, while the background process
is running.
Background processes are managed using the Background Process Queue Manger (BPM).
The foreground design session and the BPM do not need to be active at the same time. For
example, the design session could submit any number of design updates as background
processes, before the BPM is even started. The two processes are completely independent;
the queue manager can run overnight, for example.
Background processes are run one at a time. Once a background process has been
completed, you will be notified. A design session must then be started in order to refresh the
updated Design view, as picture files are not updated directly by the process.
Each BPM job updates a single VIEW, or multiple VIEWs contained in a SHEET, or the total
set of VIEWs contained in multiple SHEETs of a DRAWING. Since the output is a set of
individual VIEW files, they may be imported to refresh existing VIEWs selectively, or
collectively for the owning SHEET or DRAWING. Facilities are provided to cancel and delete
jobs as well as purging unwanted files.
3.10.1 Prerequisites
Certain environment variable settings must be defined before the BPM can be used:
PDMSEXE, since it contains the module to be executed in the background.
PDMSWK, since it contains the job XML file, the PDMS macro, the regenerated VIEW
files and the DRAFT log file. It also contains the BPM log file.
The project environment variables XXX000, XXXISO, XXXMAC and XXXPIC must be
defined for each project XXX to which the BPM is applied.
A batch file BPM.bat is supplied to enable the above environment variables automatically
and to start the BPM in much the same way as PDMS.bat enables to PDMS environment
variables.
8. You may then re-enter foreground DRAFT and navigate back to the original VIEW
(SHEET or DRAWING) to load the new picture. Each VIEW updated by the BPM will
generate its own IVF. This enables you to refresh selected VIEWs only (or a SHEET or
a DRAWING).
9. Issue an UPDATE REFRESH command to refresh the current VIEW (SHEET or
DRAWING).
10. If the refreshed VIEWs are acceptable, you may save them permanently using a
SAVEWORK, as usual.
Note: If a refreshed VIEW is unacceptable, you should NOT issue a SAVEWORK to save it
permanently. Instead, the original SHEET should be re-selected to re-load the old
contents.
Be careful to save any outstanding changes to other VIEWs in the same SHEET
before refreshing another VIEW.
Tabbed Windows
The Manager log tabbed window contains the BPM log of jobs processed.
The Job tabbed window is used to display the log file of the finished job. To select a finished
job double-click on the appropriate row in the job list table or right-click on View log (see
below).
3.11.1 At Id List . . .
ADD design_element_identifier [design_element_identifier...]
adds Design element to Id List.
REM design_element_identifier [design_element_identifier...]
removes Design element from Id List
ADD ALL design_element_identifier FOR design_element_identifier
REM ALL design_element_identifier WITH ( selection_criteria ) FOR
design_element_identifier
DESADD design_element_identifier [design_element_identifier...]
adds Design element to 3D View.
DESREMOVE design_element_identifier [design_element_identifier...]
removes Design element from 3D View
ADD ALL design_element_identifier FOR design_element_identifier
LIMITS E value N value U value E value N value U value
removes Design elements from ID List that are not wholly or partially contained within
defined limits box.
LIMITS @ TO @
set limits as 3D coords with the cursor
LIMITS ID @ ID @
set limits as 3D coords via Design elements using the cursor
DELETE ENTRY number
delete either an ADDE or REME from the Id List members - the number is the member
list number
DELETE ADD number
delete an Add item, number corresponding to number of the element out of the Adds
only
DELETE REM number
delete a Remove item, number corresponding to the number of the element out of the
Removes only
Database changes will be shown in the manner defined by the View's Change Ruleset. For
more information see Change Highlighting. This option is only valid at View elements or
above, it cannot be used for a Layer, say.
UPDATE PICTURE
regenerates Sheet level picture. Updates annotation graphics (but not Design
graphics). Use only when the picture file is corrupted. DRAFT will prompt the user
when this is necessary. Use at Sheet level or equivalent.)
3.11.3 At VIEW . . .
SIZE xvalue yvalue
set VIEW size in mm with origin at default i.e. centre of Sheet. Min, Max, x,y values
are 1 mm, 3276 mm respectively.
SIZE paper_size
set VIEW size to a standard paper size, e.g. SIZE A2
VREGION @
set VIEW size and position using cursor
VREGION FROM X value Y value TO X value Y value
set VIEW size and position explicitly
VREGION corner
move VIEW using specified corner to position:
TL top left
TR top right
BL bottom left
BR bottom right
C centre
VREGION VERTICAL direction
set VIEW (vertical axis) orientation:
U up
D down
L left
R right
AT @
position VIEW origin in Sheet using cursor
AUTO design_element_identifier
set VIEW Scale and Through Point through design_element_identifier and scale to fit
AUTO idlist_name
set VIEW Scale, Through Point and Id List reference. If idlist_name is omitted the IDLI
relevant to the VIEW is assumed.
AUTO LIMITS OF /idlist_name
use limits box of Id List to define VIEW
AUTO FROM position TO position
use specified limits box to define view. The VIEWs VSCA and THPO attributes are
calculated from the box defined by the two 3D co-ordinates specified by position.
(position includes cursor specification of a 3D point or p-point, explicit p-point
reference, origin of a named element, or an explicit 3D coord.)
VSCALE value
set Scale of VIEW
THPO E value N value U value
(or LOOK THROUGH ...)
set Through Point of VIEW in 3D coords
THPO ID @
(or LOOK THROUGH ...)
set Through Point as Design element p-point (converted to 3D coord)
FRPO E value N value U value
(or LOOK FROM ...)
set From Point of VIEW in 3D coords
FRPO @
(or LOOK FROM ...)
set From Point in 3D coords with cursor
FRPO ID @
(or LOOK FROM ...)
set From Point as Design element p-point (converted to 3D coord)
ONPO xvalue yvalue
position the Through Point relative to the VIEW origin
ONPO @
position the Through Point relative to the VIEW origin using the cursor
TURN value
(or ADEG value)
rotate VIEW anticlockwise
VTYP option
set VIEW type.
Options: WIRE, MWIR, LOCAL, GLOB, UNIV
LOOK value
(or DIR value)
set VIEW direction
ISO value
set isometric VIEW direction
PLAN
set plan VIEW direction
ELEV option
3.11.4 Anywhere . . .
DELETE NULL IDLI
deletes all ADDE and REME elements whose IDNM attribute is null or which
references an unknown element
4 Graphical Representation
Representation Rules control how Design elements are drawn. Each Rule can specify a
given type or types of element, or named elements. Representation Rules refer to Styles.
The attributes of a Style define a series of drawing styles and colours, for example, for
frontface, backface and centreline, and whether items such as p-lines and obstruction
volumes are shown. For more information about styles and colours see Colours and Styles.
Representation Rules also control which design elements are to be replaced by symbols
when a 2D View is created. For a description of 2D symbology, refer to 2D Symbolic
Representation.
Representation Rules can be created in a Library and be referred to from a VIEW, or they
can be owned directly by a VIEW, in which case they are known as local rules. Local Rules
override Library Rules. See Local Rules for more information about the order in which Rules
are applied.
Representation Rules (RRUL) are stored in Representation Rulesets (RRST), which in
turn are owned by Representation Libraries (RPLB).
RPLBs are also used to store STYLs. The reference from an RRUL to a STYL is made by
setting the STYF attribute of the RRUL. When a View references a RRST, the reference is
made by setting the RRSF attribute of the View.
This Section also describes Hatching Rules, which are used for automatic hatching of
faces of Design elements. See Automatic Hatching.
For details of how changes to design elements can be shown see Change Highlighting.
TUBEF, CLIN, PRFG, PLFG, PSYM, OBSTF and DLEV are standard PDMS display
representation controls and are not described here. (See the DESIGN Reference Manual for
details.)
If INSU is ON, Piping Component Insulation will be drawn using the frontface style and
colour (FFSTYLE/FFCOLOUR). The outline of the piping Components will be hidden by the
insulation in hidden-line views. If insulation and Components are required to be displayed,
two similar views (that use different Styles) will need to be defined and superimposed.
The style/colour attributes allow different parts of chosen items to be drawn differently, and
are used as follows:
Frontface Style/Colour. In wireline VIEWs these attributes control the style and colour
to be used to represent all edges. All edges are shown, except for holes that will be
drawn with a dashed line of the same colour as the FFCOLOUR. Set directly, for
example:
FFSTYLE SOLID M Use a SOLID line of MEDIUM thickness and Colour 1 for
FFCOLOUR 1 the frontface
Centreline Style/Colour. These attributes control the style and colour to be used for
representing centrelines. They are also used for drawing GRIDLN and LINE elements
of Catalogue Components. When drawing pipework with TUBEF ON, CENTRELINE
ON, the centreline will not be obscured by the piping Components. (Unlike FFSTYLE, it
is not necessary to superimpose two VIEWs with different Styles.
DRAWI elements owned by EQUI, SUBE, STRU, SUBS, or PTRA will be drawn using the
centreline style/colour of the STYL specified. For these DRAWIs the setting of the STYLs
centreline flag (CLFG) will be ignored even though the centreline style/colour is used; the
LEVEL attribute should be used to control whether the DRAWI appears on the drawing. Set
directly, e.g.
CKSTYLE DASHED Use a DASHED line of minimum thickness and Colour 1 for
CLCOLOUR 1 centrelines
Backface Style/Colour. In hidden line VIEWs, these attributes control the style and
colour to be used to draw the rear edges of items (set to OFF by default). Set directly,
e.g.
BFSTYLE would normally be set OFF for hidden line VIEWs, but if required can be used to
set the style and colour to be used for drawing the rear edges of items. These attributes
have no effect in wireline views. See Figure 4:2.: Use of Backface Style/Colour (shown
dotted) for an example of the use of the Backface Style/Colour.
Obscured Style/Colour. In global hidden line VIEWs, these attributes control the style
and colour to be used to draw the front-facing edges of items that would otherwise be
obscured by other objects (set to OFF by default). Set directly, e.g.
OBSTYLE DOT use a DOTTED line of minimum thickness and Colour 1 for
OBCOLOUR 1 obscured front facing edges
These attributes have no effect in wireline and local hidden line VIEWs. See Figure 4:3.:
Use of the Obscured Style/Colour (shown dotted) for an example of the use of the Obscured
Style/Colour.
P-line Style/Colour. This attribute controls the style and colour to be used to draw p-
lines. Set directly, for example:
MLNSTYLE SOLIDT Use a SOLID line of thickness 0.4mm and Colour 1 for
MLNCOLOUR 1 member lines
P-line and member line styles and colours apply only to drawing steelwork Section
elements.
See Colours and Styles for a description of colour and linestyle functionality.
USE /S2 FOR crit - set Style reference (STYF). /S2 must already exist;
crit = Design element name or selection criteria
When more than one Rule is created, the order of the command sequence is important.
Consider the command sequences:
Sequence 1 Sequence 2
Sequence 1 would result in Nozzles being drawn according to style /S1, sequence 2 would
give Nozzles in style /S2.
You can also assign a style reference to an individual named Design element or a series of
named elements, for example:
USE /S2 FOR /PUMP1-1 /VESS1
Note: That the Design element must have a name: identifiers such as CE, FIRST EQUI,
STRU 4 etc. cannot be used.
Representation Rules can reference IDLIsts, using expressions if required. For example:
USE /STYLE1 FOR /LIST24 /LIST25
USE /STYLE2 FOR ALL IDLISTS WITH ( FUNC EQ 'STEAM' )
Once a Rule has been created, and a style set, the selection criteria can be changed without
specifying the style by giving the command:
USE FOR crit
Example:
Example:
You can set up a rule to omit elements from a selection. For example, the following Rules (in
the given order) will have the effect of drawing all Branches in Style S2 except small bore
Branches, which will not be drawn at all:
NEW RRUL /SMALLBORE
OMIT ALL BRAN WITH ( HBORE LE 80 AND TBORE LT 30 )
NEW RRUL /BRANCHES
USE /S2 FOR ALL BRAN
Named elements can also be omitted:
Example:
OMIT /EQUIP99
The OMIT command sets the OMITFG attribute of the Rule, which automatically unsets the
STYF of the Rule.
DRAFT determines the style to use from a particular element by scanning through the list of
RRULs (in database order) until a selection criteria is matched. If DRAFT is unable to find a
relevant rule for a component the default style will be used. This is:
Tube Off
Centreline On
Profile Off
Pline On
Drawing Level 0
Ffstyle SOLID
Ffcolour 1
Clstyle CHAINED
Clcolour 1
Other drawing styles Off
be shown, unobstructed by other items of the model. Users should note that to obtain this
functionality the RRUL should apply to GRIDSYstem or GRIDAXis elements and not to
GRIDLNs. Typically, the definition of the RRUL should therefore be:
USE /GridStyle FOR ALL GRIDAX
Note: For full details of using expressions, see the DESIGN Reference Manual, Part 1
General Commands.
The comparators available are: EQ, NE, LT, LE, GE, GT (although in some instances only
EQ and NE are valid).
Each logical expression can be preceded by NOT, for example:
WI (PSPE EQ /RF300 AND NOT BUILT)
The operands on either side of a comparator are interchangeable, for example:
Note: That it is possible to apply a selection criterion to a list of class types by enclosing
them in brackets, for example:
Without the brackets the selection criterion would only be applied to SUBS.
Selection criteria should not be used unnecessarily. For example, if you wish to draw
small-bore Branches in style /ST1 and the rest in style /ST2, it is only necessary to
say:
As long as the criteria are defined in this order, all small-bore Branches will match the
first criterion and the rest, having failed to match the first criterion, will match the
second.
Hatched areas can be auto-blanked to allow annotation placed on top of them to be legible.
See Autoblanking.
Example:
HSTYF /HSTYL1
FCODE SECTionedfaces
FCODE PRIMitivefaces
DCODE ALL Directions
DCODE PERPendiculardirection
DCODE SPECifieddirection
NORM standard AVEVA direction syntax
CRIT standard AVEVA selection criteria syntax
As well as the usual NEW command, an HRUL can also be defined by:
USE hstyl FOR criteria
which will set the HSTYF and CRIT attributes.
By default, when a length of implied tubing or a DUCT or STRT (ducting straight) element is
cut and the resulting face is circular or rectangular, DRAFT will generate a typical sectioned
symbol rather than just apply the hatch pattern to the face:
The PIPESYM attribute of Hatching Styles allows this functionality to be suppressed and
replaced by normal hatching.
Note: Hatching in Isometric Views may not be entirely satisfactory. For example, there is
no way of altering the hatching parameters to suit the orientation of the face hatched,
and so the faces created by a stepped section plane will all be hatched at the same
angle and separation for a given Design element. The hatching of two connected
faces will be continuous even though the faces will have different orientations in 3D
space.
The last example returns the Style used for the specified design element, irrespective of the
element type specified at the RRUL. A list of design element identifiers may be entered,
optionally separated by commas.
pointing out of the solid primitive. Thus the normal of the uppermost horizontal surface
of a box is Up.
NORM direction
Standard direction syntax
FSTYLE SOLidfilled
Selected faces will be filled with solid colour.
FSTYLE OFF
Selected faces will not be hatched.
PIPESYM TRUE
PIPESYM FALSE
Pipe end symbols (or HVAC duct end symbols) will be drawn instead of hatching.
PIPESYM TRUE
PIPESYM FALSE
Pipe ends (or HVAC duct ends) will be hatched.
5 Section Planes
Note: There are extensive graphical facilities for creating and manipulating Section
Planes in DRAFTs Graphical User Interface. See the Drawing Production User
Guide for details.
DRAFT gives you the ability to construct sections through specified Design items, the
results of which can be displayed at VIEW level. All Planes are database items and can
therefore be used with more than one VIEW. There are three types of Plane element that
can be used to define four types of section plane, namely:
A Perpendicular Flat Plane passes through a specified point in the 3D design, being
oriented so as to be perpendicular to the current VIEW direction. The VIEW contents
that are discarded can be on either side of the plane. This type of plane would be used
as either a section or a backing plane.
A Flat Plane is similar to a perpendicular flat plane, but can be oriented to allow views
of the section from any angle.
A Stepped Plane is a folded plane (i.e. a series of non-intersecting straight line spans)
that extends to infinity in both directions along a specified axis. The shape is defined by
a series of points, the ends of the plane also extending to infinity. The simplest form of
stepped plane would be defined by two points and would be equivalent to a Flat Plane.
Any VIEW direction can be used and the VIEW contents on either side can be
discarded. Note that the two end spans must not intersect each other or an inner span.
A stepped plane is illustrated in Figure 5:1.: Stepped Plane.
An Enclosed Plane. This is a particular form of stepped plane in which the first and last
points that define it coincide to form a tube that is infinitely long along its axis. Any
VIEW direction can be used and either the inside or outside of the tube can be
removed. An enclosed plane is illustrated in Figure 5:2.: Enclosed Plane.
All Planes have a standard retain and discard side, depending on how the Plane is
defined in the database. The Plane can be used in either standard or reverse mode, which
effectively switches the Planes action without altering its definition. This allows the Plane to
be used in different VIEWs both as a section or backing plane. Planes can only be used with
modelled VIEWs, that is not with basic wireline views.
LIBY VIEW
PLLB VSEC
PLRF
WPOS
To use a plane to produce a sectioned VIEW, you need to create a View Section (VSEC)
element under a VIEW; VSEC attributes are:
PLRF (Plane Reference) - the name of the plane to be used.
IDLN - an Id List name for the section to operate on. If left undefined this will default to
the World (i.e. /*). This means that all elements in the VIEWs Id List will be sectioned.
A single Design item name can be used.
PMOD - the mode in which the plane will be used to section the VIEW, i.e. the side to
be retained or discarded. The default is STANDARD, which is as the plane is set-up.
REVERSE switches the side to be retained or discarded. OFF switches the plane off.
CLMO (centreline mode) By default this is set to ON, which has no effect on
functionality. If it is set to OFF then the section will not be applied to line elements of
Piping Components. This allows you to remove Components and tubing by a section
plane, but leave the centreline to show the path of the Branch. All other non-solid
primitives are sectioned normally and are unaffected by the value of attribute CLMO.
SMOD (a View attribute) - the section mode attribute, which defines how small parts of
piping components and implied tube that are cut by the front and back sectioning
planes will be treated. This attribute only affects piping components and implied tube in
orthogonal, non-perspective Views.
If SMOD is set to STANDARD (the default), all elements will be sectioned in the usual
way. If SMOD is set to OMIT FRACtional PCOMponents, the following functionality will
apply when the design graphics of the View are updated:
All piping components whose origins (P0) lie outside the front and back sectioning
planes will be removed from the drawlist. All other piping components will be drawn
completely, even if they are cut by one of the sectioning planes.
All lengths of implied tube that lie outside the front and back sectioning planes will
be removed from the drawlist. In this case the test for lying outside the sectioning
planes will be based on the vector Parrive -> Pleave, and not on the actual volume
occupied by the length of tube. Lengths of tube that lie within or cross the front or
back sectioning planes will be drawn completely.
Where an IDList is defined by a set of piping components (for example, ADD /VALVE1 /
VALVE2 /VALVE3) the functionality will not apply.
The names of the items omitted can be output by the command
SMODE MESSAGES ON
but this will include all those piping components in the Views IDList that fall outside the
clipping box and would therefore not be drawn in any case.
Several VSEC elements can be used to produce as complex a section as you require, but
the larger the number the slower the operation will be.
After setting up the VSEC it is just a matter of updating the design (with an UPDATE
DESIGN command), remembering that sectioning will only take place if the VIEW attribute
VTYPE is set for Local, Global or Universal hidden line removal, or Modelled wireline.
POS IDP @ - set POS attribute to the 3D Design position of a Design element p-point
Note: You can only input a 3D Design position on orthogonal VIEWs; the looking direction
of such a VIEW will determine which coordinate is returned as zero. For example, a
plan view will return U0, which you may need to alter to give the required section.
Figure 5:4.: Use of the Perpendicular Plane (PPLA) illustrates the use of a perpendicular
Plane, positioned at the pump coupling.
The NORM direction can be any standard direction, e.g. N45W, ISO2, or can be by
reference to a Design element p-point, in which case the result will be stored as a 3D vector
and the reference will be lost. Figure 5:5.: Use of the Flat Plane (FPLA) illustrates the use of
a flat Plane, positioned at the pump coupling and with a NORM direction of N45W.
The SPLA shown above would be created by a sequence of commands such as:
NEW SPLA
DIR U
GTYP OPEN Define a series of points through which an SPLA will be constructed
STEP @ @ @ @
The STEP command will invoke the cursor, which will enable 3D positions or Design p-
points to be identified, automatically creating WPOS elements. DRAFT imposes no limit on
the number of steps, but in practice only four points can be defined by a single STEP
command due to command line length restrictions. If a plane with more than four steps is
required, further STEP commands will enable additional points to be appended to the
existing member list. The minimum number of points required to define an SPLA is 2, which
will have the effect of a Flat Plane.
WPOS elements can be created explicitly by command sequences such as:
NEW WPOS
POS E120500 N236785 U0
If this syntax is used you must leave the list of WPOS elements in the correct order for the
SPLA to function. Figure 5:7.: Use of the Stepped Plane (SPLA) illustrates some examples
of Stepped Planes.
(The pictures in the left half of Figure 5:7.: Use of the Stepped Plane (SPLA) 7 illustrate the
use of the SKETCH PLANE facility - see Plane Querying.)
If the STEP command is used then once a series of points are entered a check is made to
ensure correct SPLANE definition; if satisfactory then a message of the form:
Splane /name is satisfactory
is output. If the plane is not satisfactory then the message will indicate what the problem is.
Generally, an SPLA will be incorrect if parts of the plane overlap even if extruded to infinity
at the ends; Figure 5:8.: Plane Errors illustrates this situation.
If you have defined a plane that is unsatisfactory then it will have to be manipulated. In
examples A and B, the plane can be corrected by either reordering or repositioning one of
the points or by adding a new point. Alternatively the plane could be made an enclosing
type. In example C the plane can only be corrected by either reordering the points or by
repositioning one or more of them. How to move points is discussed in the next Section.
will do this for you by altering either the DIR or NORM attributes depending on the plane
type. A PPLA cannot have its action reversed since it does not have an orientation.
Of course, changing the PMOD of the appropriate VSEC element would have the same
apparent effect as a CHANGE ACTION operation in this case, but whereas the former
operation only changes the view section representation, the latter operation changes the
Plane database element itself.
The CHANGE ACTION command is valid at any Plane element, and at WPOS element
level in the case of a Stepped Plane.
If you require a plane point to be moved, i.e. either a POS attribute for a PPLA or an FPLA,
and the POS attribute of a WPOS element for an SPLA, the BY command can be used. For
example:
BY N500 Move by the difference between two cursor hits on the same orthogonal
BY @ VIEW
For an SPLA, the BY command will move the complete plane, i.e. the POS attribute will be
changed for all of the SPLAs member WPOS elements.
You can delete individual WPOS elements in the normal way but you can also delete
several at once using the command:
DELETE STEP number number
where the number arguments define the list position range of the points to be deleted.
The plane referred to by the PLRF attribute of the VSEC can be queried by:
It is possible to query whether a given 3D point is on the retained or discarded side by using
the following:
In the latter case, only two coordinates need to be given dependent on which orthogonal
view direction you are working on, e.g. for a Plan view only the Easting and Northing are
required.
You can make any plane visible in a suitable VIEW (i.e. one that is orthogonal to the axis of
the plane) by using the following commands:
Figure 5:7.: Use of the Stepped Plane (SPLA) shows the SKETCH PLANE command in use.
Once the plane has been sketched then it will always be visible, irrespective of VIEW or
area view manipulation. Only one plane at a time can be sketched. A plane can be erased
by either of the following commands:
Note that the sketch facility is only a drafting aid and is not part of the VIEW annotation.
Any change made to a sketched Plane will not result in a corresponding change to the
displayed sketch - another SKETCH PLANE command will be needed.
POS IDP @ - Set POS attribute to the 3D Design position of a design element
p-point
DIR value - Set extrusion direction Use any direction syntax e.g. N45E
GTYP OPEN or CLOSED - Set GTYP. OPEN will define a stepped plane, CLOSED will
define an enclosed plane
CHANGE ACTION /plane gid - reverse the action of an FPLA or SPLA by reversing the
direction of the NORM or DIR attributes respectively
DELETE STEP value value - where value is the list position of the point to be deleted
IDLN name - An Id list name for the section to operate on. If left undefined will
default to the Id list specified by the VIEW.
The Id list can only have Added items, any Removes will be
ignored. A single Design item name can also be used.
PMOD [STANdard | - The Mode in which the plane will be used to section the view, i.e.
REVerse | OFF] which side will be retained or discarded. The default is either
STANDARD, which is as the plane is set up, or REVERSE, which
switches which side is retained or discarded. For a SPLA or FPLA,
this has the same result as using the CHANGE ACTIONS
command.
5.4.8 Querying . . .
Planes
For example
ON IDP @
You can restrict items picked to be either DESIGN database elements or DRAFT database
elements by using the commands:
ID DESEL @
ID PADEL @
ID DRAEL @
Picking an element with the cursor will make the item the current element (i.e. the current
position in the database will move to that item). If you select a DESIGN element (e.g. a
Cylinder primitive in a vessel) you will move to the DESIGN database; if you select a
Drawing element (e.g. the edge of a Sheet) you will move to that element within the DRAFT
database.
To identify a p-point, move the cursor across the VIEW display with the left-hand mouse
button held down (the cursor changes its appearance); as the cursor moves across (by
default) a significant element its p-points will become visible.
Moving the cursor over a p-point (with the left-hand mouse button still depressed) will cause
the p-point identifier to be displayed in the Status Form; also, the appearance of the cursor
will change.
Selecting a p-point is achieved by releasing the mouse button with the cursor over the
required point. The identifier, direction and position of the point will appear in the DRAFT
Command Input & Output form and the p-point display markers will disappear.
Releasing the left-hand mouse button without selecting a p-point will leave the current set
of p-points visible; you will be able to zoom or pan the view, or quit out of the command line
by clicking on Cancel on the Status Form.
Whether the p-points for the last significant element identified or for the last primitive
identified are made visible is controlled by the PPOINTS command:
In the latter case, identifying a length of implied tube will cause only the Branches Head and
Tail p-points to be made visible. Lines generated by a section plane (see Section Planes)
are assigned to the significant element and not to the primitive sectioned; picking on one of
these lines will cause all the p-points of the significant element to be made visible - even
when in Design primitives mode. P-points that lie outside the view rectangle will not be
shown.
This will return syntax to the command line in the following form:
PPLINE word OF element_identifier
The IDPE/ND command will generate text such as:
Pline RTOS of /SCTN-98 start
Pline MEML of /SCTN-99 end
depending how far along the p-line the cursor hit was made. This may be used, for example,
to position annotation at the start or end points of p-lines or to obtain the 3D coordinates of
these points. For example:
NEW GLAB ON IDPE @ will position a GLAB on the identified p-line at either its start or
end point.
Q IDPE @ will return the ENU position of the start or end point of the
identified p-line.
This syntax is used for querying and to identify a p-line for direction (note that it may not
appear at the beginning of a command line).
The command
IDPDistance @
will return the proportional distance along the identified p-line. For example a GLAB can be
positioned by either of:
ON IDPL @
ON IDPD @
Examples of text returned by these commands could be (respectively):
ON PPLINE BOS OF /SCTN.PN1_PN5
ON PPLINE BOS OF /SCTN.PN1_PN5 PROP 0.65
In the former case the default value for proportional distance will be used.
where sheet_position is a position on the Sheet. This position (which must be within the
VIEW rectangle) may be specified by cursor. This command returns the back-projection of
this position at Z=0 into the 3D world coordinate system of the current or specified VIEW, for
example:
W 15500 N 10020 U 0
The specified VIEW must be axonometric without perspective.
To derive a 2D position from 3D data use:
where position may be a 3D point or p-point, explicit p-point reference, origin of a named
element, or an explicit 3D coordinate. This position or item may be specified by cursor.
This command returns the projection of the explicit or implied 3D position onto the Sheet for
the current VIEW. For example.
X 574 Y 200
As with the ENUPOS query command, the specified VIEW must be axonometric without
perspective and the specified position must lie within the VIEW rectangle.
You can query the 3D origin in World coordinates of any Design element using the
command:
Q IDORI @
Q IDORI sheet_position (at/below a VIEW)
When the SNAP grid is ON, all 2D cursor hits (including the BY @ command) will be
snapped onto the nearest grid point. This does not affect graphics picking or pseudo-3D
cursor hits. Snapping only applies to cursor-generated positions; positions entered explicitly
from the keyboard or via a macro are not snapped. Cursor hits will be snapped on any
picture, whether or not the visible grid (see VGRID command below) is displayed.
By default, the SNAP grid origin is positioned at the bottom left-hand corner of the Sheet,
and is drawn parallel to the X, Y axes of the Sheet. This origin may be changed by
commands such as
SNAP settings apply to all Sheets (and Symbol Libraries, Overlay Sheets etc) when SNAP
is ON. The initial setting (on entry to DRAFT) is a square grid at the Sheet origin, with
snapping switched off, i.e.
SNAP OFF AT X 0mm Y 0mm SPACING X 25mm Y 25mm
If the current units on module entry are INCH or FINCH, the initial SNAP spacing is one inch
square.
The snap grid may be queried using the command:
Q SNAP
The same information will also be output to file by a RECREATE DISPLAY command.
Visible Grids
VGRID ON
Visible grids are not output to plotfiles.
The VGRID command uses the current settings of the SNAP grid. A visible grid will be
output on the current Sheet using some multiple (default 1) of the current SNAP grid. An
element identifier may be specified as part of the command, for example:
VGRID /VIEW1-2 ON
This command would turn the visible grid on for the picture element (i.e. the SHEE, LALB,
BACK, OVER, ISOLB or SYLB) owning the specified element.
The visible grid is not maintained with changes in SNAP settings, so it is advisable to reset
the grid (with another VGRID ON command) if the SNAP settings are changed.
The spacing of the visible grid may be changed by commands such as
VGRID SNAP 2 - change visible grid spacing to twice that of snap grid
This command would give a less-cluttered grid display on the drawing. The default setting
may be returned to by giving the command
VGRID SNAP
The following would cause a visible grid to be erased from the current Sheet (or a specified
Sheet), where sheet identifier identifies a picture element or an owned element:
HIG /1501B IN _f1_v1 Highlight named element in named area view only
Elements may also be highlighted simply by passing the cursor over them in the display with
the left-hand button held down.
Note: For the permanent highlighting of 2D Drafting primitives, see the ENHANCE
command in Enhancing Drafting Primitives.
The following can only be used as part of a command. For example, ON IDP @:
6.7.2 Querying . . .
You can query the 3D origin in World coordinates of any Design element using:
HIG /1501B IN _f1_v - highlight named element in named area view only
VGRID SNAP integer - change visible grid spacing to integer times that of
snap grid
At any time during the drawing process, you can generate a plot that consists of a single
Sheet, View or the contents of an Area View.
7.1 General
Plotfiles are produced by the PLOT command, which takes the following alternative forms:
PLOT uuname filename [papersize] [OVERWRITE]
PLOT /sheet_name /filename [papersize] [OVERWRITE]
PLOT SHEE FILE /filename [papersize] [OVERWRITE]
PLOT VIEW FILE /filename [papersize] [OVERWRITE]
Example:
If the paper size is not specified then it will be taken as the same as the item being plotted.
Existing plotfiles will not be overwritten unless the OVERWRITE option is used.
There are three additional options which may be specified between papersize and
OVERWRITE:
CUTMARKS. By default the rectangular limit of the plotfile will be shown; this can be
suppressed by CUTMARKS OFF.
The BORDER value option will cause a border to be left within the specified paper size.
The image size of the item being plotted will be reduced accordingly.
The FRAME option causes a frame to be drawn around the image; FRAME can only be
used in concert with the BORDER option and marks the inside edge of the border. It
does not control the frame around the edge of the plotfile (see CUTMARKS above).
An example of a PLOT command using its entire syntax is:
PLOT SHEE FILE /S3.PLT A1 CUT OFF BORD 25 FRAME OVER
If required, plotfile style definitions can be made different from those on the screen. Hence a
line that appears as thin, solid, on the screen could be made thick, dashed, on plotfiles. See
User-Defined Line Styles.
You can query the size of a plotfile using the command:
Query PLOTFile name SIZE
The response will be the size rectangle of the plot.
Example:
IMAGE JPG Select the Image format, the default is TIF image
IMAGE TIF
IMAGE TIF_LZW
IMAGE TIF_G4
IMAGE PNG
IMAGE BMP
IMAGE GIF
COL/OUR STANDARD
COL/OUR BW
COL/OUR GRAYSCALE
COL/OUR COLOURPLUS The COLOUR option allows the defined colours to be all
adapted to suit output requirements. STANDARD retains
the defined colours by the drawing.
BW changes all colours to black or white to provide
contrast with the background colour.
GRAYSCALE converts all colours to an equivalent shade
of gray.
COLOURPLUS converts all shades of gray to black or
white to provide a contrast with the background colour.
REDUCE/TOFIT When a drawing size is larger than the selected paper size print
and/or the page orientation is different, this option reduces
and/or rotates the drawing to fit within the current paper
size, as necessary.
ROTATE/TOFIT When the drawing does not fit on the page because their print
orientation is different this option will rotate the drawing to
fit the fit within the current paper size. No expansion or
reduction is performed
ONEDIALOG When this option is selected for printing, the normal dialog print
is displayed before the print job and no further dialog will
be displayed for subsequent jobs. The initial print settings
including paper selection are used for subsequent prints.
This is useful for automatic drawing production.
NODIALOG When this option is selected for printing no print dialog is print
displayed. The default printer is selected with all of its user
defined settings.
This is useful for automatic drawing production.
ISOCOL/OURS Use the Isodraft colour table instead of the default table. all
These colours may be used in tty mode when the standard
colour table is not available.
DICTCOL/OURS Use the Dictionary colour table instead of the default table. all
These colours may be used in tty mode when the standard
colour table is not available.
BGCOL value Fills the drawing background using the specified colour all
number.
The TABLES section defines all required text styles and line types. Two sets of text styles
are available corresponding to horizontal and vertical text (paths Right and Down), and both
assume the existence of font files fnnnnnnnnnn (where nnnnnnnnnn denotes a ten-digit
number) that correspond to the fonts used in a DRAFT session. The line types are the
standard DRAFT predefined set; they have been given names for AutoCAD use, which are
the DRAFT names, prefixed by GT, e.g. GTSOLID, GTDOT etc.
Lines are passed as POLYLINE entities consisting of two or more points. The available
linestyles have names prefixed by GT.
Line thicknesses are available. See User-Defined Line Styles.
Arcs/Circles are currently passed as POLYLINE entities with bulge factors.
All text strings are passed as TEXT entities in the appropriate font. For example, text
in Font 21 is output in style HTX21. The corresponding set of font files is defined in the
TABLES section of the DXF file. Text height and shear are supported. All text is justified
to the bottom-left corner of the text string. Note that non-zero character spacing is not
supported in DXF output.
AutoCAD font files are provided as part of the AutoDRAFT software. Instructions for
installing these can be found in the PDMS and Associated Products Installation Guide.
Layers are assigned to entities according to their colour definition within DRAFT.
These layers are named GT_n, where n is a number that corresponds to a PDMS
colour.
Colours are maintained according to Layer (i.e. BYLAYER in AutoCAD). Note that the
Layer colour for all DRAFT layers is white.
The ENTITIES section then follows, and is normally closed by the standard AutoCAD EOF.
If no header type is specified, the brief AVEVA header is assumed. If the ACAD option is
used, then the DXF file produced will contain a header, which is defined in file acadxf.hdr in
the PDMS executable directory (as defined by global variable PDMSEXE).
File acadxf.hdr must contain, as a minimum, the following:
HEADER section (terminated by an ENDSEC keyword)
TABLES section (terminated by an ENDSEC keyword)
BLOCK section (optional) - (terminated by an ENDSEC keyword)
ENTITIES section (optional) - Unterminated
If the ZCOORD option is used, the DXF file produced will contain Z-coordinates of value
0.000 (i.e. code 30 entries) in the $EXTMIN and $EXTMAX parameters in the header
section, and in polyline vertices and TEXT entities.
7.3.5 Scaling
The output written to the DXF file can be scaled using the SCALEUP command option. If
required, the scaling value should be specified after the Z coordinate requirements. For
example:
PLOT SHEE DXF /SHEET.DXF ACAD ZCOORD SCALEUP 100
This will cause all values in the file to be increased by 100. Factors such as paper size, line
thickness and character height will all be affected. This option allows the effects of VIEW
scaling to be reversed to some extent.
Note: Blocking commands for Design graphics in this file are only
intended as an example, and may require modification to
suit your own requirements.
Layers can be created with all the properties and exported. New
switches can be added to create new layers for Design elements
and set their properties. These can be exported with all applied
properties to DXF and DWG format.
The configuration options may be overridden by LIEXEC command line options; in particular
the Outputfilename switch would normally be overridden by an LIEXEC option. For
example:
LIEXEC /Draft_DXF_LI 'DXFOUT' CONFIGDATA
'MyConfigData' OutputFileName '%PDMSUSER%/new.dxf'
It is also possible to omit the CONFIGDATA, in which case the default values of all the
switches will be assumed and no blocking will take place. However, in such a case a DXF
header file must be specified; for example
LIEXEC /Draft_DXF_LI 'DXFOUT' HeaderFileName 'header.dxf'
'R15' indicates the AutoCAD version number, and can be one of the following:
R13
R14
R21 for versions 2007, 2008, 2009 (R22 and R23 may also be used) for
these versions
DWGOUT for a "default" DWG version, currently 2006, but this may change
for future releases
Configuration Datasets
A DRAFT Configuration Dataset is made up of a series of switches and Blocking rules. The
{configuration options} will contain the BLOCK and SWITCH syntax that control the content
of the DXF file produced. See Switches and BLOCK Rules to Control DXF and DWG Export
for a full list of the switches and their permissible and default values.
Example:
SWITCH GroupGLAB ON
Group GLABs into AutoCAD groups
SWITCH HeaderFileName 'header.dxf'
Specify the DXF header file name
The switch names are case-independent, but are shown as mixed case here to aid legibility.
Standard selection syntax is used to define Blocking Rules. These specify how design
elements are to be organised into DXF Blocks. Attributes can be included in block
definitions.
Example:
Other Commands
Other commands related to this facility are:
7.4.2 Switches and BLOCK Rules to Control DXF and DWG Export
Note: The default values specified in this table are those set up by the configuration macro
default_dxf.mac, as supplied with the product. The supplied default values will
always be obtained when using the System Defaults for DXF Output option on the
Configurable DXF Output form in the standard graphical user interface.
Standard selection syntax is used to define Layer Rules. These specify how design
elements are to be organised onto AutoCAD Layers.
Example:
LEVEL ALL STRU, 'Structures'
LEVEL ALL BRAN WITH ( HBOR GE 100 OR TBOR GE 100 ) , 'Pipes'
LEVEL ALL EQUI WITH :purpose EQ HVAC, 'Ventilation'
LEVEL ( /C1101 ) , 'Pump'
Rules are applied in order; therefore, if a rule has already been applied for a given element,
a later rule will not affect it.
Design elements which can have level rules include: SITE, ZONE, STRU, SUBS, FRMW,
SBFR, EQUI, SUBE, PIPE, BRAN, HVAC, REST, GRDM, PTRA, BOUN, DRAWI (when
owned by a SITE or ZONE) and all Piping Components.
7.4.4 Limitations
The following limitations apply:
DRAFT's intelligent blanking primitives are not exported to the DXF or DWG file as
there are no equivalent AutoCAD primitives to which to map them.
Many user-defined line styles (see Line Styles) created by adding Glyphs and pictures
are not supported. These are translated to equivalent AutoCAD linetypes. Those that
are not (such as those defined with a PATNAM rather than a PATDEF) assigned to a
fixed (dashed) linetype definition in the DXF or DWG file using the DRAFT line pattern
name as the AutoCAD linetype name. This definition can be redefined in AutoCAD to
provide the linestyle required.
User-defined glyphs and line pictures (see Line Styles) are ignored.
Differentially scaled symbols are not supported.
The configurable DGN facility uses loadable image (LI) applications, usable at Sheet level.
The DGN export application can be executed using the LIEXEC command (which also
loads the application if it has not already been loaded).
The following example command uses the configuration dataset MyConfigData to control
the export of DGN information:
LIEXEC /Draft_DGN_LI DGNOUT ConfigData MyConfigData
Here DGNOUT is an application feature, and is used to indicate the version of Microstation
for the exported file. This keyword may also take the values DGN7, DGN8.
This will create a DGN file with a name and format defined in the specified dataset for the
current Sheet element. Before giving the above command, the configuration dataset must
have been defined in DRAFT. This may be done either by typing in the configuration data at
the command line; by building up the required mappings using the DRAFT applicationware;
or by reading in a predefined macro file.
Other commands related to this facility are:
A DRAFT Configuration Dataset is made up of a series of Switches, Group rules and Level
rules. The configuration_options will contain the GROUP, LEVEL and SWITCH syntax that
controls the content of the DGN file produced.
Example:
Switch names are case-independent, but are shown as mixed case here to aid legibility.
Switch values are text strings, and should be quoted.
Rules for Groups and Levels use PML expressions, similar to those used in Representation
rules. GROUP rules may be followed by the INCLUDE argument to tag the group with
attribute data; LEVEL rules should be followed by a text string defining the level or range of
levels to be used.
Note: For full details of using expressions in PDMS, see the DESIGN Reference Manual,
Part 1.
Example:
It is also possible to omit the CONFIGDATA, in which case the default values of all the
switches will be assumed, the internal default seed will be used, and no grouping or levelling
will take place.
The datasets currently defined within DRAFT can be determined by:
DLICON LIST
The definition of a specific dataset can be determined by:
DLICON name DUMP
The value of a specific switch within a dataset can be determined by:
DLICON name CHECK SWITCH switchname
For example, to query the value of the UNITS switch in the configuration /myconfig:
DLICON /myconfig CHECK SWITCH Units
Whether there is a grouping or levelling rule applicable to a specified DESIGN or
DRAFT element can be determined by:
DLICON name CHECK GROUP element_identifier
DLICON name CHECK LEVEL element_identifier
For example, to query whether the configuration contains a level rule which applies to
/PUMP1:1
DLICON /myconfig CHECK LEVEL /PUMP1
Note: These configuration files may be converted to command-line macro files for batch
creation of DGN files, using the Plant applicationware as follows:
where name is one of the supplied configuration datasets. The macro file
%PDMSUSER%/name.mac is created when the PML data file is saved.
General Mappings
Several of the option switches map one set of values (DRAFT) to another (MicroStation).
For example, DRAFT colour numbers may be mapped to MicroStation colour numbers, and
DRAFT line styles may be mapped to MicroStation numbered or customised line-styles.
These mappings are all handled in the same way.
Each mapping consists of one or more sub-mappings, separated by commas. Each sub-
mapping has a left-hand (DRAFT) list and a right-hand (MicroStation) list separated by a
colon.
Each list can include elements that are numbers (non-negative integers or reals) or strings
(quoted or unquoted). Multiple elements are separated by a + character. Integers may be
separated by a '-' character to represent an inclusive range. A right-hand list of integers can
include the characters 'R' (repeat) or 'D integer' (default).
The following rules apply:
The left-hand list must not be empty.
If the right-hand list has a single element, all values in the left-hand list are mapped to
the same value.
If the right-hand list has the same number of elements as the left-hand list, each
element in the left list is mapped to the corresponding element in the right list.
If the right-hand list contains integers with an 'R' option, each element of the right-hand
list is used in turn, the elements being repeated as necessary.
If the right-hand list contains integers with a 'D' option, each element of the right-hand
list is used in turn once only, then the default value is used for all further mappings as
necessary.
Example:
'1-20:26-30R' (maps 1:26, 2:27, 3:28, 4:29, 5:30, 6:26, 7:27, etc.)
Quoted Strings
Strings within mappings may be quoted, if necessary, with ' or | characters. For example,
some MicroStation custom line-styles have names that include a comma or colon, such as
{dash, medium}. In order to map to this MicroStation custom line-style, you must use an
extra set of quotes to prevent the name being treated simply as {dash. You need outer
quotes to tell DRAFT where the option string ends, and inner ones to tell Draft_DGN_LI
where each line-style name ends, thus:
SWITCH MapLineStyle |DASHED:'{dash, medium}',LDASHED:'
(dash, long}'|
A string must be quoted if any of the following apply:
It contains a comma, colon or plus character.
It starts or ends with a space or tab.
It starts with a minus, single quote or vertical bar.
It starts with a digit but is not a number (e.g., 345P).
OutputFileName
Specifies the output DGN file name produced when exporting DGN file information. For
example:
SWITCH OutputFileName '%PDMSUSER%\DGN_file_name.dgn'
SeedFileName
Specifies the DGN seed file name to be used to create the output DGN file. If no seed file
name is provided, an internal default seed will be used. The seed file must be a valid
MicroStation 2D seed file, and must not contain any inconsistent element data. Any tag-set
definitions in the seed must not conflict with those created by Draft_DGN_LI. For example:
SWITCH SeedFileName '%PDMSEXE%\dgndata\pdmsSeed2d.dgn'
SWITCH SeedFileName 'mySeedFile.dgn'
The use of a seed file is optional.
A sample seedfile pdmsSeed2d.dgn is supplied with Draft_DGN_LI. This contains a colour
table that maps the default PDMS colours 1-16 into Microstation colours.
Note: In configurations that use the supplied seedfile, the MapColour switch should be set
to 1-256:0-255
Units
MicroStation uses three levels of working units: Master Units, Sub-Units and Positional Units
(or Units of Resolution) DGN version 8 adds alternative unit definitions, which are not
directly supported.
The seed file contains the size ratios of these three units, and may contain descriptions
(max. two characters) of the master and sub-units, but there is no universal set of
descriptions in use. The Units switch may be used to override the settings in the seed file,
and must contain the size of a master unit in millimetres (MASTMM):
These keywords are not case-sensitive, but the values of MASTNAME and SUBNAME are
case-sensitive. The most common scenarios will be:
The working units are set up in the seed file. In this case, the Units switch just contains
the size of a master unit in mm. For example, with an imperial seed file, with master
units inches, the Units switch should be:
The working units in the configuration override those in the seed file: all Units options
are needed. (A minor exception is that if the MASTNAME setting is recognised as a
common value, MASTMM may be omitted.) For example, to set both the master and
sub-unit names to millimetres, with one sub-unit per master unit, and 1270 positional
units per sub-unit, the Units switch should be:
The MASTNAME and SUBNAME values cannot be quoted strings, but can include
characters such as " (inches) and ' (feet). Only the first two characters of these values are
significant, and it is not possible to include a space or comma in them. (If you wish to use a
space or comma in MASTNAME and SUBNAME values, you must set up the working units
in the seed file, as in the first scenario.)
Some more examples of Units settings, respectively for Master units in feet accurate to 1/
64th inch; and metres accurate to 0.01mm:
SWITCH Units |MASTNAME:',SUBNAME:",SU:12,PU:64,
MASTMM:304.8|
SWITCH Units 'MASTNAME:m,SUBNAME:mm,SU:1000,PU:100,
MASTMM:1000.0'
ScaleFactor
A Scale Factor is applied to the entire DGN file to enable full-scale Design units to be output
in the DGN file. The default value is 1.0.
ShiftX
A horizontal shift is applied to everything written to the DGN file to position the drawing at
any required place on the Design Plane. The shift is measured in MicroStation Master Units,
and the default value is 0.0.
ShiftY
A vertical shift is applied to everything written to the DGN file to position the drawing at any
required place on the Design Plane. The shift is measured in MicroStation Master Units, and
the default value is 0.0.
ExcludeBack
If this switch is set to On (the default is Off), any Backing Layer of the DRAFT drawing is not
transferred to the DGN file.
ExcludeOlay
If this switch is set to On, (the default is Off), any Overlays on the DRAFT drawing are not
transferred to the DGN file.
ExcludeSheetFrame
If this switch is set to On, (the default is Off), the sheet frame on the DRAFT drawing is not
transferred to the DGN file.
ExcludeFill
If this switch is set to On, (the default is Off), no hatching (including solid fill) in the DRAFT
drawing is transferred to the DGN file. This may be useful for good performance in
MicroStation, since hatching is transferred as a set of lines.
ExcludeSolidFill
If this switch is set to On, (the default is Off), all solid fill is ignored and not transferred to the
DGN file. However, other Hatching is still transferred.
ExcludeArrowFill
If this switch is set to On, (the default is Off), any solid fill for terminators on dimension-lines
and label leader-lines is omitted from the transfer to the DGN file. Other solid fill and
hatching is transferred.
Note: More than one of these switches to Exclude Fill may apply to the same entity. If any
of these switches is true, then the entity will be excluded. For example, either
ExcludeSolidFill or ExcludeArrowFill could be used to exclude the fill for dimension-
line arrowheads. However, ExcludeArrowFill is more specific.
MapLineWeights
MicroStation has 32 line-weights (numbered 0-31); DRAFT has 11 line thicknesses
(numbered 1-11). The links between them are controlled by the MapLineWeights option, for
example:
SWITCH MapLineWeights '1:0,2:1,3:5,4-11:31'
SWITCH MapLineWeights '1-11:0-10'
The second example is the default.
MapLineStyle
MicroStation has seven numbered line-styles, and can also have named custom line-styles.
MicroStation documentation recommends using named styles, but some drawing standards
specify numbered ones. DRAFT also uses a mixture of named and numbered line-patterns.
The MapLineStyle option maps the DRAFT line-pattern to a MicroStation line-style, ignoring
line picture and glyphs. (See MapLineStyleByPen for how to map line-styles involving line
pictures or glyphs.)
A resource file pdms_lsty.rsc supplied with PDMS contains custom line-styles equivalent to
the default named PDMS line-patterns.
Any ScaleFactor (see ScaleFactor) is applied to custom line-styles used in the DGN
file.
Any unmapped line-styles map to Solid lines.
The following example maps DRAFTs named line-styles to their nearest equivalents in
MicroStations numbered styles. This is the default:
SWITCH MapLineStyle 'SOLID:0,DASHED:2,DOTTED:1,CHAINED:4,
LDASHED:3,DDOTTED:6'
The next example maps DRAFT named line-styles to some custom line-styles provided as a
MicroStation resource file:
SWITCH MapLineStyle'CHAINED:pdmsChained,DASHED:pdmsDashed
,DDOTTED:pdmsDdotted,DOTTED:pdmsDotted,LDASHED:pdmsDashed
,SOLID:0,TCHAINED:pdmsTChained'
Custom line-style names can include spaces and punctuation; for example, the default
MicroStation/J installation includes styles { -E- } and { Cable / Tele }. See Quoted Strings for
details of when you must quote the style-names. As this mapping can get long, (the
preceding example is a single line mapping), you may need to use the continuation facilities
described in Continuing Long Mappings.
MapLineStyleByPen
More complex line-styles can be set up by the combination of line-pattern, line picture, line
thickness and glyph. To map these combinations onto MicroStation line-styles, you must
map them by Pen Number. (Note that this is the pen number as stored in the database,
which is not the same as the pen number in the DRAFT Administrator User Defined Pen
Settings form.)
For example, you might have DRAFT pen numbers 217 and 222 set up as:
setpen 217 colour 4 solid lthick 2 lpic 4 glyph 1
lpicture 22 mode 3 size 2 repeat 12 gap 4
setpen 222 colour 6 solid lthick 1 lpic 22 glyph 12
and wish to map these to the MicroStation custom line-styles Pneumatic and Data link
respectively. For this you could use the switch setting:
SWITCH MapLineStyleByPen '217:Pneumatic,222:|Data link|'
Custom line-style names can include spaces and punctuation; for example, the default
MicroStation/J installation includes styles { -E- } and { Cable / Tele }. See Quoted Strings for
details of when you must quote the style-names. As this mapping can get long, you may
need to use the continuation facilities described in Continuing Long Mappings.
MapColour
Both DRAFT and MicroStation use colour numbers, and the mapping between them is
controlled by the MapColour switch. The interpretation of these colours by MicroStation
depends on the colour-table loaded (this can be included in the seed file). For example:
SWITCH MapColour '1:11,2:1,3:6,4:2,5:3,6:4,7:5,8:37,9:33,
10:0,15:254'
SWITCH MapColour '1:96,2:51,3:22,4:52,5:50,6:15,7:49,
8:64,9:51,10:0,11:96,12:13,13:63,14:197,15:25416:37'
The second example gives a fairly close fit in MicroStation to the DRAFT colours used if no
seed-file is specified. This is the default mapping. Any unmapped colours are mapped to
MicroStation colour 0.
The sample seed-file pdmsSeed2d.dgn contains this mapping. The following mapping
should be used with this seed-file:
SWITCH MapColour 1-256:0-255
The default mapping is 1-256:0-255. Any unmapped colours are mapped to MicroStation
colour 0. This mapping should be used when the supplied seedfile is used.
MarkerSize
This option sets the size of a DRAFT marker in millimetres (at scale 1). The size of a marker
in the DGN file will be the product of this size, the scale of the relevant DRAFT pen, and the
overall ScaleFactor switch setting (see ScaleFactor). The default is 1.0.
MapFont
This option maps from DRAFT's font numbers (11-16, 21-26, 31-36, 41-46) and the special
SYMBOL to MicroStation font numbers. DRAFT font numbers 1 and 10 are treated as
equivalent to 11, 2 and 20 as equivalent to 21, 3 and 30 as equivalent to 31, 4 and 40 as
equivalent to 41. For example:
SWITCH MapFont '11-16:133,21-23:6,24-26:134,31-33:172,
34-36:177,41-43:173,44-46:181,SYMBOL:186'
It is possible to modify the MicroStation font size and position by fractions of the original
size; for example:
SWITCH MapFont '11-16:133w0.8h1.2u0.2'
This scales the font by a factor of 0.8 horizontally and a factor of 1.2 vertically, and shifts it
up by 0.2 of a character height. The control codes include:
w Width Factor
h Height Factor
u Offset Up
r Offset Right
l Underline separation
Examples
This font mapping maps AVEVA fonts with a best fit for adjustment factors. For AVEVA Font
family 1, the bold font is mapped to a MicroStation native font.
The default is:
SWITCH MapFont '11-46:105,SYMBOL:105'
The second example above is for TrueType fonts. Note the use of the 't' control code and
the general use of 'w' width factors, this is important to match the text displayed in
Microstation to the original drawing. A matched Microstation resource file
pdmsSamFontTT.rsc is supplied to be used with this font mapping. The AVEVA fonts used in
this supplied Microstation resource file and the font mapping above correspond the following
AVEVA font face settings:
5 Arial Unicode MS
8 Trebuchet MS
9 Courier New
17 Comic Sans MS
18 Tahoma
19 Georgia
27 Swiss 721 BT
Note: Using the SYMBOL font will only produce good results if it is mapped to a font
containing suitable symbol-characters in the correct character positions. The
SYMBOL font is included in the MicroStation resource file pdmsSamFont.rsc
supplied with AVEVA Plant. When using the supplied resource file, the following font
mapping should be used:
FontSlopes
This option controls whether DRAFT font slopes are translated into MicroStation text slants
(default On) or are ignored (Off).
LevelDefault
This switch sets the default level: i.e. the level that will be used if no other switches or rules
apply. The default value is 1.
Example:
LevelPen
This switch can set a mapping to DGN levels associated with DRAFT pen numbers. This
allows fine control of which levels are used for which parts of the DRAFT drawing. (Note that
this is the pen-number as stored in the database, which is not the same as the pen number
in the DRAFT Administrator User Defined Pen Settings form.)
Example:
This puts lines and text drawn with pen 10 onto level 30, pen 11 onto level 31 and so on, up
to pen 20 onto level 40. DRAFT pens 100 to 200 are put onto level 63. Any other pens have
no specific levels, and the default level is used.
Note that levels set by LevelBack (see LevelBack) or Level Rules (see Level Rules) take
priority over this switch.
LevelBack
This switch can set the level number for the backing sheet and everything contained within
it. The default is Off. If this option is switched On, then no other level switches or rules will
apply to items within the backing sheet.
Example:
This uses level 63 for the backing sheet and everything within it.
Level Rules
Standard selection syntax is used to define Level Rules. These specify how design
elements are to be organised onto DGN Levels.
Example:
LEVEL ALL BRAN WITH ( HBOR GE 100 OR TBOR GE 100 ) , 'ON 40'
LEVEL ALL EQUI WITH :purpose EQ HVAC, 'ON 44'
LEVEL ( /C1101 ) , 'ON 55'
LEVEL ALL LAYE WITH ( PURP EQ 'ADCA' ) , 'ON 21'
LEVEL ALL LAYE WITH ( PURP EQ 'ADEA' ) , 'ON 22'
LEVEL ALL LAYE WITH ( PURP EQ 'MATB' ) , 'ON 23'
LEVEL ALL LAYE , 'ON 24'
Rules are applied in order; therefore, if a rule has already been applied for a given element,
a later rule will not affect it. Using the order specified in the above examples, a LAYE with
PURP ADCA will be placed on level 21 not on level 24. However a LAYE with PURP
XXXX would still be placed on level 24 even if there was a later rule which apparently
placed it elsewhere.
Design elements which can have level rules include: SITE, ZONE, STRU, SUBS, FRMW,
SBFR, EQUI, SUBE, PIPE, BRAN, HVAC, REST, GRDM, PTRA, BOUN, DRAWI (when
owned by a SITE or ZONE) and all Piping Components.
DRAFT elements which can have level rules include: LAYE, NOTE, OLAY, VNOT, GLAB,
SLAB, ADIM, LDIM, PDIM and RDIM.
These rules can operate with a level pool. This consists of one or more levels, which are
allocated as required. For example, a DRAFT Sheet may have several overlays, and you
may want each overlay on a separate DGN Level within the range 50 to 59 (the levels
assigned for overlays in your drawing standards).
A level pool consists of one or more integers or integer ranges, separated by commas, with
the optional characters R, meaning repeat the pool if necessary, and 'D integer' to specify a
default value when the pool is exhausted (see General Mappings).
For example, to use levels 3, 5, 6, and 7 for the first four sites, and then put any other sites
on level 9, specify the switch setting:
LEVEL ALL SITE ,'POOL 3,5-7D9'
To use levels 6-10 for all sites, reusing them in turn as necessary, specify:
LEVEL ALL SITE ,'POOL 6-10R '
To use levels 6-10 for the first four sites, then put any other sites on levels specified by
whatever other switches apply, do not use either a D or an R, thus:
LEVEL ALL SITE ,'POOL 6-10'
Note: Only the first rule that matches an element is ever considered.
GroupSymb
The default for this switch is Off. If it is switched On, a single group is created for each
instanced DRAFT symbol if no other group is active.
GroupFill
The default for this switch is Off. If it is switched On, a single group is created for each
DRAFT hatch/fill pattern if no other group is active.
GroupFrame
The default for this switch is Off. If it is switched On, a single group is created for each
DRAFT view frame if no other group is active. This option puts the line representing the
frame itself, not the contents of the frame, into the group.
Group Rules
Standard selection syntax is used to define Group Rules. These specify how design
elements are to be organised into MicroStation groups. If element attributes are included in
group definitions, they will be attached to the groups as MicroStation tags. For example:
GROUP ALL STRU, INCLUDE NAME
GROUP ALL BRAN WITH ( HBOR GE 100 ) , INCLUDE NAME SPREF
Design elements which can have group rules include: SITE, ZONE, STRU, SUBS, FRMW,
SBFR, EQUI, SUBE, PIPE, BRAN, HVAC, REST, GRDM, PTRA, BOUN, DRAWI (when
owned by a SITE or ZONE) and all Piping Components.
DRAFT elements which can have group rules include: LAYE, NOTE, OLAY, VNOT, GLAB,
SLAB, ADIM, LDIM, PDIM and RDIM.
Only the first Group rule that matches an element is ever considered. The order of the rules
is therefore important.
Note: Elements may be both grouped and levelled. Group rules specify that one group will
be created for each occurrence of an element that fits a given rule. Level rules
specify that all elements, which fit a given rule, will be placed on the same level or
range of levels.
Example:
LogFileName
This switch sets the name used for the log file. The default value is
%PDMSUSER%\Draft_DGN_LI_log.txt.
Example:
Example:
It also has extra switches, CheckLevelRule and CheckGroupRule, which check that values
are valid as the text string for a Level or Group rule, respectively.
Example:
It is expected that the Validate feature will be used mainly by applicationware and macro
writers.
7.5.11 Limitations
The following limitations apply:
DRAFT's intelligent blanking primitives are not exported to the DGN file.
User-defined glyphs and line pictures are ignored. However, it is possible to specify a
MicroStation custom line-style for a given DRAFT pen number.
Hatching (fill) using styles HPATTERN23 to HPATTERN30 are exported as a set of
poly-lines. (Hatch Patterns HPATTERN1 to HPATTERN 22 are exported to DGN8 files
as MicroStation Hatches.)
Dimensions are not exported as MicroStation dimensions. However, they may be
grouped.
Multi-byte fonts are not supported with MicroStation, for DGN7 format. For DGN8
format they are supported provided that the PC running Draft has appropriate
Language and Regional settings.
Once fonts have been installed, they may be checked using the element/text menu. The
newly installed fonts should be visible together with the font numbers assigned by
MicroStation to the new fonts. If necessary, font numbers may be modified (see Changing
MicroStation Font Numbers.).
The font installation should follow the step-by-step procedure:
Button: OK
Button: Add
Button: Done
Button: OK
Button: Copy
Button: Done
Menu: Element>Text
Button: OK
Select the font name in the rightmost window
Font details appear
The font number and the description may be edited here.
Font geometry files fontNNN.dgn must then be created to match the font
numbers in the resource file.
Generally, PDMS uses the 8-bit Latin fonts (08901) instead of US fonts (01006), since these
include US characters. Thus IR number 6 Style number 1 is font of0890111901 (short name
O8111901); IR number 4 Style number 3 is of 0100421191 (short name OLB21191), bold
version of 0100421291 (OLB21291).
The fonts available in DRAFT are organised into four font families. Each font family uses up
to two font files to set up a range of six font numbers. For example, font family 3 contains
two font files to set up fonts 31-33 (normal, forward and back-slant) and the equivalent bold
font 34-36.
In addition, DRAFT uses a Symbol font for special characters (e.g. ~D gives the degrees
symbol). The AVEVA SYMBOL font is of0999911901.shx (shortname OOP11901). The
equivalent filled font is f0999911901.shx (shortname FOP11901).
To determine the font families used in a project, the following ADMIN command should be
used:
Q FONTFamily
In typical AVEVA projects, font family 1 is a line font; font family 2 is a block font; font family
3 is a serif font and font family 4 an italic or typewriter font. Different projects will use
different fonts. The following font files are used in the SAM project and are set up in
pdmsSamFont.rsc:
7.6.6 Colours
We supply a MicroStation colour table pdms_col.tbl, which contains colour definitions
matching DRAFTs default settings for Colours 1 to 16, and also for the other named DRAFT
colours. This may be installed in the MicroStation data directory alongside the Bentley-
supplied colour tables, typically at:
... \bentley\workspace\system\tables
You may, if you wish, attach this colour table to a seed file or design file and set a suitable
colour mapping, if you wish to match DRAFT colours as closely as possible.
Every graphics primitive in DRAFT is drawn in a specific colour and style, determined by the
values of the relevant colour and style attributes.
Within the DRAFT database there are 20 different colour attributes and 17 style attributes,
and can be classified as:
those for linear (line) primitives (15 linestyle and 15 colour attributes)
those for area primitives (one fillstyle and one colour attribute)
those for marker primitives (one markerstyle and one colour attribute)
those for text primitives (three colour attributes only).
Generally, there is a style attribute for every colour attribute, except that there are no style
attributes for text primitives only colour attributes.
The term style is used to describe the overall appearance of a line in terms of its thickness
and repeating pattern, or to describe a hatching (fill) pattern, or to describe the size and
appearance of markers. The full list of colour and style attributes is given below:
The colour attributes may be assigned values by colour table index number or by colour
name. See Colours for a listing of the colours available. In some circumstances colour
attributes may be set to the special values: DEFAULT, TEMPLATE, UNCHANGED. See the
relevant sections of this User Guide for details of where these values are allowed.
The linestyle attributes may be assigned values that describe system-defined or user-
defined line styles. See System-Defined Line Styles and User-Defined Line Styles for further
details of these. In some circumstances linestyle attributes may be set to the special values:
OFF, DEFAULT, TEMPLATE, UNCHANGED. See the relevant sections of this User Guide
for details of where these values are allowed.
The fillstyle attribute may be assigned values that describe system-defined or user-defined
fill styles. See System-Defined Fill Styles and User-Defined Fill Styles for further details of
these. In some circumstances fillstyle attributes may be set to the special values: OFF,
DEFAULT, UNCHANGED. See the relevant sections of this User Guide for details of where
these values are allowed.
The markerstyle attribute may be assigned values that describe system-defined marker
styles. See Marker Styles for further details of these. In some circumstances markerstyle
attributes may be set to the special values: OFF, DEFAULT. See the relevant sections of this
User Guide for details of where these values are allowed.
User-defined line and fill styles are defined in the PADD database within a hierarchy headed
by a STYLWL element (see DRAFT Database Hierarchy). STYLWL owns Linestyle and
Fillstyle Tables (LSTYTB, FSTYTB), beneath which the definitions of user-defined
Linestyles and Fillstyles are stored.
STYLWL, LSTYTB and FSTYTB are classified as primary elements and can therefore be
claimed.
The creation and maintenance of STYLWL hierarchies is the responsibility of the DRAFT
Administrator.
8.1 Colours
DRAFT allows you to draw in up to 272 colours, numbered 1 to 272. By default all 272
colour numbers have colour definitions assigned to them:
Colour numbers 17 to 272 are mapped to the colours in the standard AutoCAD Colour
Index (ACI).
The system maintains a dictionary of 61 colour names that may be used in place of colour
numbers when specifying a colour or setting the value of a colour attribute. These names
(which include the 16 given above) and their ACI (AutoCAD Colour Index) and RGB values
are as follows:
Note: The actual RGB definitions of these colours have generally changed so as to match
entries in the ACI. This has led to duplication: thus White and Whitesmoke are both
mapped to ACI 7, and Orange, Brightorange and Gold are mapped to ACI 40. The
redundant colour names have been maintained for compatibility with previous
versions of AVEVA Software.
It is possible to change the definitions of colours 1-16 using the COLOUR command. The
syntax can take three forms, either specifying a predefined name from the system colour
dictionary, or a percentage mixture, or an RGB definition. Typical examples would be:
COLour 3 STEELBLUE
COLour 12 MIX RED 80 GREen 50 BLUe 50
COLour 14 RGB 0, 141, 188
Where a percentage mixture is specified all three values must be in the range 0-100. Where
an RGB definition is given all three values must be in the range 0-255.
Colour definitions can be queried thus:
Q COLour 12
Q COLour RGB 55
Colour attributes can be assigned values by number or name, thus:
LLCOLOUR 54
TXCOLOUR NAVYBLUE
When a colour attribute is queried the name (e.g. orange) will be returned if available,
otherwise the colour number will be returned. If a number is specifically required (regardless
of whether a name is available, a special colour-number pseudo-attribute should be used.
The names of these are derived from the normal colour attributes, e.g. LLCONU/MBER,
TXCONU/MBER, FCONUM/BER etc.
It is possible to set all colour attributes on an element to the same value by the
ALLCOLOURS command. As some DRAFT elements have many such attributes this is a
convenient way of changing them to the same colour quickly. To set all the text colours and
all the line colours separately the TEXTCOLOURS and LINECOLOURS commands should
be used, thus, for example:
ALLCOLOURS RED
TEXTCOLOURS 7
LINECOLOURS GREEN
The list of colour attributes are listed. The special colour attribute values of DEFAULT,
TEMPLATE, and UNCHANGED can also be specified but these are only valid in particular
circumstances. See the relevant sections of this User Guide for details of where these
values are allowed.
SOLID DDASHED
DASHED DDOTTED
DOTTED FDOTTED
CHAINED DCHAINED
LDASHED TCHAINED
The width definitions for THIN, MEDIUM and THICK are held in the system database for the
project. They can be modified by an administrator in the ADMIN module.
Note that for minimum thickness lines the qualifier THIN is omitted.
For historical reasons an alternative set of line patterns is provided (see Figure 8:2.:
Alternative Pre-defined Line Patterns).
These alternative line-patterns can be combined with widths named WIDE and XWIDE, thus
for example:
Note that for consistency WIDE and XWIDE can be also used with the basic pattern SOLID.
the relative lengths of the sequence of dashes and gaps that make up the pattern. These
two ways are defined by the attributes PATNAM and PATDEF; these are mutually exclusive
setting one will unset the other.
PATDEFinition A series of integers (max 20) that define the relative lengths of the
dashes and gaps. A dash is represented by a positive value and a gap
by a negative value. Dashes and gaps must alternate and we
recommend that the pattern sequence starts with a dash.
LWIDTH The width of the line (in mm or inches). Value 0 is allowed and means
the minimum-allowed line width. The maximum allowed width is 2mm
(0.078inch).
LSTYNO This is a system-defined attribute that will have a unique value within the
MDB. It is this number that should be used when the Linestyle is used.
ALTDEF If set it must refer to another LINEST. If set the referenced LINEST will be
used on hard copy output. Thus if at /My-Linestyle:
ALTDEF is set to /My-Plot-Linestyle it is /My-Plot-Linestyle that will be
used on hardcopy output in place of /My-Linestyle.
When the LINEST element is created a system-defined line style number is allocated
automatically. This is a unique number in the range 1-255 and is held in the LSTYNO
attribute of the LNEST element. This is the number to use for a linestyle attribute (eg
NLSTYLE) when it is required to use that LINEST.
Alternatively, it is usually more convenient to specify a name for the LINEST, and then this is
used to set the linestyle attribute (although it will be the LSTYNO value that will be assigned
to the linestyle attribute). Thus for example:
NLSTYLE 3
DLSTYLE /DimLineStyle-1
Having created a Linestyle it must be defined within the graphics system by an UPDATE
PENSTYLES command if it is to be used during that session of DRAFT. In subsequent
sessions it will be automatically defined during module entry.
These two attributes are mutually exclusive setting one will unset the other. For details of
user-defined and system-defined glyphs see Glyphs. For example:
GLYREF /flow-arrow
GLYNUM SYSpattern 15
GLYNUM may be set OFF. This will cause both GLYNUM and GLYREF to be unset.
DECMOD A code number (1-6) to signify how the glyphs are to be distributed. The
default value is 3. The code number is interpreted as follows:
5 One glyph at the start of the line, with its axes reversed.
6 A glyph at each end of the line, the first having its axes reversed.
DECREP The approximate repeat distance between glyphs. The first glyph
has its origin at half the repeat distance from the start of the line.
With DECMOD = 2 or 3 DRAFT will adjust the specified repeat
distance so as to give an integer number of repeats. With
DECMOD = 4, 5 or 6 the glyphs will be placed with their origins at
half the repeat distance from the appropriate ends. With DECMOD
= 4, 5 or 6 the repeat distance may be 0, otherwise it must be
greater than 0.
DECGAP The length of each gap left in the path. This may be 0 if no gaps are
required. If it exceeds the glyph repeat distance then the path itself
will be completely omitted only the glyphs will be drawn. The
default value is 0.
Note: All DRAFTs pre-defined glyphs (except numbers 10, 11 and 20) have their origins at
their centres and thus a repeat distance of 0 with DECMOD = 4, 5 or 6 will cause
them to be centred upon the end(s) of the line. This is generally satisfactory for
balloons, dots, etc but with arrowheads it will cause the line to appear longer than
defined. To avoid this the repeat distance should be equal to the DECSIZ value. This
will cause the origin of each glyph to be positioned at half the repeat distance from
the end of the line.
If a repeated text string is required, attributes DECMOD, DECSIZ, DECREP and DECGAP
must be set as described above. For text strings DECSIZ specifies the character height.
In addition the following attributes must be set:
TXALIG The vertical alignment. Permitted values are BOTTOM (the default),
CENTRE, TOP.
FONT The font to be used. This must be a TrueType font. This functionality is not
available for use with AVEVA fonts.
Text strings and glyphs can both be defined but they have to have common values for
DECMOD, DECSIZ, DECREP, and DECGAP.
Users should note that the DECSIZ, DECREP, and DECGAP parameters are affect by
scale. This means that if a linestyle with these parameters set is used:
to define a Symbol Template then, when that template is instanced by a Symbol, the
size and frequency of the glyphs and texts will be affected by the scale of the Symbol;
to define 3D design graphics then the size and frequency of the glyphs and texts will be
reduced by the View scale.
8.2.3 Glyphs
Glyphs are used in conjunction with user-defined Linestyles to produce special effects, for
example: symbols at the ends of lines or symbols drawn at regular intervals along the line.
A set of pre-defined Glyphs is provided, and you can also define your own, which will be
stored in the database.
Pre-defined Glyphs
25 pre-defined Glyphs are provided, see Figure 8:3.: Pre-Defined Glyphs
System Glyph 2 L
User-Defined Glyphs
User-defined Glyphs are defined in the database by GLYPH elements which are members
of a Glyph Table (GLYTB) element. GLYPHs have the following attributes:
GLYNO: This is a system defined attribute that will have a unique value
within the Multiple Database (MDB). It is this number that should
be used when the Glyph is used in conjunction with a user-defined
Linestyle.
REFSIZe: (Integer) The value that will be mapped to the DECSIZ attribute
value of the LINEST when the Glyph is used. Thus if a Glyph with
REFSIZ 2000 consisting of a circle of diameter 1000 is used in
conjunction with a LINEST with DECSIZ 6mm the result will be a
line with 3mm diameter circles. The database default value is 100.
GLYPH elements may own GLYCIR, GLYREC, and GLYOUT elements that represent
circles, rectangles, and outlines. In addition to the basic attribute(s) that define their
dimensions these glyph-primitive elements may be rotated and offset from the glyph origin,
and may be solid-filled.
GOFFSet: (2 Integers) The X & Y offsets of the Circle centre point from the
Glyph origin.
GFILLD: If set TRUE will cause the Circle to be solid-filled. By default this will
be FALSE.
GANGLE: (Degrees) The rotation of the Rectangle about its centre point.
GOFFSet: (2 Integers) The X & Y offsets of the Rectangle centre point from the
Glyph origin.
GOFFSet: (2 Integers) The X & Y offsets of the Outline origin from the Glyph
origin.
GFILLD: If set TRUE will cause the Outline to be solid-filled. By default this
will be FALSE.
A GLYOUT is a series of spans that may be straight lines or circular arcs. They may be
continuous or discontinuous. The geometry of these is created using the syntax of the
<GDEFIN> graph and stored in the GDEFIN attribute. The syntax is:
Where <int2> represents the input of 2 integers to define the coordinates of the
end point of a straight-line span,
The sequence must start with the MTO (MoveTo) keyword followed by two integers. This
defines the start point of the Outline. This must be followed by the LTO (LineTo) or ANGTO
(AngleTo) keyword and then two or three integers respectively to define the first span.
Having defined a span another similar span can be defined immediately by the input of two
or three integers or alternatively the type of span can be changed by a LTO or ANGTO
keyword. If a break in the Outline is required the MTO keyword must be used to define the
start of a new sequence.
For example, a symbolic flower-head of reference diameter 120 with alternating filled and
unfilled petals could be defined as follows:
NEW GLYPH
REFSIZ 120
NEW GLYOUT
GDEFIN MTO 10 0 LTO 50 -17 ANG 45 50 17 LTO 10 0
NEW GLYOUT COPY GLYOUT 1
GANGLE 45
GFILLD TRUE
NEW GLYOUT COPY GLYOUT 1
GANGLE 90
NEW GLYOUT COPY GLYOUT 1
GANGLE 135
GFILLD TRUE
NEW GLYOUT COPY GLYOUT 1
GANGLE 180
NEW GLYOUT COPY GLYOUT 1
GANGLE 225
GFILLD TRUE
NEW GLYOUT COPY GLYOUT 1
GANGLE 270
NEW GLYOUT COPY GLYOUT 1
GANGLE 315
GFILLD TRUE
NEW GLYOUT COPY GLYOUT 1
GANGLE 180
NEW GLYCIR
GDIAM 15
GFILLD TRUE
GLYNUM /My-Glyph
The LINEST's DECSIZ attribute should be set to define the size to which the Glyphs
REFSIZ value is to scaled.
Patterns 11-18 are combinations or variants of system patterns 1-10, and are defined as:
Patterns 19-30 are more complicated patterns making use of differing linestyles.
Line Style (HLSTYLE): the style with which the hatch lines will be drawn. This may
either be a system-defined line style, thus: Chained or
DashedThick, or a user-defined line style, specified either by
its LSTYNO value or by its database name. Thick lines may
be used but user-defined line styles that make use of glyphs
cannot be used. By default HLSTYLE will be set to SOLID.
Angle (HANGLE): the slope of the hatch lines in degrees measured in a counter
clockwise direction from the horizontal. The value specified
must lie in the range -360 to 360. If not specified a value of 45
will be assumed.
Offset (HOFFSET): the offset of the hatch-pattern from a datum point on the
Sheet. It is only of use when two or more hatch-patterns are
combined. If they have the same angle and separation but
different offsets double-line hatching can be achieved. If no
value is given 0 is assumed. If the value is positive the
positioning of the pattern is relative to the bottom left corner of
the Sheet, if negative the positioning of the pattern is relative
to some feature of the area being filled. For patterns that
require the precise matching of diagonal dashes (to form
triangles for instance) it will probably be necessary to define
relative patterns (with negative offsets) but in general positive
offsets should be used. If no value is given, 0mm will be
assumed.
HSEPAR 3.5mm
HOFFSE 1mm
will convert /My-Fillstyle into a double-line Fill Style with double lines (1mm between them)
repeated every 3.5mm
Element FILLST also has attributes:
FSTYNO: This is a system defined attribute that will have a unique value
within the MDB. It is this number that should be used when the
Fillstyle is used.
SOLFILled: If set TRUE will cause the Fillstyle to provide solidfill. The default
setting is FALSE.
ALTDEF If set it must refer to another FILLST. If set the referenced FILLST
will be used on hard copy output. Thus if at /My-Fillstyle:
When the FILLST element is created a system-defined fill style number is allocated
automatically. This is a unique number in the range 1-255 and is held in the FSTYNO
attribute of the FILLST element. This is the number to use for the FSTYLE attribute when it
is required to use that FILLST.
Alternatively, it is usually more convenient to specify a name for the FILLST, and this is then
used to set the FSTYLE attribute (although it is the FSTNO value that will be assigned to the
FSTYLE attribute).
Having created a Fillstyle it must be defined within the graphics system by an 'UPDATE
PENSTYLES' command if it is to be used during that session of DRAFT. In subsequent
sessions it will be automatically defined during module entry.
Line Pattern the amount by which the pattern on each individual line is
Advance (PATADV): advanced. The pattern is moved by a value which accumulates
from line-to-line. The lines either side of the first are offset by
the advance value. The lines either side of these are offset by
twice the value and so on.
Line Pattern the amount by which the pattern of the first hatch-line is offset
Offset (PATOFF): from its nominal start point.
Thus for example, in order to create a Fill Style to represent brickwork (with 10mm x 4mm
bricks) we first need to create a suitable linestyle for the vertical lines and then a Fillstyle
with 2 Hatch Patterns:
NEW LSTYTB
NEW LINESTYLE /BrickWork-VerticalLS
PATDEF 50 -50 Creates a pattern with equal sized dashes and gaps
NEW FSTYTB
NEW FILLSTYLE /BrickWorkFS
NEW HPATTERN /BrickWork-HorizontalHP
HLSTYLE Solid
HANGLE 0
HSEPAR 4mm 4mm between horizontal lines
HANGLE 90
HSEPAR 5mm 10mm long bricks require 5mm between vertical
lines
Offsetting the pattern is not strictly necessary and so attributes HOFFSE and PATOFF of
both HPATTEs could be left at 0mm; it is merely done to reduce the chance of the horizontal
and vertical lines coinciding with the edge of the hatched area.
Style elements: used during the Update Design process, (thus HSTYL,
ACSTYL, and DCSTYL)
High-level elements: to allow the FSTYLE value to be cascaded down the database
hierarchy as it is created.
FSTYLE SOL/idfilled
FSTYLE /My-FillStyle
Various special values: OFF, DEF/ault, UNC/hanged. These are not all valid in all
circumstances.
. (STOP)
X (CROSS)
+ (PLUS)
* (STAR)
O (RING)
The colour of this graphical feedback feature is magenta by default, but can be changed by
the SETFEEDBACK command.
Example:
SETFEED COL 15
Set rubber banding colour to colour 15
SETFEED COL BRIGHTORANGE
SETFEED COL DEF
Set rubber banding colour to magenta
Example:
This Section describes how to create the drawing office administrative elements of reports
and circulation lists, and how DRAFT handles revision numbers.
9.1 Report
The Report (REPO) element may be used to contain brief textual information relating to a
full report (which would exist outside Plant) on the owning drawing registry. The relevant part
of the DRAFT database is shown in Figure 9:1.: Report Database Hierarchy.
REGI
REPO
TEXT
CLRF CLRF
CLLB
CIRL
CIRL RECI
RECI
The Circulation List Library (CLLB) is an administrative element used to group together
Circulation Lists (CIRL), each of which is referred to from the CLRF (Circulation List
Reference) attribute of a Drawing (or Report) element. Each CIRL may contain other CIRL
elements and/or Recipient (RECI) elements. A RECI has the attributes:
Recipient Name (RNAM)
Location (LOCA)
Number of Copies (COPI)
Example:
NEW CLLB
Create Circulation List Library (at Library level)
NEW CIRL /CL1
Create Circulation List
NEW RECI /RC1
Create Recipients
RNAM Tom
LOCA Room F21
NEW RECI /RC2
RNAM Dick
LOCA Room G24
COPI 2
/DRWG DR1
Set Circulation List Reference
CLRF /CL1
DRWG
REVI
CLRF
9.4.2 At Revision . . .
10 Change Highlighting
Change Rules control how Design and Annotation elements that have been changed are
drawn on a DRAFT View and are similar to Representation Rules. Each Change Rule can
be specific to a given type or types of element, or named elements. Change Rules refer to
Change Styles, either Design Change Styles or Annotation Change Styles, depending
on whether the changed element is a Design element or an Annotation element. The
attributes of the Change Styles define the way in which changed elements will be drawn.
Generally this will be by altering the drawing styles and colours used. Pieces of text may
also have their font changed, be underlined, or be enclosed within a specified style of
parentheses. For more information about styles and colours see Colours and Styles. For
information about Representation Rules see Graphical Representation.
In order to determine whether Design and Annotation elements have changed, it is
necessary to compare the relevant databases at two points in time. One of these two points
is always the current time. The other point used is a Comparison Date. The concept of
Comparison Dates is discussed in Comparison Date.
Design Change Rules (DCRULE) and Annotation Change Rules (ACRULE) are stored in
Change Rulesets (CRST), which in turn are owned by Representation Libraries (RPLB).
RPLBs are also used to store Design Change Styles (DCSTYL) and Annotation Change
Styles (ACSTYL). The reference from a DCRULE to a DCSTYL is made by its DCSTYF
attribute, and the reference from an ACRULE to an ACSTYL is made by its ACSTYF
attribute. When a VIEW references a CRST, the reference is made by its CRSF attribute.
RPLB RPLB
crsf
VIEW CRST DCSTYL ACSTYL
dcstyf
ACRULE DCRULE
acstyf
The hierarchy of database elements for Change Highlighting is similar to that for
Representation and Auto-hatching and allows company or project standards to be imposed.
However, unlike Representation and Hatching Rules, Change Rules cannot be owned
directly by a VIEW and there are therefore no local change rules.
Once the Rulesets and Styles have been set up, it is just a matter of setting the VIEW
attribute CRSF to point to the Ruleset that you wish to use, defining a Comparison Date,
and issuing an UPDATE command with the SHOW CHAnges option (see UPDATE
Command, SHOW CHANGES Option and Error Messages).
Note that DCSTYLs are not exact equivalents of Representation Styles, they do not have
Tubing Flag (TUBEF), Drawing Level (DLEV), etc. attributes. The values of these attributes
are determined from the relevant Representation Styles. The DCSTYL only defines which, if
any, of the standard style/colour values should be overridden in order that changed Design
elements are marked.
Design elements that have no DCSTYL assigned to them will not have any changes that are
made to them marked. Within a VIEW, it is therefore possible to mark changes made to
pipework, for example, but ignore changes made to steelwork.
specific values or to UNCHANGED. The font attribute may be set to a standard font number
or to UNCHANGED. If any of these four attributes are set to UNCHANGED, the relevant
Label/Dimension/2D Primitives attribute will be used. The two other attributes define
whether changed text is to be underlined or enclosed in brackets.
The ACSTYL attributes, with their defaults, are as follows:
For more information on using Selection Criteria refer to DESIGN Reference Manual, Part 1
General Commands.
For changes to be highlighted properly the Selection Criterion should use one of the
functions that make use of the current Comparison Date. These are; CREATED and
MODIFIED. For example:
CRIT ALL BRAN MEM WITH (MODIFIED (GEOM))
CRIT ALL SCTN WITH (MODIFIED (LENGTH))
CRIT ALL EQUI WITH (CREATED ())
CRIT ALL WITH (CREATED ())
For more information on the CREATED() and MODIFIED() functions and their use in AVEVA
Plant expressions refer to DESIGN Reference Manual, Part 1 General Commands.
Note that a third function associated with the Comparison Date, DELETED(), is not relevant
here, deleted design elements will not be shown on DRAFT drawings and hence cannot be
highlighted.
Each CRST therefore only needs to reference one or two ACRULES, one applicable to
Changed Annotations, one applicable to Added Annotations. If more than one ACRULE is
referenced for a type of changed annotation, only the first, in database order, will be applied.
The syntax for the Annotation Change Rule Application attribute is:
FFSTYLE/FFCOLOUR OLSTYLE/OLCOLOUR
BFSTYLE/BFCOLOUR NLSTYLE/NLCOLOUR
CLSTYLE/CLCOLOUR FSTYLE/FCOLOUR
OBSTYLE/OBCOLOUR TXCOLOUR
PLNSTYLE/PLNCOLOUR FONT
MLNSTYLE/MLNCOLOUR
all have the option of UNChanged. This is valid at DCSTYL and ACSTYL elements only.
Assigning UNChanged to these attributes at any other element will generate the following
error message:
64,275: UNCHANGED is not valid at <type> elements
Example:
For full details of using expressions refer to DESIGN Reference Manual, Part 1 General
Commands.
Example:
will output the value of attribute XLEN of the current element at the Comparison Date.
Q OLD REF OF /OLDPIPE
will output the reference of deleted element /OLDPIPE at the Comparison Date.
For more information on the Comparison Date functionality refer to the ADMIN User Guide.
command), updating will be abandoned and the following error message will be
displayed:
64,445: <CRST-name>: No DCRULEs (or ACRULEs) defined
followed by the error message:
64,153: <view-name>:Generation of Design (or Annotation or
All) graphics abandoned
In this case if the command was UPDATE ALL and the CRST contains ACRULES but no
DCRULEs (for example), then it is assumed that the user wants to produce a drawing on
which only annotation changes are marked.
If the DCSTYF or ACSTYF attribute of a Change Rule is unset or invalid, updating will
be abandoned and one of the following error messages will be displayed:
64,64: <rule-name>:DCSTYF (or ACSTYF) attribute value is
invalid
64,65: <rule-name>:DCSTYF (or ACSTYF) attribute value
unset
followed by the error message:
64,153: <view-name>:Generation of Design (or Annotation or
All) graphics abandoned
If the CRIT attribute of a DCRULE is unset (with reference to an UPDATE DESI and an
UPDATE ALL command), the following error message will be displayed:
64,296: Warning: <rule-name>: is invalid and will be
ignored
USE stylename FOR crit - Set drawing style for Design generic types.
CRITeria crit - Set the CRIT attribute for the current rule.
FFSTYLE OFF
FFSTYLE UNCHANGED
FFCOLOUR UNCHANGED - Controls style and colour for drawing front face edges.
BFSTYLE OFF
BFSTYLE UNCHANGED
BFCOLOUR UNCHANGED - Controls style and colour for drawing rear face edges.
OBSTYLE OFF
OBSTYLE UNCHANGED
CLSTYLE OFF
CLSTYLE UNCHANGED
PLNSTYLE OFF
PLNSTYLE UNCHANGED
MLNSTYLE OFF
MLNSTYLE UNCHANGED
MLNCOLOUR UNCHANGED - Controls style and colour for drawing member lines.
FSTYLE OFF
FSTYLE UNCHANGED
FCOLOUR UNCHANGED - Controls style and colour for hatching selected faces.
OLSTYLE OFF
OLSTYLE UNCHANGED
USE stylename FOR ADDED - Set drawing style for changed Annotations.
TXCOLOUR integer/colour_name
NLSTYLE UNCHANGED
FSTYLE UNCHANGED
FONT integer
BRACKE SQUARE
11 Introduction to Annotation
This Chapter describes the part of the DRAFT database used to store annotation elements,
that is dimensioning elements, labelling elements, and 2D drafting elements (i.e. geometric
primitives, symbols, and text). This part of the DRAFT database hierarchy (see DRAFT
Database Hierarchy) is shown below:
Dimensioning and Labelling elements are owned by Layers. Other text, symbols and
graphics are owned by Notes. There are two types of Note:
Sheet Notes (NOTEs) owned by Sheets
View Notes (VNOTs) owned by Views.
11.1 Layers
Layers (LAYE) are owned by VIEWs and are administrative elements used to group
together annotation elements. Layers may own Dimension elements, Label elements and
View Note elements. Usually, different Layers are used for different functions, and the
function of a Layer is defined by its PURPose attribute. The PURP attribute is used to
control the types of element that the Layer can own.
The PURP (Purpose) attribute of a Layer is set to a (four character) word, for example:
PURP DIMS
The PURP attribute may also be used to identify the Layer in other commands.
Example:
For more information on the HIGHLIGHT command, see Highlighting Displayed Elements.
The LVIS attribute controls the visibility of a Layer. It can be set to TRUE or FALSE. This
enables different types of annotation to be switched on and off.
Note: Where Layers and Layer members have common attributes, the values of those
attributes are cascaded down from the Layer.
Example:
The default is mm for distances and bores. See Distance, Position and Bore Data Output for
full details of UCOD.
The PCOD (Precision Code) attribute controls the precision of output used with Dimensions
and Labels. See Controlling the Precision of the Generated Output.
11.2 Autoblanking
You can use autoblanking to remove an area of graphics from a drawing and leave a clear
area. Generally, graphics added later will be drawn in this clear area. The main purpose is to
allow annotation to be shown clearly in crowded parts of a drawing. The geometry of the
blanked areas is defined by the geometry of the annotation element; for example, a circular
annotation element can define a circular blanked area where no 3D design graphics will
appear. Overlapping 2D, text and other annotation graphics will not be hidden by blanking.
When autoblanking is switched on, the geometry will be hidden in the blanked areas
immediately the annotation that defines them is drawn or modified. When autoblanking is
switched off, the blanks will not be generated on the screen, but switching autoblanking on
will generate all blanks immediately. Blanks will always be generated in plot files generated
from DRAFT, even when Autoblanking is off. The advantage of working with Autoblanking
switched off is that view control operations such as zooming and panning will be slightly
faster.
The command to switch autoblanking ON or OFF for a DRAFT session is:
AUTOBLANKING ON/OFF
Autoblanking can be used for the following annotation elements: LDIM, ADIM, RDIM, PDIM,
GLAB, SLAB, VNOT, and NOTE. The attribute BLNK specifies whether autoblanking is
required, and attribute BMAR specifies the blanking margin to be applied.
BLNK TRUE/FALSE
BMAR value
where value is a real value that is greater than or equal to 0.0. If BMAR is set to 0.0 then a
blanked region will be drawn with no blanking margin.
12 Dimensioning
Dimensions are a form of drawing annotation consisting of both text and geometric
elements; they may be linear, radial (two types) or angular. Linear and radial dimensions
show the distances between particular points in the design model whilst angular dimensions
show the angles between directions.
A simplified view of that part of the Database hierarchy (see DRAFT Database Hierarchy)
that relates to dimensioning is shown below.
VIEW
LAYE
(Dimension Directions)
(Dimension Points) (Dimension Points)
DRAFT allows dimensions to be created quickly and easily (using the cursor), with many
attributes of the dimension elements being set automatically by cascading values from the
owning LAYE element.
Pitch Circle Dimension (PDIM) elements (see Pitch Circle Dimensions) exist for each pitch
circle dimension that appears on a drawing. PDIM elements own Dimension Point
elements, which specify the points between which dimensions are drawn. The graphics for a
PDIM are similar to those for an RDIM.
Angular Dimension (ADIM) elements (see Angular Dimensions) exist for each angular
dimension that appears on a drawing. ADIM elements own Dimension Direction elements,
which specify the end points of the dimension arc and its origin.
Note: When a Pipe element is dimensioned directly, the Pipe origin is assumed to be the
position of the HEAD of the first Branch visible in the VIEW region, if any. If no
Branch HEADs are visible in the VIEW region, then the position of the HEAD of the
first Branch is used.
Such a dimension could be produced by typing the following commands, starting at Layer
level:
FROM ID @
TO ID @
TO ID @ - Use cursor to nominate (three) items to dimension from/to
The Dimension will appear on the display. If only two elements are hit a pair of Dimension
Point elements will have been automatically created, with the last point becoming the
current element.
In the above example the Dimension Points will be DPPT elements - the Dimension Point is
defined by a p-point of the Design element, in this case the origin. Any p-point can be
nominated as a dimension point by replacing the FROM ID @ syntax above by FROM IDP
@/TO IDP @. The Dimension may also be defined explicitly:
Example:
The other two types of Dimension Point that may be owned by an LDIM element are:
DPOI- allows you to dimension to/from any given 3D positions
DPBA- allows you to dimension to/from before or after a Design element (in the
Dimension direction).
DPOI elements would be created by a sequence such as:
NEW LDIM
FR POS @ TO POS @
DPBA elements would be created by a sequence such as:
NEW LDIM
FR BEFORE ID @ TO AFTER ID @
The effect of such a command will depend upon the dimension direction - see Principal
Attributes of Angular Dimensions. Figure 12:3.: Single Value Before/After Linear
Dimensions shows an example of such a linear dimension, produced by the same
command but with different dimension directions.
Constructed points (see Point and Line Construction) may also be used to create
Dimension Points.
Note: In cases where the dimension value is less than 0.01 mm, the display of all
dimension point graphics (see Figure 12:2.: Single Value Linear Dimension) will be
suppressed.
When dimensioning BEFORE or AFTER elements such as EQUI, STRU or SUBS, DRAFT
will ignore those primitives with OBST (obstruction level) set to 0 or 1. When dimensioning
BEFORE or AFTER a primitive, its OBST value will be ignored.
Figure 12:4.: Before/After Linear Dimensions on a Single Element shows examples of using
before/after linear Dimensions with a single element. (See Principal Attributes of Linear
Dimensions for details of DOFF and OSHT.)
Note: Under some circumstances the length of the projection line for a DPBA may be
unsatisfactory. In this case changing the value of the NPPT attribute (which supplies
a reference p-point) will correct the situation.
Note: Use of Radial Dimensions would provide a simpler method of drawing the two
dimensions shown on the right-hand side of Figure 12:4.: Before/After Linear
Dimensions on a Single Element - see Radial Dimensions.
Example:
FROM ID @ TO BEFORE ID @
FROM POS @ TO ID @
FR AFT ID @ TO POS @
Each FROM command sets the Dimension Points DDNM (Design Data Name) attribute to
the Name of the Design element. The DDNM attribute may be reset immediately to define a
new Dimension Point. If the DDNM is set to refer to an element, which is not in the Id List
referenced from the current VIEW, the Dimension will still be drawn.
The command:
CHECK REFS WARN
will cause a warning to be output in this situation, and the command
A Dimension Point may be constructed using DRAFTs point construction facilities (see
Point and Line Construction). For example:
INSE POS OF @
INSE POS OF ENDP OF @
Other constructions such as INTERSECTION and MIDPOINT can be used. The facility
(which is only valid in a plan or elevation View) enables Dimension Points to be positioned
on any line of the Design graphics. The constructed Dimension Point will have a 3D position
(i.e. it is a DPOI) but will not be associated with the identified Design element.
The effect of the INSERT command is to create a new Dimension Point of the appropriate
type at the correct position in the owning LDIMs member list. INSERT can be used at
Dimension Point or LDIM level. Figure 12:6.: Use of the INSERT Command illustrates the
use of the INSERT command.
Dimensions will be drawn in the same order as the LDIMs member list order. If the elements
get out of the correct order then the display of the Dimension will become confused. This
situation can be corrected by the SORT DIMENSIONPOINTS command (minimum
abbreviation SORT DIM), which can be used at Dimension or Dimension Point level. The
effect of the command is shown in Figure 12:7.: Use of the SORT DIM Command.
An example of a parallel Dimension is shown in Figure 12:8.: Parallel (or Tail) Linear
Dimension.
A parallel Dimension can be produced simply by setting the LCHA attribute of an LDIM as
appropriate:
Note that OSHT, PLCL and DOFF are given initial default values at Layer level when the
Layer is created. These values are cascaded down to Dimension level when those elements
are created subsequently. Following this initial setting, an attribute set to default at
Dimension Point level will take its value from the same attribute of its owning Dimension
element (if appropriate).
The Projection Line Clearance (PLCL) is the distance between the dimension point and
the projection line at the dimension point end. Negative clearances may be specified.
Examples of setting this attribute are:
PLCL DEF - (at Dimension Point level): set to owning Dimension PLCL value
PLCL may be set at Dimension or Dimension Point level. PLCL set at Dimension level
(which becomes the default PLCL) will apply to all subsequently created Dimension Points.
PLCL set at Dimension Point level can only be reset from the same Dimension Point, not
from Dimension level. When setting PLCL with the cursor, the resulting (paper) coordinate
that does not lie in the same axis direction as the projection line is ignored. These
comments also apply to the OSHT attribute (see below).
The Projection Line Overshoot (OSHT) is the distance by which the projection line
overshoots the end of the dimension line. Negative overshoots may not be specified.
Examples of setting this attribute are:
OSHT TOP /CIRCLE1 - OSHT defined by a constructed point see Point and Line
Construction.
Dimension Line - the distance by which the dimension line is offset (in the projection
Offset (DOFF) line direction) from the 2D position of the first dimension point.
Projection Line - the angle between the projection line and the dimension line.
Direction (PLDI)
Dimension Line - the direction of the dimension line (an explicit compass direction,
Direction (DIR) p-point or p-line direction). Default East.
DOFF has a related attribute DPOS - the Dimension Line Position. DPOS is a fixed 2D
paper coordinate through which the dimension line will pass. DOFF and DPOS are mutually
exclusive: setting one will unset the other. If a dimensioned element is moved the dimension
line will also move when DOFF is used; if DPOS is used the dimension line will still pass
through the same point.
A feature of these four attributes (DOFF, DPOS, PLDI, DIR) is that although they are
attributes of the Linear Dimension they can also be set at Dimension Point Level without the
need to navigate to the Dimension element.
DOFF and DPOS both control the position of the dimension line and so are mutually
exclusive - setting one will unset the other. Examples of the relevant commands are:
When setting DPOS, the resulting (paper) coordinate that does not lie in the same axis
direction as the required offset is ignored.
Note: Projection line direction is treated as 90 degrees when it is nearly but not quite 90
degrees. This avoids an unexpected flip in the projection line text orientation.
P2 DOWN P2
P1 P1
(i) (ii)
The true length facility can be useful when it is not clear what explicit direction to set in order
to achieve the desired result. The bottom left-hand dimension in Figure 12:11.: Effect of
True Length Attribute Settings has been created without regard for the Dimension direction,
which turns out to be inappropriate. Setting TLIN TRUE produces the desired picture.
Points to note about the true length facility are:
The true length is 2D, i.e. the length is orthographic, not a slope length - uppings are
ignored.
True length is meaningless for a Dimension with more than two points, unless the
points are in line.
The truncation is produced by the TRUNCATE command, which has two forms as shown in
the examples below.
For non-truncated parallel dimensions, the spacing between each dimension line is given an
initial default value calculated to be sufficient to allow room for the dimension value (or a
single line of dimension line text). The spacing is controlled by the Dimension Line
Separator Attribute (DMSP).
Example:
In a macro, the separation can also be set in terms of Sheet or screen coordinates. Note
that the minimum separation is governed by the DMSP attribute - the calculated spacing
cannot be less than this minimum. Figure 12:13.: Parallel Dimension Line Spacing shows
the effect of varying the spacing.
Example:
#DIM in the example above takes the value of the dimension. #DIM is a simple case of
intelligent text - see Intelligent Text. Note that in the case of non-truncated parallel
dimensions, the dimension line spacing will automatically be adjusted to accommodate two
or more lines of text if these are input. Dimension line text may be set at Dimension Point or
Dimension level, although in the latter case the text input will attached to all the dimension
lines involved. Associated commands are:
DMTX DEFAULT - (at Dimension Point level): set dimension text to that of owning
Dimension
Dimension text is automatically centre-justified, but its position relative to the dimension line
may be varied by changing the setting of the dimension text offset (DTOF) attribute. For
example:
DTOF 0 5 - move dimension text origin 5mm along axis parallel to projection line
in text up vector direction
(= perpendicular to dimension line in most cases)
Note also:
DTOF DEF - use default Dimension offset value, not Dimension Point
value
The dimension text origin is at the centre of and approximately half a character height
below the text.
Note that if there is insufficient space between the ends of two projection lines to enable the
dimension line text to be fitted in parallel to the dimension line it will be automatically rotated
by 90 degrees. Reducing the text character size (see below) may result in their being
enough room to display the text parallel to the dimension line.
Dimension text angle can be controlled using the DTANGLE attribute. This is available both
at dimension and dimension point level. Possible settings are:
DTANGLE STANDARD
DTANG HORIZ
DTANG VERT
DTANG EXTERNAL
DTANG PARALLEL
PTANG DEFAULT
The STANDARD setting gives dimension line text parallel to the dimension line except when
there is insufficient room for it, when it is drawn parallel to the projection-line - i.e. external
dimension line text. STANDARD is the default setting for Dimension elements. The text is
positioned by default just above the middle of the dimension line except that external text is
centred on the centre of the dimension line. If the text is not external, then its position is
constrained to lie between the projection lines.
The HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL settings cause the dimension line text to be drawn
respectively horizontally or vertically in the VIEW. By default the text is centred on middle of
the dimension line.
The EXTERNAL setting forces the dimension line text to be drawn parallel to the projection
line even though there is room for it to be drawn parallel to the dimension line. By default the
text is centred on middle of the dimension line. If the text would not be external in the
STANDARD case, then its position is constrained to lie between the projection lines.
The PARALLEL setting forces the dimension line text to be drawn parallel to the dimension
line even though there may be insufficient space for it to fit. By default the text is positioned
just above the middle of the dimension line. If the text would not be external in the
STANDARD case, then its position is constrained to lie between the projection lines.
The DEFAULT setting is only available at Dimension Points. This allows the DTANGLE
value to be taken from the Dimension element (LDIM or ADIM). Otherwise the setting at the
Dimension Point is used. This is the default setting for Dimension Points.
Projection line text (PLTX) is set and manipulated in a similar way. For example, the
commands:
PLTX PUMP /1501A
PLTX PUMP /1501B
(each at the appropriate dimension point level) could be used to give the text shown in
Figure 12:16.: Projection Line Text.
Note also:
PLTX DEF - use default Dimension setting, not Dimension Point setting
Projection line text axes are oriented relative to the projection line. The orientation is
controlled by setting the PTOF attribute.
Example:
PTOF -5 -5
See Figure 12:17.: Projection Line Text Offset for an example of changing the projection line
text offset.
Projection line text is justified towards the appropriate dimension point by default, but may
be justified away from the dimension point or may be centred on the projection line, using
the commands:
PJUST AWAY
PJUST CENTRE
The standard character height for dimension line and projection line text is 4mm (cascaded
from LAYE level), but this may be varied by commands such as:
Initial settings of these attributes are cascaded down from LAYE level.
Other text attributes (present at Dimension and Dimension Point level) are:
DT COLOUR - Dimension line text colour (cascaded down from LAYEs TX COLOUR)
PT COLOUR - Projection line text colour (cascaded down from LAYEs TX COLOUR)
Initial settings of these attributes are cascaded down from LAYE level. See Miscellaneous
Text Facilities for details of letter height and text fonts.
Dimension line and projection line text can be edited through use of the EDTEXT
command. In the following examples, the target string is ACCESS DPACE, = ACCESS
SPACE mistyped:
Note: When editing intelligent text the intelligent text code itself must be specified, not the
resultant text. See Miscellaneous Text Facilities for full details of the EDTEXT
command.
Dimension line terminators are arrowheads by default, but may be obliques, dots, or
absent altogether - see Figure 12:20.: Dimension Line Terminators.
FTER can have any of the same settings as DTER, or can be DEFAULT, in which case
FTER assumes the same setting as DTER. FTER is applicable to LDIMs and ADIMs, or can
be set at LAYE level, in which case its setting will be cascaded down to newly-created
dimensions.
The initial settings of DTER and TSIZ are cascaded down from LAYE level.
The line styles and colours used for dimension and projection lines may be set by
At an LDIM the initial settings of these four attributes are cascaded down from LAYE level.
At dimension point level their initial values will be DEFAULT, i.e. they use the values from
the owning LDIM. See Colours and Styles for details of colours and line styles.
Gaps in projection lines are most easily defined using the cursor, with either the start and
end points or a mid point and a length being specified. Examples of the relevant commands
are:
GAP OVER @ - Specify gap start and end points with cursor, and delete all other
gaps in line
GAP DELETE ALL - Delete all gaps on the current projection line or dimension line
Up to ten gaps may be inserted in the projection line. Note that if the position of a Dimension
is changed so as to substantially alter the path of the projection line then it will be redrawn
solid until the gaps are redefined.
Gaps may be highlighted by giving the command:
SKETCH GAPS
at any element that contains gaps. A circle will be drawn with diameter equal to the gap
length, centred on the gap centre. The command:
ERASE GAPS
will remove the circles. Either of the above commands may have an element name after the
main command if the required element is not the current element.
Dimension Text
Dimension Origin
Leader Line (optional)
Dimension Line
Terminator
Radial Dimensions have a dimension centre, defined by the DDNM (Design Data Name)
attribute. This is an attribute of the RDIM itself, and is normally defined by the origin of the
element dimensioned. (See Radial Dimensions for exceptions to this.) This could be (for
example) the origin of a CYLI or of a (filleted) PAVE (Panel Vertex).
The other principal attribute of an RDIM is the dimension attribute key, AKEY. This is a
word attribute that stores the code of a dimensional attribute of the DESIGN element type
that is to be dimensioned. The default value of AKEY is DIAM.
The following table shows which attributes of which DESIGN element types may be
dimensioned using an RDIM.
The command:
Q AKEYLIST
(at a Design element) returns the list of possible AKEY settings.
Most of the AKEY settings allowed above are genuine database attributes; however, the
DIAM keyword has different meanings at different elements. For some Design elements it is
a genuine attribute, for others it is derived:
DIAM is a genuine attribute of Dishes (DISH, NDIS) and all Cylinders (CYLI, NCYL,
SLCY, NSLC).
For a Torus (RTOR, NRTO, CTOR, NCTO), DIAM give the centreline diameter of the
element - i.e. twice the average of RINS and ROUT.
For Snouts (SNOU, NSNO) and Cones (CONE, NCON), DIAM is taken to be DBOT,
the bottom diameter.
For Structural Vertices (VERT, PAVE, SEVE), DIAM is taken to be twice the fillet radius
(FRAD) if it is set. The origin is normally the position of p9 of the vertex.
The centre of a Radial Dimension is normally defined by the origin of the element
dimensioned, except for the following AKEY settings:
For DTOP and DBOT, the dimension centre will be the centre of the appropriate end of
the primitive. This also applies to DIAM for Snouts and Cones.
For FRAD, the centre of the fillet radius is defined by one of the many p-points of the
Vertex (p8 or p9). This also applies to DIAM if the FRAD value is being used.
The RADI attribute of a dish (DISH, NDIS) is the knuckle radius. The CRAD attribute of
a dish is the cap radius. The centres of these radii are derived. Both these AKEY
settings are only sensible for a sideways view of a tori-spherical dish.
In many cases it will be unnecessary to define AKEY explicitly, since the DIAM setting will
give a sensible result.
Although RDIM elements do not have p-point or p-line attributes it is possible to use p-point
or p-line syntax to select the Design element. This is necessary for vertices (VERT, SEVE,
PAVE) that cannot be picked directly by cursor. However, the Design element can be picked
using the IDP @ command.
120 240
The Dimension Text (DMTX) attribute has the initial setting #DIM, which gives the value of
the dimension controlled by DLFAG. For example for AKEY RINS and DFLAG DIAM, the
text #DIM will be evaluated as the inside diameter of the element identified. The resulting
value will be output on the drawing in place of this codeword. #DIM is a simple case of
intelligent text - see Intelligent Text.
The Dimension Line Angle (DDEG) attribute controls the angle at which the dimension line
is shown, relative to the 2D coordinate system of the VIEW. The default value is 0
(horizontal in the VIEW). Note that this is only horizontal in the Sheet when the VIEW has
RCOD UP. DDEG may be set explicitly or by using the cursor (i.e. DDEG @).
The Text Radius Flag (DTFLAG) attribute controls whether the text radius DTRAD (see
below) is measured from the CENTRE, MIDPOINT or CIRCUMFERENCE of the radial
dimension. The default setting is CENTRE. For radius dimensions, MIDPOINT is the
midpoint between centre and circumference; for diameter dimensions MIDPOINT is the
same as CENTRE.
The Text Radius (DTRAD attribute) is a signed distance (in Sheet units) that defines the
radial position of the dimension text origin from the centre or circumference (according to
the DTFLAG setting) of the dimensioned object. In the latter case, DTRA= 0 (the default
value) means that the text origin is positioned at the 2D projection of the circumference of
the object dimensioned.
If the text origin lies outside the circumference then the text is justified towards the centre of
the circle. If the text lies inside the circumference then the text is centre justified unless the
DSTYL is LEADER. In this last case, the justification is towards the circumference.
Text radius can be negative. For DTFLAG CIRCUMFERENCE, a negative value means
inside the circumference. For DTFLAG CENTRE, a negative value places the text on the
opposite side of the centre to its usual position. This is equivalent to reversing DDEG with a
positive DTRA value.
240 240
DTRA 0 DTRA 0
DTFLA CENTRE DTFLA CIRCUM
240 240
240 240
240 120
The Dimension Text Angle (DTANGLE) attribute controls the Dimension text angle.
Possible settings are:
DTANGLE STANDARD
DTANG HORIZ
DTANG VERT
The default setting of DTANG is STANDARD. In this case the text is orientated radially. See
Figure 12:25.: Radial Dimensions - DTANG Setting for the effects produced by changing
DTANG.
The Dimension Text Offset (DTOF) attribute defines the displacement of the text position
from the text radial position. DTOF is a 2-dimensional array attribute. DTOF(1) defines the
displacement along the text path direction (i.e. Radial, Horizontal or Vertical depending on
the DTANG setting), and DTOF(2) in the text upvector direction. The default/initial value of
DTOF is (0,0).
Further control of the text position in the upvector direction is given by use of the vertical
alignment attribute ALIG. The actual position of the text for DTOF(2)=0 will depend on the
value of ALIG. This allows you to align text independently of the character height DTCH.
See Label Text Manipulation for further details of ALIG.
The second component of text offset, DTOF(2), is always applied in the upvector direction.
Its value may be positive, zero or negative. See Figure 12:26.: Radial Dimensions -
DTOF(2) Setting for the effects produced by changing DTOF(2).
As an alternative to entering two values, DTOF may be set using the cursor, i.e.
DTOF @
Note: In Figure 12:26.: Radial Dimensions - DTOF(2) Setting, ALIG=BBODY unless
otherwise indicated.
The definition of the direction of application of the first component, DTOF(1), is more
complex:
For DTANG STANDARD and text outside the circumference (i.e. DTFLAG CIRCUM,
positive DTRAD), DTOF(1) is in the direction of the radial displacement outwards from the
text radial position. (In this case, it is preferable to modify the text radius (DTRAD) rather
than DTOF(1); DTOF(1) is best left set to zero).
For DTANG HORIZONTAL and text outside the circumference, DTOF(1) is horizontal from
the text radial position. In this case, the sign of DTOF(1) is determined by the DDEG
attribute; for DDEG between -90 and +90, positive DTOF(1) adjusts the text position to the
right of the radial position of the dimension text; for DDEG between 90 and 270, positive
DTOF(2) adjusts the text position to the left. See Figure 12:27.: Radial Dimensions -
DTOF(1) Setting - Text Outside Circumference.
Similarly, for DTANG VERTICAL and text outside the circumference, DTOF(1) moves the
text up for DDEG between 0 and 180; and down for DDEG greater than 180 and less than
360.
In all three DTANG cases, if the text lies inside the circumference, the direction in which
DTOF(1) is applied is reversed. DTOF(1) is always applied in the direction away from the
Circumference.
Thus for DTANG Horizontal and DDEG=45, when the text is outside the circumference then
DTOF(1) adjusts text to the right. However when text is inside the circumference, then
DTOF(1) adjusts text to the left.
For DTANG Standard, then DTOF(1) would move text radially outwards for text outside the
circumference; and inwards for text inside the circumference. However in this case it is
better to leave DTOF(1) set to zero and modify the text radial position DTRAD. See Figure
12:28.: Radial Dimensions - DTOF(1) Setting - Text Inside Circumference.
The Dimension Style (DSTYLE) attribute, combined with DTANG, controls the overall
dimension style. Possible settings are:
DSTYLE DIMLINE
DSTYLE LEADERLINE
DSTYLE EXTERNAL
The default setting of DSTY is DIMLINE. This style shows a radial dimension line with
terminators. For DFLAG DIAM this is drawn across the diameter with two terminators; for
DFLAG RADI this is drawn from the centre to the circumference with a single terminator.
(See Figure 12:23.: Radial Dimensions - DFLAG Setting.) If the dimension text lies inside
the circumference, then the dimension line will be gapped if the text crosses it. The position
of dimension text is controlled by the Dimension Text Offset (DTOFF) attribute - see earlier
in this Section.
The dimension line will be extended beyond the circumference of the object dimensioned if
the text radial position (DTRAD attribute - see earlier in this Section) lies outside the
circumference. If the text is horizontal, then a horizontal line will be drawn from the radial
dimension line to the actual text position. Whatever the text orientation, the line will be
extended to underline the text if indicated by the DTUL attribute (see below).
The LEADERLINE style shows a radial leaderline from the circumference to the text radial
position. If the text is horizontal, then the leaderline will be extended horizontally to the text
offset position. No dimension-line will be drawn.
Text underlining will be controlled by the Dimension Text Underlining attribute, DTUL. This
indicates whether the leaderline is extended to underline the text or not. If DTUL is ON, the
leaderline will always be extended to underline the text even if this causes it to pass through
the text string. The line will be drawn through the text offset position - thus there will be
overlining for ALIG TBODY. DTUL is ignored for DSTYL DIMLINE unless the text radial
position is outside the circumference. The default setting will be OFF.
See Figure 12:29.: Example RDIMs in LEADERLINE Style for examples of the
LEADERLINE style (all shown with DTUL ON).
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240
The EXTERNAL style is a variant on the Dimline style. For Diameter dimensions, two short
radial lines are drawn outwards from the circumference with terminators on the
circumference. If the text radial position lies outside the circumference, then one line is
extended to the text offset position (with optional text underlining).
For Radius dimensions with EXTERNAL style the appearance depends on the text radial
position. If it lies inside the circumference, then a single short radial line is drawn outwards
from the circumference with a terminator on the circumference.
If the text radial position lies outside the circumference, then the dimension is drawn exactly
the same as in the DIMLINE style except that the terminator direction is flipped to be outside
the dimension line. See Figure 12:30.: Example RDIMs in EXTERNAL Style for examples of
the EXTERNAL style (all shown with DTUL ON).
240
240
The Dimension Line Style and Colour attributes (DLSTYLE, DLCOLOUR) control the
appearance of the dimension and leader lines. The initial values are cascaded down from
LAYE level. See Colours and Styles for details of colours and line styles.
The Gaps array attribute GAPS - an array of user-defined gaps; no gaps by default. The
gaps defined in this array will be applied to the dimension- and leader lines of the Radial
Dimension. This is in addition to the gap under the dimension text that is inserted
automatically in the dimension line. See Detail Attributes of Linear Dimensions for details.
The command:
GAP TIDY
deletes unused gaps.
Dimension Text will also have the following attributes, similar to those in use for LDIMs and
ADIMs:
Vertical Alignment ALIG - cascaded from the LAYE. See Label Text Manipulation for
further details of ALIG
Character Height DTCH - cascaded from CHEI on LAYE - see Detail Attributes of
Linear Dimensions for details.
In addition to the basic creation method given in Creating Radial Dimensions, some style
attributes may be defined by cursor interaction. Having created the RDIM/PDIM and defined
its position,
DIM @
will cause both dimension angle DDEG and text radius DTRAD to be defined in one go.
(The dimension text origin will be at the cursor crosshair position.) It will not modify DTOF.
defines the value reported in the dimension text. This is consistent with the functionality for
Linear Dimensions (LDIMs) with Direction TRUE (see Principal Attributes of Linear
Dimensions).
NEW PDIM
PCEN POS @ Define centre point as 3D position
PCIRC IDP @
The PCENTRE command defines or redefines the centre point of a PDIM. For example:
PCEN POS IDP @ Position centre point on p-point position - creates an RPOI
PCEN POS IDPL @ Position centre point on p-line (start) position - creates an RPOI
PCEN POS IDPD @ Position centre point at a distance along a p-line - creates an
RPOI
If the existing centre point is the wrong database type, then this command will delete it and
create a point of the correct type.
The PCIRCUMFERENCE command defines or redefines the Circumference point of a
PDIM:
Example:
Individual RPPT Dimension Points may be redefined using the ON command. Individual
RPOI Dimension Points may be modified by the POS command. If a RULE is required to
parameterise the 3D position, then this must be set or deleted explicitly at the RPOI.
The dimension origin may either be defined explicitly by attributes of the ADIM or implicitly
by the intersection of two dimension directions. These are illustrated by Figures 12:32 and
12:33.
Figure 12:32. Single Value Angular Dimension with origin defined in database
Figure 12:32 shows an Angular Dimension with its origin defined as a Nozzle in the centre of
the vessel. The two dimension directions are both defined as directions from the ADIM's
origin to the origins of Nozzles. This Angular Dimension could be created by typing the
following commands, starting at Layer level:
FROM @ TO ID @ - Use cursor to nominate Design items defining the first and
second Dimension Directions (both NOZZ here).
Having pressed Enter when the confirmation command line appears, the Dimension will
appear on the display. A pair of Dimension Direction elements will have been created, with
the last direction becoming the current element.
In this example the ID @ commands could all be replaced by IDP @. This would allow p-
points to be nominated instead of Design items.
The ON command sets the DDNM attribute of the ADIM to the name of the Design element
at the Dimension origin. The NPPT attribute of the ADIM is set to the nominated p-point. If
none is defined (as in this example) NPPT will be set to a default value that equates to the
origin of the element named by the DDNM.
In this example the Dimension Directions will be DPPT elements: these also have DDNM
and NPPT attributes. In this case DDNM is set to the name of the Design element specified
by the FROM or TO keyword, and NPPT to the nominated p-point (or the origin by default).
The DPOS @ command, which allows the position of the Dimension Arc to be defined, sets
the DPOS attribute of the Angular Dimension. Alternatively the Arc radius could be defined
by setting the Dimension's DOFF attribute. For convenience both these attributes can be set
at members of the Angular Dimension. They are mutually exclusive: setting one will cause
the other to be unset.
For the Angular Dimension shown in Figure 12:32 the Q DESCription command will
typically give:
On /C1101-N6
Dimension points
1 DPPT From /C1101-N1
2 DPPT To /C1101-N10
Figure 12:33. Single Value Angular Dimension with origin defined by intersection
Figure 12:33 shows an Angular Dimension with its origin defined implicitly by the
intersection of the two Dimension directions, which are plines of SCTNs.. This Angular
Dimension could be created by typing the following commands, starting at Layer level:
FROM DIR IDPL @ TO - Use cursor to nominate plines defining the first and second
DIR IDPL @ Dimension Directions.
Having pressed Enter when the confirmation command line appears, the Dimension will
appear on the display. The position of the Dimension's origin will have been automatically
calculated from the intersection of the two Dimension Directions. A pair of Dimension
Direction elements will have been created, with the last direction becoming the current
element.
In this example the DIR IDPL @ commands could be replaced by either of:
DIR IDP @ in which case the nominated p-points will be used to define directions;
DIR ID SCTN @ in which case the NA pline of the nominated SCTN will be used.
In this example the DDNM and NPPT attributes of the ADIM are left unset. The Dimension
Directions will be APPT elements: these have DDNM, PPDI, and PKEY attributes. In this
case DDNM is set to the name of the Design element specified by the FROM or TO
keyword, and PPDI or PKEY to the nominated p-point or pline as appropriate. PPDI and
PKEY are mutually exclusive: setting one will cause the other to be unset.
Plines and p-points define specific directions (eg UP) but in some cases when defining
Angular Dimensions it is the 'reversed' direction that is required (eg DOWN). This can be
achieved by the use of the REVDIR attribute of APPTs. By default this is False (or OFF) and
the direction of the specified pline or p-point will not be reversed when drawing the Angular
Dimension. If the reversed direction is required it should be set True (or ON).
When using two intersecting APPTs to define an Angular Dimension there are four possible
quadrants in which the Dimension Arc will be drawn. All four possibilities can be obtained by
setting the two REVDIR attributes appropriately. However the required result can be
achieved automatically by setting the DPOS attribute. From the DPOS coordinates DRAFT
will calculate and set the REVDIR attributes of the two APPTs.
For the Angular Dimension shown in Figure 12:33 the Q DESCription command will
typically give:
Position unset
Dimension points
1 APPT From Direction Ppline NA of /F-2
2 APPT To Direction Ppline MEML of /F2-BRAC-1 Reversed
Note: The direction of the second APPT has been reversed by the action of the DPOS @
command so that the Dimension Arc is drawn in the required quadrant.
The other types of Dimension Direction that may be owned by an ADIM element are:
DPOI allows the direction to be defined by any given 3D position
ADIR allows the direction to be defined by any given 3D direction
DPOI elements would be created by a sequence such as:
NEW ADIM
ON ID @
FR POS @ TO POS @
Here the FROM and TO commands set the POS attribute of each DPOI to the position
defined by the cursor.
ADIR elements would be created by a sequence such as:
NEW ADIM
ON ID @
FR DIR N30E TO DIR S20W
The DIR attribute of each ADIR will be set to the specified direction.
In each example above, the FROM keyword defines the Direction at the start of the
Dimension's member list, TO defines a Direction after the last item in the list. The Directions
will be drawn in the order in which they appear in the list, and the rotational direction
between the Directions is determined by the minor arc between the first two Directions.
The above examples show the easiest way of creating ADIM elements, but many other
methods are available. The dimension origin can be defined explicitly as a 3D point, as a p-
point, as a proportional distance along a pline, as a Branch Head or Tail, or as (the origin of)
any Design element.
An example of a multi-valued chained Angular Dimension is shown in Figure 12:34.:
Chained Angular Dimension.
Such a dimension is created in a similar way to a chained Linear Dimension. Notice how the
Dimension Arc text is (automatically) oriented and positioned relative to the Dimension Arc
so as to make it easiest to read.
In this example the PLTX attribute of the ADIM is set to '#DIMDIR' and as a result the
dimension directions appear as projection line text. #DIMDIR is an example of an
intelligent text codeword - see Intelligent Text. #DIMDIR is valid in the PLTX of ADIM
elements and their four potential member types.
For the Angular Dimension shown in Figure 12:34 the Q DESCription command will
typically give:
On P 0 of /C1101-N6
Dimension points
1 DPPT From /C1101-N1
2 DPPT To P 0 of /C1101-N8
3 ADIR To E
4 DPPT To /C1101-N10
5 DPPT To P 0 of /C1101-N12
Additional 'links' can be inserted in or added to a chained Dimension (or a single-valued
Dimension can be 'converted' to a chained Dimension) by using the INSERT command in a
similar way to Linear Dimensions.
The SORT DIM command can also be used with Angular Dimensions to reorder any
incorrectly ordered Directions.
An example of a parallel Angular Dimension is shown in Figure 12:35.: Parallel Angular
Dimension.
A parallel Dimension can be produced simply by setting the LCHA attribute of an ADIM to
False (a chained dimension has LCHA True).
Note: PLCLFL has no effect on Linear Dimensions: the clearance is always measured from
the DPPT or DPOI position.
DOFF for an Angular Dimension is the radius of the dimension arc and is set by the DIM
RAD command (cf DIM OFFS). Clearly, the PLDI (projection line direction), DIR (projection
line direction) and TLIN (true length) attributes do not apply to Angular Dimensions.
The SENSE attribute enables the rotational direction of the Dimension to be changed. The
standard value is that given by the minor arc from the first to the second dimension point.
The rotational sense may be altered by using:
SENSe REVerse
The standard sense may be restored using:
SENSe STANdard
Important: This attribute should be used with caution. It is primarily intended for use with
parallel Dimensions or those containing two points only. Chained or truncated
Dimensions with more than two points will contain overlapping arcs.
The DTANGLE (Dimension text angle) attribute is available for Angular Dimensions and
their Dimension Points. However, the settings are restricted to the following:
DTANG HORIZ
DTANG VERT
DTANG STAN
DTANG DEF
The meanings of these settings are similar to those for Linear Dimensions (see Detail
Attributes of Linear Dimensions).
ID LDIM @
ID ADIM @ - identify Dimension nominated by cursor
For a GRIDLN that does not pass through a VIEW ppoints 1, 2, and 3 are not defined.
The default dimension point position (ie NPPT -1) is at P0.
It must be stressed that this concept of ppoints on GRIDLNs applies only in DRAFT. These
ppoints only have World positions, their directions are not defined. Ppoint markers are
generated by the Update Design process and can be identified by the 'IDP @' command in
the normal fashion.
NEW LDIM
FROM valve_id
NEW DPOI
RULE SET POS (E (POS(1) OF <valve_id> WRT /* ) $
(N (POS(2) OF <valve_id> WRT /* ) $
(U (POS(3) OF <elbow_id> WRT /* )
RULE EXEC POS
A copy of this Dimension Point can be used in other Dimensions to dimension between the
Elbow and the Easting/Northing of the Valve.
See the manual Draft Administrator Application User Guide for more details about rule sets.
DOFF value - set a Dimension line position as an offset from the first Dimension
Point explicitly
DIM OFFS - convert a DPOS attribute to DOFF (offset distance from the first
dimension point)
DIR value - sets Dimension direction & uses standard PDMS direction syntax, or
you can use a design p-point direction - sets DIR
PLDI value - set projection line direction via a direction or angle - sets PLDI
DIR TRUE - set dimension line direction to be that calculated from the first &
second p-points - sets TLIN true
DIM @ - defines both dimension angle DDEG and text radius DTRAD in one
go. (Dimension text origin will be at cursor crosshair position.)
NEW PDIM
PCIRC IDP @
PCEN POS IDP @ - positions centre point on p-point position - creates an RPOI
PCEN POS IDPL @ - positions centre point on p-line (start) position - creates an
RPOI
PCEN POS IDPD @ - positions centre point at a distance along a p-line - creates
an RPOI
NEW PDIM PCEN IDP @ - defines Dimension Points and sets DDEG
PCIRC IDP @
FROM DIR option - creates a Dimension start point with the direction set as the p-
point specified - sets DDNM & PPDI, or if direction specified - sets
DIR. options: PA, PL, PH, PT, PPoint, IDP, N, S, D, E, W, X, Y, X,
HH, HT
TO DIR option - creates subsequent dimension Point with direction set as p-point
specified - sets DDNM & PPDI, or if direction specified - sets DIR
DIM RAD value - sets the dimension line position as an offset radius from the first
Dimension Point - sets DOFF
SENSE REV
DTOF option - set dimension text offset distance from origin. Options:
STAN - sets to 0 0
DMTX text - set dimension text as text string. Unsets from #DEF (i.e.
#DIM)
PTOF option - set projection text offset distance from origin. Options:
STAN - sets to 0 0
PLTX text - set projection text as text string. Unsets from #DEF (i.e. #DIM)
PTCH DEF - sets projection text character height to Dimension default value
TOW
AW
DEF (default)
PTCOLOUR DEF - sets projection line text colour to Dimension default value
GAP @ - specifies a gap in a projection line by giving start & finish points
GAP DELETE ALL - deletes all gaps on the current projection line or dimension line
DTER option - set dimension line terminator. Options: ARR, OBL, DOT, OFF
FTER option - set first dimension line terminator. Options: ARR, OBL, DOT,
OFF, DEFAULT
AKEY option - stores the code of a dimensional attribute of the Design element
type that is to be dimensioned. Option dependent on Design
element type. Default DIAM.
DFLA option - controls whether the dimension line is drawn from the centre
(Radius) or across the diameter (Diameter). option = DIAMETER
or RADIUS, default RADIUS.
DDEG value - controls angle at which dimension line is shown, relative to the
2D
DTFL option - controls whether the text radius DTRAD is measured from the
CENTRE, MIDPOINT or CIRCUMFERENCE of the radial
dimension. Default CENTRE
DTRA value - radial position of the dimension text origin from the centre or
circumference
DTRA FLAG option - modifies DTFL and recalculates DTRA to keep same visual
appearance. option = CENTRE, MIDPOINT or
CIRCUMFERENCE.
DSTY option - combined with DTAN, controls the overall dimension style.
Option = DIMLINE, LEADERLINE, EXTERNAL, default DIMLINE.
CHSTYLE option - controls the drawing style used for the optional horizontal and
vertical fixed crosshair markers that mark the centre of the circle/
arc being dimensioned. option = OFF (default), integer or line
pattern.
CHCOLOUR value - controls the drawing colour for the above. Value can be a colour
number or pre-defined colour name.
CHOS value - controls the distance by which the crosshairs overshoot the circle/
CHOS @ arc circumference. value can be negative, default 6.
ASUB value - controls the angle subtended by the optional projection arcs at
the circle/arc circumference. For DFLAG DIAMETER two arcs are
drawn, one at each end of the dimension line; for DFLAG RADIUS
only one arc is drawn. The midpoint of these arcs will intersect the
dimension line. ASUB 180 generates a circle for a diameter
dimension.
12.11.12 Querying . . .
Q DDNM X coord
Q DDNM Y coord
Q DDNM X coord Y coord - gives the X and/or Y Sheet coordinate(s) of the 3D position
of either the p-point specified by the NPPT attribute or the
position specified by the PKEY and PKDI attributes. These
values may be useful when attempting to position GLABs
and SLABs neatly.
Q EXTENT DMTX
DELETE NULL ANNO - deletes all RDIM, DPPT, DPBA and APPT elements with
DDNM set to NULREF. For PDIMs, if the first dimension point
(RPPT element) is inaccessible, then the entire PDIM will be
deleted; if only the second dimension point (RPOI element) is
inaccessible, then only that dimension point will be deleted,
leaving the PDIM and its centre point still defined.
13 Labelling
Labels are a form of drawing annotation, comprising text and/or graphics, associated with
Design items or Views. The Label elements are the General Label (GLAB), and the Special
Label (SLAB). SLABs are similar to GLABs except that they are generated from templates
rather than individually.
Label elements are owned by Layers or Views; SLAB templates (Text Label Templates,
(TXTMs)) exist as members of Label Libraries (LALBs). The relevant part of the DRAFT
database hierarchy is shown below.
LIBY
LAYE
LALB
GLAB SLAB
TXTM SYTM
DDNM
DDNM TMRF
Design database
element or VIEW
Labels may be created individually, or automatically following the definition of a set of rules
controlling the elements to which the Labels are to be applied (see Autotagging).
Figure 13:2.: A Typical Label Element illustrates a typical Label, showing its principal
features and attributes.
The above two commands are all that is needed to create a Label with the features shown in
Figure 13:2.: A Typical Label Element; the text which appears in the Label frame is by
default the name of the Design element at the Label attachment point, all other attributes
having default settings cascaded down from the owning Layer.
The Label attachment point will be at the origin of the element specified by the Labels
Design Data Name (DDNM) attribute.
For elements that have p-points or p-lines the attachment point can be varied by setting the
NPPT or PKEY attributes to the specified p-point number/p-line name respectively.
Example:
NPPT 2
- set NPPT to (p-point) 2
PKEY TOS
- set PKEY to p-line TOS (top of steel)
PKEY MEML
- set PKEY to member line
For elements with p-lines the attachment can be further varied by setting the PKDI p-line
distance) attribute. See P-line Attributes for details.
The ON command allows the DDNM and NPPT or PKEY/PKDI attributes to be set
simultaneously.
Example:
ON ID@
ON /PUMP1-1/NOZZ1
ON IDP @
ON P2 OF NOZZ4 OF EQUI /1101
ON PHEAD OF /BRAN2-1
ON PLEAVE OF /VALVE3
ON IDPLINE @
ON PPLINE BOS OF /SCTN.PN1_PN5
ON IDPDISTANCE @
ON PPLIN TOS OF /SCTN5 PROP 0.8
With the ON command it is also possible to specify an absolute distance along a p-line,
although the value given will be converted to a proportional value for storage in the
database:
ON PPLIN TOS OF /SCTN4 2500 FROM START
ON PPLIN BOS OF /SCTN5 1000 FROM END
If the FROM keyword is omitted then FROM START is assumed.
When using the ON command if values for NPPT, PKEY and PKDI are not specified then
the defaults will be used - any existing values may be overwritten.
The Label attachment point can be offset from the DDNM using the APOF (Attachment
Point Offset) attribute. This defines an offset position (in VIEW coordinates) measured from
the p-point/p-line distance referenced by the Label. The leader line will be attached to this
point (although if the clearance attribute (LLCL) is set the leader line will overshoot or stop
short of it). This means that the leader line and its terminator can be moved away from the
p-point to any desired position. By default APOF will be (0,0) - i.e. no offset. APOF may be
set directly, for example:
APOF 15 0
or in terms of Sheet coordinates by:
LEAD ATTA X455 Y677
LEAD ATTA @
The offset may be removed by:
LEAD ATTA DELETE (or APOF 0 0 or APOF UNSET)
The Body Text (BTEX) attribute is by default set to the intelligent text string #NAME, which
translates to the name of the Design element at the attachment point when the Label is
created. If the Design element at the attachment point is unnamed, an error-text string will
appear in the Label frame. This string is customisable and defined by the LAYEs NTEXT
attribute. See Customizing Error Text for further details.
BTEX NOZZLE 2
or can be set using a combination of explicit and intelligent text. For example, the command
BTEX NOZZLE 2#/#NAME
would produce the Label shown in Figure 13:3.: Label Text. Note how the size of the Label
frame automatically adjusts to accommodate the specified text.
Note the special hash-code #/ that generates a new line. See Intelligent Text for a full
description of DRAFTs Intelligent Text System.
The extent of the text defined by the BTEX setting can be queried by
Q EXTENT BTEX
See Text Strings for details.
Label text can be edited through use of the EDTEXT command. For example, if the target
string is NOZZLE 2:
EDTEXT NOZZLE 2 NOZZ 1-2 -
change Label text to NOZZ 1-2
Note: When editing intelligent text the intelligent text code itself must be specified, not the
resultant text. See Editing Text for full details of the EDTEXT command.
Example:
DDNM View
ON /View99
OFFS X45 Y45 Set Label origin to given offset coordinates. XYPS set to offset
coordinates (from Label attachment point)
AT X300 Y200 ABS Set Label origin to given absolute coordinates. XYPS set to
absolute coordinates.
AT X300 Y200 Set Label origin to given absolute coordinates. XYPS set to
offset coordinates (from Label attachment point)
Note: When a Pipe element is labelled directly, the Pipe origin is assumed to be the
position of the HEAD of the first Branch visible in the VIEW region, if any. If no
Branch HEADs are visible in the VIEW region, then the position of the HEAD of the
first Branch is used.
Constructed points (see Point and Line Construction) may also be used for Label
positioning operations. See Summary of Commands section at the end of this Chapter for
examples.
Labels may be oriented by the ANGLE command, which sets the Labels ADEG attribute if
an angle is specified explicitly, or the PPDI attribute if the orientation is specified as a p-point
direction. (The p-point must belong to the associated Design item DDNM but need not be
the same as the Labels attachment point). For example:
For further details of linestyle and colour functionality see Colours and Styles.
The clearance between text and frame is controlled by the GBOX attribute (default 1mm).
Figure 13:5.: Frame Clearance shows the effect of changing GBOX from 1mm to 4mm.
This facility could be used to hide labels attached to obscured Design elements.
Initial (default) values of all these attributes are cascaded to GLABs from their owning LAYE.
All the above attributes are set directly, for example:
CSPA 1
LSPA 1
The character height and letter height attributes are discussed further in Miscellaneous Text
Facilities.
CSPA and LSPA may be given negative values. For CSPA, small negative values (of the
order of -.1) will cause text to become compressed (values much smaller than this are not
useful). For LSPA, values of the order -.1 will compress lines; values of the order -3 will
reverse the order of lines. (Limits are -10 to +10 for LSPA, -0.5 to +10 for CSPA.)
Figure 13:6.: Label Text - Character Spacing and Line Spacing illustrates the effects of
varying the character spacing and line spacing.
Text justification and vertical alignment are controlled by the settings of the JUST and ALIG
attributes, which may have the following alternative settings:
ALIG BASE Text aligned with base of first character (on first line of text)
Here, horizontal justification is relative to the Label origin, vertical alignment is relative to the
text body - the area occupied by the text. The text base ignores text descenders (for
example, the tail of a p or a y).
Figure 13:7.: Horizontal Justification and Vertical Alignment illustrates the effect of varying
these attributes.
In Figure 13:8.: Text Base/Body Alignments, the symbol shows the text string origins for
BBODY and BASE alignments. For a multi-line text string (as shown), the origin is at the
baseline of the first line of text.
The Label FONT attribute controls the Label text font - see Miscellaneous Text Facilities for
details of text fonts.
The TXCOLOUR attribute controls the text colour - see Colours and Styles, for details of
style and colour settings.
The initial settings of LTER and TSIZ are cascaded down from LAYE level.
The leader line clearance (attribute LLCL, 0mm by default) is set as follows:
The attachment point offset (APOF), unset by default, is set by commands such as:
Labels also have a POS attribute, which by default is unset. If the POS attribute is set, the
3D World position specified will be used as the leader-line attachment point (rather than the
DDNM and NPPT or DDNM, PKEY, and PKDI attributes). A DDNM attribute still has to be
specified for the label to be properly defined. This allows labels to be positioned at a
calculated position (for example, in the centre of a Panel or half-way along a GENSEC)
without having to determine the most suitable p-point or pline to reference.
The leader line may be straight or bent, with one or two bend point positions specified either
explicitly (by defining either a specific point within the VIEW or an offset from the attachment
point), or implicitly by specifying that the leader line is to contain a vertical or horizontal
portion.
Examples of commands used to specify the bend point explicitly are shown below, with the
results of the commands being shown in Figure 13:9.: Bending the Leader Line.
LEAD BENT OFFS X7 Specify bend point as offset from Label attachment
point
LEAD BENT PT 2 @ Specify second of two bend points using the cursor
LEAD BENT PT 2 X722 Y40 Specify second of two bend points explicitly
LEAD BENT PT 1 OFF X15 Specify first of two bend points as offsets from Label
attachment point
The above commands set the Labels LSHA (Leader Line Shape) and BPOF (Bend-Point
Offset) attributes.
When defining two bend-points using a single command, the first point to be defined should
be the one nearest the 3D item labelled. The BPOF attribute stores one or two pairs of
coordinates defining the positions of the bend-points relative to the paper position of the p-
point to which the label is attached. The LSHA attribute defines how the values stored in
BPOF are to be interpreted. These attributes may be set (and queried) directly, for example:
LSHA BENT
BPOF -50 0 -75 25
When defining bend point 2 of two individual bend points, bend-point 1 will be set to Offset
X0 Y0 if it does not already exist. When deleting bend point 1, bend-point 2 (if it exists) will
be made the new bend-point 1.
Depending on the position of the bend point, the leader line connection point may change -
see the bottom illustration of Figure 13:9.: Bending the Leader Line for an example.
In the case of a bent leader line specified as having a horizontal or bent portion, the bend
point will be at the intersection of the horizontal/vertical part of the line and a sloping line
drawn at a user-specified angle to the attachment point. The first of these two portions to be
specified will be at the end nearest to the attachment point. The portion of the leader line
nearest to the connection point will go to a corner of the Label box if the horizontal/vertical
portion is specified first, or to the middle of a box line if the horizontal/vertical portion is
specified last. See Figure 13:10.: Bending the Leader Line - Horizontal/Vertical Portions for
examples of the commands involved and their results.
If a Labels position relative to its attachment point is changed then on Drawing regeneration
the leader line, if bent, will always be drawn specially - you dont necessarily have to
redefine the bend point position.
GAP @ Insert gap by specifying start and finish points with cursor
GAP AT @ Insert gap of default length centred on cursor position
GAP AT @ L 5 Insert 5mm gap centred on cursor position
GAP OVER @ Insert gap by specifying start and finish points with cursor, and
delete all other gaps in line
GAP DELETE @ Delete gap specified by cursor
GAP DEL ALL Delete all gaps on current Sheet
GAP TIDY Deletes all unused gaps from Label
The default gap length may be set by using the SETDEFAULT GAP command, for example:
Gaps in Label leader lines can be sketched and erased in the same way as Dimension
projection line gaps - see Detail Attributes of Linear Dimensions.
Note: For this functionality to be available the Annotation Modification form must be loaded.
The form contains the point construction Option list button that allows positions to be
defined in terms of end-points, intersection points, etc.
To modify the Label, click on the hot spot that you wish to move, and click on the new
position. A transient image of the Label will appear, which will move as the mouse is moved.
You can then do one of the following:
Click on OK on the form, to accept the changes you have made.
Cancel allows the command to be aborted with no change to the Label.
Reset causes the position of the current hot-spot to be reset to its database position; Delete
causes the current hot-spot to be deleted or set to a default position:
A bend point will be deleted
The attachment point will be set to the p-point (i.e. APOF 0 0)
The connection point will be set to its default value (i.e. CPOF STANDARD)
The angle of the label will be set to 0.
The Label position will not be affected.
FONT Font
The initial values for these attributes on a newly created SLAB are cascaded from the
owning Layer. See Colours and Styles for more information on colours and line styles.
The text attribute of a TXTM (ie BTEX) can be an explicit or intelligent text string, but in the
latter case the expanded result cannot be shown on the library Sheet (ie LALB). It can only
be evaluated at the SLAB because it will depend upon the SLABs DDNM attribute.
The Example Text attribute (ETEX) of a TXTM is a documentary attribute to allow, for
example, a description of the template.
The ATEX attribute of a SLAB has a special purpose. When the BTEX attribute of the
referenced TXTM contains the hashcode #ATEX it will be replaced by the ATEX value. If
the TXTM does not use #ATEX the SLABs ATEX attribute has no effect. Thus for example
if TXTM /TEMPLATE has:
BTEX Number #ATEX
Then creating a SLAB that references it and setting the ATEX attribute:
NEW SLAB
DDNM /VESS-1
TMRF /TEMPLATE
ATEX 99
will create a label with the text Number 99 attached to /VESS-1.
Note that a SYTM may be composed of several graphics primitives each drawn in a different
style or colour. Overwriting the SYTM attribute values will cause all the graphics primitives to
adopt the single linestyle or colour specified.
The initial values for these attributes on a newly created SLAB are cascaded from the Layer.
See Colours and Styles for more information on styles and colour.
The SYSZ attribute may be used to change the scale uniformly in both directions, for
example
Figure 13:12.: Varying the SLAB XYSCALE attribute illustrates the effects of varying
XYSCALE.
Note: Symbols (SYMB), see 2D Drafting, also have the XYSCALE attribute and may be
manipulated in the same way. XYSCALE is also settable at LAYE level.
XYSCALE 1 1
XYSCALE 1 2 XYSCALE 2 1
The CPOF attribute can be set explicitly or by using the LEADERLINE CONNECTION
syntax. For example:
Note: The CPOF attribute for a SLAB is an offset from the Label origin. For a SLAB that
references a TXTM, this is defined by the JUST and ALIG attributes of the TXTM.
Hence if the JUST or ALIG components of a TXTM are modified the leaderline will be
connected to a different part of the Label.
The selection system makes it possible to do a global change on the CPOF attribute
of all SLABS that use a given TXTM, using a macro such as:
13.3 Autotagging
DRAFTs autotagging facility enables you to generate automatically a series of Labels in
one or more VIEWS of a Drawing, having defined a set of rules to control those elements
that are to be labelled and the (common) appearance of the labels.
The automatically generated labels (which may be GLABs or SLABs) can then be
individually edited. For example, it may be necessary to reposition a label or to modify its
leader line. The editing functionality is subject to a few constraints so as to prevent Labels
from becoming out of line with the criteria under which the autotagging process operated.
The autotagging process is under the control of a Tag Rule (TAGR) element. The relevant
part of the DRAFT database hierarchy is shown overleaf.
A Tag Rule exists as a member of a Layer (LAYE) or of a Tag Ruleset (TRST). Tag Rulesets
are owned by Tag Rule Libraries (TRLB).
The Layer element has a Tag Ruleset Reference attribute (TRSF), which if set will refer to a
TRST. All automatically generated Labels will be owned by a Layer. Those Labels within a
given Layer will have been generated either from TAGRs owned by that Layer or from
TAGRs referenced by the Layer via its TRSF attribute.
Having defined a TAGR element, the Labels are generated by giving the command:
UPDATE TAGGING
The UPDATE TAGGING command should be given whenever the Design changes such
that Labels move (but remain within the VIEW), or if the TAGR itself changes.
LIBY
TRLB
VIEW
TRST
LAYE
TAGR
TRSF
TMRF
GLAB, IDLN
SLAB or
template GLAB/SLAB GLAB/SLAB
element
I d List or SORF SORF
DESIGN TAGR
element
TMRF
GLAB,
SLAB or IDLN
template
element
Id List or
DESIGN
element
NEW TRLB
NEW TRST
NEW TAGR /TR1
Note: If the TMRF attribute is set to reference a GLAB or SLAB (as opposed to a TXTM or
SYTM) than that GLAB or SLAB must not have been generated by a Tag Rule.
Having constructed the hierarchy and set up the necessary references, the items to be
tagged are defined by the TAG command, which applies to those elements defined by the
IDLN setting. Examples of the use of the TAG command are:
TAG ALL NOZZ
TAG ALL BRAN MEM
TAG (ALL VTWA ALL VFWA ALL VALVE) WI (STYP EQ GATE AND
ABORE GE 80)
TAG ALL WI (CREF NE =0)
The TAG command has the same syntax as the USE style_name FOR command. See
Representation Rules and Creating Labels and Label Text in Part 1, Basic Drawing Creation
& Output for more examples.
The CRIT attribute for the current tag rule can be set explicitly.
Example:
Label Appearance
This is defined by the element referenced by the TAGRs TMRF attribute. If the referenced
element is a GLAB or a SLAB, the generated labels will be identical to it except for attributes
DDNM and LVIS (which will be set TRUE). The GLAB or SLAB need not be in the current
Drawing.
If the referenced element is a TXTM or SYTM, the basic style of the generated SLABs will
be defined by the referenced template, but detail appearance attributes will be cascaded
down from the owning LAYE. Attributes CHEI, FONT, LFSTYLE/LFCOLOUR and
TXCOLOUR may be set at LAYE level to TEMPLATE, which means that these attributes
will take their values from the template referenced by the TAGR. (This applies only to
SLABs; other LAYE members, for which the TEMPLATE setting would be meaningless,
would be created with values of 4mm, 1, 1 and 1 (respectively) for these attributes.)
Elements to be Tagged
These are defined by the element referenced by the TAGRs IDLN attribute. By default, this
is set to reference the WORLD, in which case all elements included in the owning VIEWs Id
List will be considered for tagging. If the IDLN attribute is set to refer to an Id List, only those
elements common to this Id List and the VIEWs Id List will be considered for tagging.
Similarly, if the IDLN attribute is set to refer to a Design element, only those elements
common to this element and the VIEWs Id List will be considered for tagging.
13.3.3 Querying
TMRF and IDLN are queryable in the usual way. With a TAGR as current element, the query
command
Q DESC
will output the tagging rule used.
A description of all tag rules relevant to a Layer (i.e. those owned by it and those owned by
the TRST it references) may be output by:
Using OVERWRITE will destroy any editing of individual Labels that may have been done.
Not using OVERWRITE will cause existing Labels to be updated so as to reflect any
changes that may have occurred in the Design database; new Labels will only be created
for those Design elements found without Labels with correctly set SORF attributes. Any
existing Label (with a correctly set SORF attribute) on a Design element which no longer
exists or which no longer meets the criteria of the Tag Rule (see above) will be deleted.
The following example illustrates the effect of updating a Tag Rule a second time (without
OVERWRITE):
VIEW /VIEW1 has an Id List /LIST1 which calls up four Equipments, /VESS1, /VESS2, /
VESS3 and /VESS4. /VIEW1/LAYE1 owns Tag Rule /TR1 which is simply defined as TAG
ALL EQUI. The IDLN attribute of /TR1 is set to /*, i.e. the whole of /LIST1 is to be scanned
and all EQUIs tagged.
When /TR1 is updated for the first time four Labels are created in /VIEW1, one on each of /
VESS1, /VESS2, /VESS3 and /VESS4. For the sake of convenience we shall refer to these
Labels as /LAB1, /LAB2, /LAB3 and /LAB4, although the autotagging process would not
actually give them names.
The following DESIGN and DRAFT database changes are then made:
/VESS1 - unaltered
/VESS2 - moved by W2500
/VESS3 - deleted
/VESS4 - removed from /LIST1
/VESS5 - added to /LIST1
When /TR1 is subsequently updated the Labels change as follows:
/LAB1 - updated, but no changes
/LAB2 - updated, and moved to reflect new position of /VESS2
/LAB3 - deleted
/LAB4 - deleted
/LAB5 - new Label, created on /VESS5
was used to define a window within which the labels to be repositioned lie. By default, the
Labels will be offset by 25mm (in the X and Y directions) from the Label attachment point.
The SPREAD LOCAL command can be used with the PDMS general selection syntax (see
the DESIGN Reference Manual, Part 2). Other variations of the SPREAD LOCAL command
are:
With remote positioning, labels will be positioned around the VIEW border. It is possible to
define a margin outside the VIEW frame that will define the positioning of the Labels. It is
also possible to define a side of the VIEW frame alongside of which repositioned Labels will
not be placed, and the minimum permissible gap between any two Labels can also be
specified.
Labels will be repositioned at the (allowed) VIEW side nearest to their attachment points.
Labels along the top and bottom sides will be rotated through 90 (readable from the right-
hand side) unless otherwise specified. To avoid overlapping, some leader lines will be
doglegged at 45.
Examples of the SPREAD REMOTE command are:
SPREAD REMOTE OMIT TOP Prevent Labels being placed alongside the top side
of the rectangle around which they are to be
repositioned.
SPREAD REMOTE GAP 5 Specify 5mm as minimum gap between any two
Labels.
Note: All options must be specified on the same command line; the previous SPREAD
parameter settings will not be remembered.
ON ID @ specify the Design element for the label attachment - sets DDNM
AT @ offset the Label from the default using the cursor - sets XYPS, OSET
AT @ ABS absolute position for the Label using the cursor - sets XYPS, OSET
ANG value turn the Label through an anticlockwise angle - sets ADEG
SPREAD LOCAL OFFSET distance specify Label spread offset (X and Y directions)
SPREAD LOCAL XOFFSET distance specify Label spread offset (X direction only)
SPREAD LOCAL YOFFSET distance specify Label spread offset (Y direction only)
SPREAD LOCAL RADIUS distance specify Label spread offset indirectly by giving a
diagonal length
SPREAD REMOTE GAP distance specify minimum gap distance between any two
Labels.
CHEI TEM (Special Labels only) - set text height to that of Template (TXTM) element
OFFS set text position as an offset from the p-point - sets OSET TRUE (default)
ABS set text position as a specific position on the Sheet - sets OSET FALSE
LEAD BENT AT @ OFFSET Y50 bend leader line at an offset from a position set by
the cursor
LEAD BENT CENTRE OF /CIRC1 bend a leader line at the centre of the named circle
LEAD BENT OFFS X value Y value bend a leader line at a position explicitly (repeat X
value Y value for two bend points)
LEAD BENT PT 2 X722 Y40 specify 2nd of two bend points explicitly
LEAD BENT PT 1 OFF X15 specify 1st of two bend points as offsets from Label
attachment point
LEAD CLEA ENDP OF sets leader line clearance using a constructed point
/LINE1 QUAL X500 Y500
APOF value value offsets attachment point from DDNM (Sheet units)
APOF value value offsets attachment point from DDNM (Sheet units)
GAP @ specify a gap in a leader line by giving start & finish points
13.6.9 Querying . . .
ORIG origin
TEX text
Q DESC option - (at GLAB) gives Label attachment point, Sheet position, offset and
angle of turn.
- (at SLAB) gives template type, Sheet position, offset and angle of
turn.
Q TRSF DESC - (at LAYE) gives description of all relevant tag rules
DELETE NULL ANNO deletes all GLAB and SLAB elements with DDNM set to
NULREF
13.6.11 Autotagging . . .
CRIT ALL BRAN WI (HBOR sets the CRIT attribute for the current tag rule explicitly
LE 80 OR TBOR LE 80)
UPDATE TAGG OVERWRITE as UPDATE TAGG, but all labels recreated from
scratch
14 Intelligent Text
Intelligent text allows data to be automatically extracted from the Design, Catalogue or
Drawing databases and entered on a Drawing. Intelligent text uses codewords, which all
begin with a # character.
Example:
PLTX projection line text (i.e. ADIR, APPT, DPOI, DPPT, DPBA)
BTEX general text string of General Labels (GLAB) and Template (TXTM).
(See also Text Strings)
14.1 Codewords
The codewords fall into one of six categories:
Codewords that access data associated with the Design or Catalogue element
referenced by the DDNM attribute of the Drawing database element. See Accessing
Data from the DESIGN or Catalogue Databases.
Codewords that access data associated with the Drawing database element that owns
the text string. Accessing Data from the DRAFT Database.
Codewords that access dimensioning data. See Accessing Dimensioning Data.
Codewords that access UDA data. See Accessing UDA Data.
Codewords that access administrative data. See Accessing Administrative Data.
Codewords with special functions. See Codewords with Special Functions.
For users that work in XYZ format the alternative codewords: #POSX, #POSY, #POSZ are
provided.
The position attributes that can be modified in this way are: POS, HPOS, TPOS, APOS,
TPOS, NPOS, POSS, POSE, DRPS and DELP. Note that the codeword #POSE can have
two meanings depending on the context: for SCTNs it means the POSE attribute (Section
End Position), in other cases it means the Easting of the POS attribute.
For other position attributes single coordinates can be obtained by using a single index
qualifier. For example:
#GCOFG[2] would provide the Northing (or Y coord) of the Gross Centre of Gravity position.
Only single index qualifiers are allowed, thus: #GCOFG[2,3] will generate an error.
The position codewords generate values in World coordinates. It is possible to generate
values in the coordinate systems of other elements by the use of transform keywords - see
Transforming Position/Direction Data.
Note: As an alternative to the standard ENU or XYZ formats, positions can be output in '+/-
' format by appending '+' to the codeword. For example:
For example:
Ppoint codewords can have an optional ^ delimiter between the p-point number and the
attribute, for example:
#P2^POS
The delimiter is optional, but it must be used when the number is omitted, for example:
#P^POS
in which case the value from the NPPT attribute of the relevant piece of annotation will be
used.
The following sub-codewords may follow the p-line codeword #PK or #PKname:
For example:
#PK^DIR gives the direction of the p-line given by the PKEY attribute
The #PK^PKDI keyword will extract the position along a p-line at which a Label is attached.
This will generate the position defined by the PKDI attribute of the label. Thus if PKDI = 0
the Label will be positioned at the start of the p-line (defined by the PKEY attribute) and the
start position will be generated. If PKDI = 0.5 it will be at the p-lines mid-point and its mid-
point position generated.
Besides GLABs and SLABs, the VNOT, ADIM, DPPT, RPPT and PPPT elements also
possess the PKDI attribute.
Note: In DRAFT p-lines are always cut back by SCTN end-preparations and member-lines
are always extended to the working point. The positions generated by these
codewords reflect this functionality.
The transform qualifier (see Transforming Position/Direction Data) may be used with any of
these sub-codewords, but not for p-line name. For example:
The Property Default (PRDEFAULT) and Property Purpose (PRPURPOSE) settings can be
obtained in a similar manner. In each case the first part of the codeword (i.e. PROPERTY
etc) can be abbreviated to four characters.
PROPERTY values are evaluated as distances or bores if the PTYPE attribute of the
relevant DDTA (or DDAT) element is set to DIST or BORE respectively.
Attributes of other DRAFT elements can be accessed using the FROM qualifier. For
example:
#AUTH<FROM DRWG> Generates the Author of the Drawing owning the annotation
elements. See Extracting Attribute Data from any Specified
Element for full details of the FROM qualifier.
Special functionality is provided for the following codewords that extract revision data:
#APPR Approve
#RVSN Revision
These codewords extract their data from the first REVI element in the Sheets list. If the
qualifier <FR DRWG> is appended then data will be extracted from the first REVI element in
the Drawings list. To extract data from a specific REVI element a qualifier should be used.
The REVI element can be specified by name, for example:
#RVAU<FR/REV3>
or the pseudo-reference array attributes SREVAY and DREVAY can be used. For example:
#RVDT<FR SREVAY[2]> Generates the revision date from the sheet's second
revision
#APPR<FR DREVAY[3]> Generates the approver from the drawing's third revision
For details of the SREVAY and DREVAY attributes see Drawing Revisions.
For details of the FROM qualifier see Extracting Attribute Data from any Specified Element.
#DEF Use default text string supplied by owning ADIM or LDIM (Must appear
alone in a text attribute, e.g BTEX #DEF is valid, name #DEF is not.)
The following codewords are valid in the PLTX of LDIMs and their members, and cause the
3D Dimension Point position to be generated in World coordinates.
#DIMPOS 3D position
For example, if the Dimension Direction is North, the Northing of the Dimension Position will
be output - i.e. exactly the same result as #DIMPOSN. If the Dimension Direction is not
orthogonal, the full 3D position will be output (i.e. as would be generated by #DIMPOS)
together with error message
64,399: /ldim-name: Dimension direction not orthogonal, so unable to calculate single
coordinate for codeword #DIMPOSDD
These codewords may be used in conjunction with the WRT qualifier (see Transforming
Position/Direction Data) to generate relative positions.
At a DPOI which has POS and optionally DDNM attributes set, #POS will always obtain data
from the element referenced by DDNM. #POS will only obtain data from the POS attribute
setting if DDNM = 0/0. Hence you should always use #DIMPOS to generate the coordinates
of DPOI elements.
The following codeword is valid in the PLTX of ADIMs and their members, and causes the
3D Dimension Point direction to be generated in World coordinates.
#DIMDIR3D direction
No qualifiers may be used with this codeword.
DEPT and LIBY elements have a DATEFOrmat attribute. It controls the format of the values
of DATE (of DRWGs) and RVDT (of REVIs) attributes which are automatically generated.
DATEFOrmat may be set to:
The tabbing codeword controls tabbing, taking the form #n, where n is the number of the
column where the next character is to be output. For example:
The blanks in the output character string will be padded with spaces. For example:
ABC#10DEF
would appear on a drawing as
ABCvvvvvvDEF
(where v is used here to denote a space). The string
#NAME#15#CATR#25#CREF
would expand (typically) to
/PUMP1/NSvvvvv/NFJJvvvvv/PIPE1-1
If the number specified is already exceeded by the length of the output character string then
a single space will be inserted. For example:
#NAME#5#CATR#10#CREF
would expand to
/PUMP1/NSv/NFJJv/PIPE1-1
Tabbing will take account of linefeeds within the text string, whether specified explicitly or by
the new line generator code #/. Hence
#5#NAME#/#8#CATR#/#8#CREF
would expand to
vvvv/PUMP1/NS
vvvvvvv/NFJJ
vvvvvvv/PIPE1-1
The use of this feature in combination with a fixed-width font (e.g. style 6 or 7) allows you to
arrange text neatly in a tabular form. Used in combination with Autotagging and the PDMS
Programmable Macro Language (PML), it is possible to generate schedules on drawings
easily. See Schedule Generation.
14.7.4 # Character
The codeword ##outputs a single # character.
14.7.5 Underlining
When a GLAB text string has been underlined, GBOX should be set to zero in order for the
leaderline to meet the underline.
The codes above apply only to intelligent text rendered using a TrueType font. They are not
treated as codewords when the AVEVA font is in use. If one of the above codes is used,
when the corresponding style is already set as requested by the codeword, it is not treated
as a codeword.
Note: The TrueType font assigned to the element can be set upfront as Bold or Italic
without having to use the above codes in the string, when selecting a True Type font
from the selection form:
14.8 Substrings
There are two methods of specifying that a substring of the data associated with a code
word is required for output.
This form can be used for putting codewords back to back in a text string where the other
codeword delimiters are not suitable, for example, when a space is not required between
codeword data. For example:
#POS #NAME would, when expanded, have a space between the two data items:
#POS<WRT ZONE>
#POSU<WRT OWNE>
If an element type is specified, it must refer to an owner of the Design element specified in
the DDNM attribute. This may be the immediate owner or an element in the database
hierarchy above the DDNM element.
If a reference attribute is specified, it should refer to a reference attribute of the DDNM
element, for example OWNE or CREF. The reference attribute may also be a UDA
<WRT OWNE>
<WRT HREF>
<WRT :uda>
Individual components of reference array attributes may also be used:
<WRT CRFA[3]>
<WRT :UDARR[2]>
The default coordinate system is the Design World - i.e. the implied syntax is:
<WRT WORL>
The qualifier CE must be used to refer to the coordinate system of the current element. For
example, to report the position of P3 of a Box with respect to the Box origin:
#P3POS<WRT CE>
Only position, direction, displacement and orientation codewords may have transform
qualifiers. This includes some P-line and p-point attributes.
When outputting a qualified position in +/- format, the + must appear before the qualifier, for
example:
#P1POSU+<WRT /DATUM>
#POSE<FROM SITE> Outputs the Easting of the Site above the DDNMelement
#DTXR<FROM TUBE> Outputs detailing RTEXT for the implied Tube associated
with the DDNM element.
#HBOR<FROM CREF> Outputs the HBOR of the Branch referred to by the CREF
of the DDNM element
#SPRE<FROM :fred> Outputs the SPRE of the element referred to by the :fred
attribute of the DDNM
The first three examples refer explicitly to elements by name or type. The next three contain
reference attributes of the current element, the referenced element being accessed. The
last is a reference array attribute and must be followed by an array index.
More than one navigation parameter may be used to enable compound navigation to acces
<FROM CRFA[2] OWNE>
means data from the owner of the element referred to by CRFA[2].
#MTXZ<FROM /VALVE1 TUBE> Outputs the ZTEXT relevant to the implied tubing
of /VALVE1.
If the navigation qualifier is omitted, the appropriate current element is usually used for data
extraction. However certain codewords extract data from a specific element type rather than
from the current element. An example of this is #PRFL. Data is extracted from the PRFL
attribute of the SUBS element which owns the current element.
Standard Codewords such as #BRAN and #DRWG are equivalent to #NAME<FROM
BRAN> etc.
Pseudo- reference attributes can be used within codeword navigation qualifiers. For
example #XXXX<FR SPREF> will extract the data for attribute XXXX of the element
referenced by attribute SPREF of the current Design element. (Note that SPREF is a
pseudo-attribute of NOZZ as well as being a standard attribute for all Piping Components.)
14.12.1 General
The format of distance, position and bore data generated by codewords is controlled by the
UCOD attribute of the Layer element.
All intelligent text codewords generate the same format for FINCH and FINCH US units
(as set in the UCOD attribute of the Layer):
UCOD FINCH DIST set distance units to PDMS style feet and inches,
e.g. 55.13/16
UCOD FINCH US DIST set distance units to USA style feet and inches,
e.g. 5-5 13/16
The INCH option may be qualified to allow different formats for distance, position, and bore
values generated by intelligent text codewords. These are:
The setting is NOMINAL by default. The UCOD setting controls the bore sizes output to a
drawing by DRAFTs intelligent text system. The two qualifiers have exactly the same effect
as the general PDMS PRECI BORE NOM (or PRECI BORE ACT) commands.
UCOD settings can be queried by using the pseudo-attributes:
Q UCODD and Q UCODB
The switch units code is %U so, for example, to generate a dimension in both Imperial and
metric units, with the second value in brackets, the intelligent text string:
#DIM() %U(#DIM())
should be used. The units may be switched back to the standard units by a subsequent use
of a %U code.
PCODE LIN MM TO 2 DPLS Set linear (metric) precision to two decimal places
PCODE LIN IN TO 2 DPLS Set linear (Imperial) precision to two decimal places
PCODE LIN FRA TO 32 NDS Set linear (Imperial, fractional) precision to 32nds
PCODE ANG TO 2 DPLS Set linear angular precision to two decimal places
Angles output in degrees, minutes or seconds will be in the standard format (i.e. using , or
). Angles output in the decimal format will have no symbols. If required a symbol can be
accessed from DRAFTs alternative character set by using the code ~0.
Data output in metre or centimetre format will be to the precision specified by the PCODE
MM option. Thus if the MM precision is set to 1 dp, output will be set to 4 dp for metre output
and 2 dp for centimetre output.
Four pseudo-attributes exist to allow the querying of the individual parts of the PCODE
attribute:
These two attributes control the output format of the positional codewords that request the
position of certain elements (e.g. #POS, #P2POS, #PKNA^POSS, #PKTOP^POSE).
If the project does not define the FR or LP positions along one or more of the axes, the
request for a corresponding coordinate expressed in the Ship Reference System will return
instead the coordinate expressed as a pure number in millimetres, as if the XYZ expansion
had been requested (e.g. X=FR40, Y=LP4, Z=5000).
The value of the attribute will cascade down from the DEPT or LIBY element to their child
elements when they are created.
If the + modifier follows the position code word (e.g. #POS+), it overrides the expansion
format setting defined by the LAYE, requesting a purely numerical output (NUMBERS
format). Other than using the + suffix, there is no other way to override the expansion
format individually for a given code word. However, a separate LAYE with different settings
can be created, and the element using intelligent text placed there.
Example:
POSFOR SHIP
sets the output format for positional codewords to ship reference coordinate format.
Example:
GRSYS NULREF
tells DRAFT to use all available grid systems with the default orientation (0, 0, 0) and
the purpose SHIP when searching for the nearest GRIDLN element
GRSYS /RO-RO
tells DRAFT to use the grid system /RO-RO exclusively when searching for the
nearest GRIDLN element.
substring editing by
parts
substring editing by
characters
data qualifier
array index
sub-codeword (after #PK only)
#DTXR<FROM ROD> detailing RTEXT from the implied rod of the current
element
14.16 Notes
In the codeword descriptions given in this section, the words owner or owning (enclosed
in quotes) refer to the element of the type described equal to or above the referenced
element in the database hierarchy - not necessarily the true owner. Where the word owner
appears (unenclosed by quotes) then this means the true owner.
General points:
All text strings have a maximum length of 1000 characters in unexpanded form, 1500
characters in their expanded form.
Lower case and upper case (but not mixed case) forms of all codewords are valid.
When a piece of text generated from a # code word itself contains a # code (or a ~ code
or % code, see Miscellaneous Text Facilities) then this code is not expanded unless
the original piece of text comes from either a DRAFT or DESIGN database text
attribute or a text user-defined attribute (UDA) from any database.
#TCON
a = N, E or U
#APPR approver
#RVSN revision
#/ new line
## single #
14.17.5 Sub-Strings...
14.17.10 Querying...
14.17.11 Updating...
UCODE FINCH US DIST set distance units in feet & inches, USA styl
UCODE FINCH DIST set distance units in feet & inches, PDMS style
PCODE LINEAR NCHES TO integer set linear (Imperial) precision to integer decimal
DPLS places
PCODE ANGLES TO integer [DPLS set angular precision to integer decimal places
| DEGREES | MINUTES | SECONDS] (or degrees, or minutes, or seconds).
GRSYS NULREF when searching for the nearest GRIDLN, consider all
available grid systems with the default orientation (0, 0, 0)
and purpose SHIP
GRSYS name/reference when searching for the nearest GRIDLN, consider exclusively
the grid system given in the command. It is an error to pass a
name or reference to something other than a GRIDSY
element.
Note: The GRIDSY attribute is taken into account only if the POSFOR attribute has the
value SHIP.
Within DRAFT, text is used by Dimensions (dimension line and projection line text), Labels,
and as part of the 2D-drafting facilities (TEXP elements). The text is set using the BTEX,
DMTX or PLTX attribute of those elements, as appropriate. (See Special Labels and Text
Label Templates for other uses of BTEX, also the ATEX, DMTX, PLTX and ETEX text
attributes.)
The system now supports both AVEVA fonts, which are supplied with the product, and
standard Windows True Type fonts.
Normal Bold
Upward Forward Reverse Upward Forward Reverse
1 11 12 13 14 15 16
2 21 22 23 24 25 26
3 31 32 33 34 35 36
4 41 42 43 44 45 46
For example, font 35 is variation 5 of font family 3. Variation 5 is always bold and forward-
sloping. From the table it will be seen that fonts 11, 21, 31, and 41 are equivalent to 1, 2, 3,
and 4. (For completeness the font attributes can also be set to 10, 20, 30, and 40 which are
also equivalent to 1, 2, 3, and 4). Bold fonts are not provided for all font families. In such
cases the selection of a bold option will result in the use of the appropriate normal font.
Font switching can be prevented and the escape character output by doubling it (i.e. %%).
Invalid codes (e.g. %51) will be output literally. The font switching character sequence does
not have to be preceded or followed by blank characters. For example
ABC%04DEF%pGHI will be output as the 9-character string ABCDEFGHI with the two
sub-strings ABC and GHI in the principal font, and the middle three characters (i.e. DEF)
in variation 4 (i.e. upright bold) of the principal font.
The special handling of the '0' digit (preserving the current font family or variation) applies to
AVEVA fonts only. Since the font numbers 05, 06, 07, 08, and 09 are reserved for TrueType
fonts, the font switching sequences %05, %06, %07, %08, and %09 are interpreted literally,
as the font switch to a TrueType font specified after the '%' character.
E Z Superscript `3'
H Steelwork H-Section 2
I Steelwork I-Section 3
J Steelwork T-Section 4
K Steelwork Double Angle 5
L Steelwork L-Section 6
M Mu 7
N Yen sign *
Q Copyright symbol /
text_type is the text attribute in question, which can be any DRAFT text attribute,
including the name attributes OSFN and BSFN. If text_type is not
specified, BTEX is assumed.
number is the order of occurrence of string_1 within the target string. If this is
omitted then the first occurrence, is assumed, if a value of 0 is specified
then all occurrences of string_1 are processed (i.e. replaced by string_2).
Several editing instructions may be given in the same command line. The command
EDT text_type APP string
will append the given string to the specified text attribute.
The different syntax options of the EDTEXT command are illustrated by the examples given
below.
Target string: The dog, the cat and the rabbit were in the garden
gives: The dog, that cat and the rabbit were in the garden
gives: The dog, the cat and Dolores were in the garden
gives: The dog, the cat and that rabbit were in the garden
gives: The dog, that cat and that rabbit were in that
garden
gives: The horse, the cow and the rabbit were in my garden
Note: When editing intelligent text the intelligent text code itself must be specified, not the
resultant text.
Q FONTS
This may provide, for example the following information:
Fontdirectory /%PDMSEXE%
Fontfamily 1 IR 6 Style 1 Angle 17
Fontfamily 2 IR 6 Style 2 Angle 17
Fontfamily 3 IR 4 Style 3 Angle 17
Fontfamily 4 IR 6 Style 6 Angle 17
TrueType fonts:
Font no. 6 face Times New Roman (Times)
Font no. 5 face Arial (Arial)
The commands
Q FONTS PDMS
Q FONTS TRUETYPE
will show either AVEVA or TrueType fonts only.
PFON 3005 Bold and Italic version of the TrueType font no. 5
Note that for AVEVA fonts the font itself determines its style (Bold, Italic, etc.).
For TrueType fonts it is also possible to specify the font by name:
FONT 'BOM font'
FONT 'BOM font Bold'
Top of body
Capitals line
Character
Letter Height
Height
Base line
Bottom of body
The gap between the capitals line and the top of the character body is 20% of the character
height, so the letter height = 0.8* character height. The gap for descenders between the
base line and the bottom of body is one third of the character height. (These proportions do
not apply to the SCRIPT font.)
When no p-line position is stated explicitly the default value for proportional distance is
used. This default may be altered by using the PKDI SETD command (see P-line Distance).
The initial value is 0.5, meaning the mid-point of the p-line.
However, for Labels (GLAB, SLAB) and View Notes (VNOT), there is an additional
possibility. If the p-line is used for position, then the same p-line may also be used instead of
the ADEG attribute to store angle.
The syntax for p-line angle is as follows. This is normally used to set the ADEG attribute:
ANGle PPLINe word OF element_identifier [+] plxyz
ANGle PPLINe word OF element_identifier - plxyz
ADEGrees PPLINe word OF element_identifier [+] plxyz
If p-line is required for angle on a Label or View Note, there is a simple way of setting it. This
is done using the following syntax:
ANGle PKEY or
ADEGrees PKEY
This command first checks that a p-line is in use for position, and uses it to define the angle
of the Label or View Note.
The ANGle PPLINe syntax may also be used to store p-line for angle in the database.
However this will only be done if both of the following criteria are satisfied:
The p-line identified must be that used for p-line position
The p-line direction syntax must not be qualified by a p-line axis
means that the p-line used to position the annotation is also used for angle.
The DRGP (Drawing Priority) SCTN attribute is used by DRAFT to determine how to draw
SCTN ends in hidden-lines-removed views. DRGP may be set (in the Design Database) to
any integer value between 0 (highest priority) and 50.
The effect is demonstrated in the diagrams below, which show plan views of four SCTNs
meeting at a node point. The top flanges of the SCTNs are coplanar and none of the SCTN
ends have been cut back. In Figure 16:1.: Effect of SCTN DRGP Attribute (a) the DRGP
attributes of all four SCTNs have been left at 0; as a result DRAFT is unable to determine
how to draw the intersection lines between the SCTNs and so draws the full outlines of all
SCTNs. In Figure 16:1.: Effect of SCTN DRGP Attribute (b) the DRGP attributes of the four
SCTNs have been set as indicated, which confers a priority order on them. As a result,
DRAFT is able to determine the representation that is intended.
DRGP=2 DRGP=0
DRGP=1
DRGP=0
(a) (b)
Users should be aware that using this functionality in non-orthogonal Views may produce
slightly distorted results. This is because when producing the graphics the SCTNs are
'shifted' slightly in the View direction by an amount relative to the SCTN's DRGP value to
allow the hidden-line-removal code to function. Distortion is especially likely to be noticed if
large values of DRGP are used. We would recommend that DRGP values are kept as small
as possible and preferably less than 10.
DRAFT gives you the ability to use underlays and overlays on a Sheet. These may take the
form of plotfiles held in the system database, or may be database elements. They can be
used as backing sheets for a title block and border, or as overlay sheets for placing such
items as keyplans or standard notation.
A backing sheet has its origin coincident with, and must be the same size as, the Sheet
being underlayed. An overlay sheet can be placed anywhere on the Sheet, and can be of
any size. Any number of Overlay Sheets may be used on the one SHEE, but it is only
possible to have one backing sheet on a SHEE.
OSHEE FILE /plotfile name Sets Overlays OSFN attribute, see next section
To remove an underlay or overlay from a Sheet, the following commands can be used:
BSHEE UNSET
OSHEE UNSET
Note that BSHEE is valid at LAYE or below, whereas OSHEE is only valid at OLAYs.
An overlay is positioned on the current Sheet by changing the OPOS and OANG attributes
of the Overlay element (see next section), which determine the position and angle
respectively. For example:
OPOS X250 Y300 Set overlay origin explicitly (relative to the Sheet origin
Alternatively, file specification and positioning may be combined into a single OSHEE
command, for example:
OSHEE FILE /OS1 ANGLE 90 @ Define, position and orientate overlay sheet
DRWG
LIBY
BSRF
SHLB SHEE
BSRF
OLAY
BACK OVER
OSRF
NOTE
VIEW NOTE
Elements for use as backing and overlay sheets may be created in DRAFT and stored in the
DRAFT database. The relevant part of the database hierarchy is shown DRAFT Database
Hierarchy - Overlay/Underlay Elements.
The SHLB (Sheet Library) exists as a member of a LIBY and is used as an administrative
element to group together BACK (Backing Sheet template) and OVER (Overlay Sheet
template elements.
A BACK would probably be used as a frame sheet and would contain frame lines,
authorisation boxes etc. These would exist as (member) NOTE elements created via
DRAFTs geometric 2D drafting facilities. Any hash codewords defined by TEXP elements
will be expanded when the BACK is referenced. These codewords will typically extract data
from the DRAFT database. See Accessing Data from the DRAFT Database.
OVER elements may also own NOTEs as well as VIEW elements, and would probably be
used to overlay graphic details such as keyplans on drawing sheets. An OVER shares many
of the attributes of a SHEE. Note that Point Construction (see Section 11) can be used to
create BACK and SHEE elements.
Most Overlay Sheet attributes are held by the Overlay (OLAY) element.
BACKs and OVERs are referred to by the relevant drawing Sheets BSRF and the relevant
Overlays OSRF attributes (respectively). (BSRF may also be set at Drawing level.) The
BACK/OVER to be used may be specified by using commands such as:
The Overlays OSLV (overlay sheet view layers visible) attribute defines those Layers of
the overlay sheet (i.e. the LAYE element(s) owned by the VIEW(s) owned by the OVER
referenced by the drawing Sheet) that are to be visible.
The Overlays XYSCALE attribute allows independent scaling in the X and Y directions of
the instanced overlay sheet or plotfile. For example:
XYSCALE 2 1
Either or both values may be negative, but zero is not allowed.
Note that when an Overlay Sheet is instanced (i.e. attribute OSRF is set), text is only
affected by the scale in the Y direction. It is not possible to generate backwards or distorted
text. However, when a plotfile is used (i.e. attribute OSFN is set), then there is no such
safeguard and text could be distorted if differing X and Y scales are specified. See also
Scaling and Mirroring Special Labels.
Control of complex overlays may be achieved by using multiple OLAY elements.
The Layers which are to be visible may be referred to either by Layer purpose (i.e. the
PURP attribute) or by their member list position under the VIEW(s) owned by the OVER. Up
to 12 Layers may be made visible at once. The Layers that are to be visible are specified by
a further option of the OSHEET command. For example:
OSHEE LAYERS 1 LABS Make all Layers at list position 1 and all Layers with
PURP LABS visible
The Design graphics may be made visible by including Layer DESI. If the overlay sheet has
more than one VIEW then the Layer visibility statement will apply across all VIEWs. (It is not
possible to specify, for example, a Layer with PURP DIMS to be visible for /VIEW1 but not
for /VIEW2, assuming both VIEWs own such Layers.) The setting of a Layers LVIS attribute
has no bearing on the visibility questions discussed in this section.
The above functionality is only available when an overlay sheet template reference is used.
No distinction between Layers can be made when using overlay sheet graphics from a file.
17.3.1 Underlays...
BSHEE FILE /plotfile name underlay a specified plotfile on the current SHEE. Must be
at SHEE level or below. Sets SHEE BSFN attribute
17.3.2 Overlays...
OSHEE FILE /plotfile name overlay a specified plotfile on the current SHEE. Must be
at OLAY level. Sets OLAYs OSFN attribute.
OPOS xpos ypos set overlay origin explicitly (relative to the Sheet origin)
OSHEE ANGLE value @ reposition and reorient currently defined overlay sheet
18 2D Drafting
Note: For 2D drafting purposes, it is possible to enter DRAFT having specified a multiple
database (MDB) that does not contain a DESIGN database. Clearly, in this drafting-
only mode, intelligent text that extracts data from a Design database cannot be
used.
SHLB SHEE
NOTE VIEW
VNOT
VIEW
LAYE
CIRC
TEXP SYMB
ELLI
RECT
TABL
ETRI
DMND
HEXA
MRKP
STRA
ARC
OUTL
A BACK (backing sheet template) element would probably be used as a frame sheet and
would contain frame lines, authorisation boxes etc. These would exist as (member) NOTE
elements (see below).
OVER (overlay sheet template) elements may also own NOTEs as well as VIEW elements,
and would probably be used to overlay graphic details such as keyplans on drawing sheets.
An OVER shares many of the attributes of a SHEE.
Sheet Note (NOTE) elements exist to own the 2D drafting elements themselves (see The
Drafting Elements). This means that NOTEs can be used to group drafting elements
together - changes to the NOTEs position and orientation will affect all of its member
drafting elements. As well as the basic attributes of XYPS (2D Sheet position), ADEG
(orientation) and LVIS (visibility), NOTEs/VNOTs have a set of attributes that are used to
store defaults values that are cascaded down to their members. These are:
The first three are cascaded to geometric primitives and the others to text primitives.
View Note (VNOT) elements are similar to NOTEs, the only difference being that VNOTs
may be positioned using 3D Design World coordinates or on a Design item, p-point or p-line
(or using 2D Sheet coordinates).
Having created a NOTE or VNOT in accordance with the hierarchy shown in Figure 18:1.:
DRAFT Database Hierarchy - Sheet Library/2D Drafting Elements, drafting elements may
be created and manipulated as desired - see The Drafting Elements.
SYLB LAYE
SYTM SLAB
TMRF
NOTE
LALB
SYMB
SYTM
TMRF
CIRC
TEXP SYMB
ELLI
RECT
TABL
ETRI
DMND
HEXA
MRKP
STRA
ARC
OUTL
Figure 18:2. DRAFT Database Hierarchy - Symbol Template and Related Elements
Symbol instances can be nested - the instanced SYTM may itself own SYMBs that
reference other SYTMs. However, second-level and higher SYTMs must be owned by
SYLBs, not LALBs. Any intelligent text codes in TEXPs owned by such SYTMs will not be
expanded.
Note: The denotes the shapes (default) origin and is not part of the shape itself.
Note: The Outline (OUTL) primitive consists of a number of connected straight lines and
circular arcs, as defined by the user. The shape shown above is an example only.)
As a primitive element is created, its position is stored separately, with a reference to the
position being stored as the primitives PTRF (or PTFA) attribute. An important feature of
this system is that if a series of primitives is created, each primitives position reference (or
drafting point) will (initially) be the same, enabling a series of connected shapes to be
quickly and easily created. For example, the command sequence
NEW CIRCLE DIAM 100 AT @
NEW CIRCLE DIAM 150
NEW CIRCLE DIAM 200
would create a series of concentric circles. In a similar way, a series of connected straight
lines could be created. (A line may have two position references, one at either end; the start
position reference of one line would be set equal to the end position reference of the
previous line - see description of STRA primitive below.) A set of primitives connected in this
way may be moved as a group by using the DRAG command - see below.
DRAFT offers you a variety of methods of defining, identifying, sizing, positioning, orienting,
moving and querying drafting primitives. Many methods of carrying out these operations are
common to all (or most) of the drafting primitives. These methods are described in the next
section; methods that apply to particular primitives (and to Symbols) are described in
Creating and Manipulating Drafting Primitives - Common Operations.
Note: Macros driven from forms and menus are particularly useful for 2D drafting.
Attributes common to all primitives (except Markers, Lines, Arcs and Outlines) are
orientation (ADEG, relative to a line drawn through the shapes origin parallel to the x-axis)
and origin code (OCOD). The origin code determines the position of a primitives origin
relative to the primitive itself - for example, a circles origin may be placed at its centre or on
its circumference. Arcs and Straight Lines have a TCOD (Type Code) attribute instead of
OCOD. TCOD can be set to the endpoint or midpoint of a line, and to the endpoint or centre
of an arc. The TCOD setting defines how to interpret the other attributes of the primitive.
Straight lines also have an ADEG attribute. See below (STRA and ARC elements).
Clearly, attributes such as orientation cannot be set using the cursor, so if these require
settings other than their defaults they must be set afterwards. (Default orientation is 0 and
default origin code is CENTRE. For straights and arcs the default TCODE is ENDPOINT.)
Alternatively, primitives may be created using one-line commands such as:
In this case the Sheet coordinates of the origin remain unchanged and the primitive
moves so as to place itself correctly according to the new origin code.
In either case the origin position may be changed at the same time by using commands
such as
ORIG X300 Y250
OCOD TRIGHT @
OCOD BLEFT @
The origin is normally invisible, but may be made visible by the SKETCH command:
SKETCH ORIGIN ALL At NOTE level, displays origins of all member primitives
The command
ERASE ORIG
erases the display of the origin(s).
DRAG TO @
DRAG TO POS @
DRAG TO IDP @
DRAG TO X120 Y-45
DRAG TO S3500 D500
DRAG TO P1 OF /VESS2/N6
FPT DRAG TO @
(The above DRAG operations have similar interpretations to the AT/ON/BY/POS commands
listed previously.)
Querying Primitives
The primitives with drafting points in common with the current element may be queried by
giving the command
Q COMMON
This lists the primitives that will be dragged with the current element. The primitives that
may be dragged with any named drafting node of a STRAIGHT or an ARC may be queried
by
Q node_id COMMON
where node-id is the FPT or TPT (etc) of a STRAIGHT or ARC.
The origin and position of a primitive may be queried by
Q ORIG
The offset of a drafting node or primitive origin from the note origin may be set and queried:
Q node_id OFFSET
Q OFFSET
node_id OFFSET X value Y value
ORIGIN OFFSET X value Y value
where node_id is the node of a straight or arc primitive, i.e. FPT, TPT, MPT, THPT or CPT.
(See list of DRAG commands above for examples of node_id.)
The principal dimensional and positional attributes of a primitive may be listed by using
the
Q DESC
command at the primitive concerned (or at the owning View Note (position and angle)).
A drafting point on a STRAIGHT, ARC or span of an OUTLINE may be queried using
Q IDNN @
This allows you to pick one of these points by picking an appropriate position on the
primitive. The query reports the appropriate point, the identity of the primitive picked and the
position of the picked point. For example:
FPT OF /STRAIGHT3 X 123 Y 456
TPT OF /ARC1 E 3000 N 4000 U 0
VPT /VERT1 NEAR /VERT2 X 495 Y200
In the last case where a span of an OUTLINE was picked, the first vertex identified is the
endpoint of the span, and the second is the Vertex (VRTX element) that owns the span. The
two Vertex identifiers may be the same.
For STRAIGHTS and ARCS, the point identified will be the same as that returned by the Q
IDN @ command where the current element is a STRA or ARC. Q IDNN @ allows both the
point and the primitive to be picked by one cursor hit.
The database reference ID and the cursor-hit position of any linear element on the Sheet
(for example a STRA, side of a RECT, part of Design item, etc) may be queried using:
Q IDLINE @
The query returns the database of the picked element (DRAFT or DESIGN), the identity of
the element, the pair of 2D coordinates that define the linear element, and the 2D position of
the cursor hit.
For example, if the query were applied to a STRA element with FPT X100 Y100 and TPT
X200 Y200, the following could be returned:
DRA =151/4636 LINE X 100mm Y 100mm X 200mm Y 200mm
QUAL X 167mm Y 166mm
If the query were applied to a part of a Design element, the following could be returned:
DES =35/222 LINE X 6.5/16 Y 7.19/32 X 5.3/32 Y 7.19/32
QUAL X 6.1/32 Y 7.19/32
For a Straight these are FPT (from point), TPT (to point) or MPT (midpoint); and for an Arc
these are FPT, TPT, CPT (centre point) or THPT (through point).
The node must be currently used by the Straight or Arc. A Straight has a single node, MPT
or two nodes, FPT and TPT. An Arc has an FPT, TPT and either a CPT or a THPT. If an
unset node or an illegal node is specified, then an error is output.
bottom left-hand corner and that of a VIEW at the centre of the VIEW rectangle. XYPO may
be changed directly or by the OFFSET command, for example
OFFSET X50 Y50
position NOTE VNOTs origin at given offset owners origin
AT @
AT X400 Y400
position NOTE/VNOTs origin at given position on SHEE
BY @
BY X60 Y-20
shift NOTE/VNOTs origin by given amount
ADEG 30
rotate NOTE to 30 from horizontal
Note: If a VNOT is moved or rotated, only primitives positioned in 2D will move with it. The
positions of primitives positioned in 3D or on Design elements will remain
unchanged.
Rotating a Primitive
A primitive of type ARC, CIRC, STRA, ELLI, RECT, HEXA, TABL, DMND, ETRI, OUTL or
MRKP can be rotated using the ROTATE command to specify an angle of rotation and a
point to rotate about. Any position reference may be used to specify the rotation point. For
example:
ROTATE 45 @
Use cursor to specify the 2D point to rotate it about
ROTATE 45 IDP@
Use cursor to specify the Design p-point to rotate about
Mirroring a Primitive
A primitive of type ARC, CIRC, STRA, ELLI, RECT, HEXA, TABL, DMND, ETRI, OUTL or
MRKP can be mirrored using the MIRROR command to specify a mirror axis. The current
element may be mirrored in an existing linear element or two independent points may be
specified to define the mirror axis. In the latter case, any position reference may be used to
specify the axis points. For example:
MIRROR IN @
Use cursor to specify existing linear element to mirror in
MIRROR ABOUT @ @
Use cursor to specify two points to define mirror axis
Copying a Primitive
Copying a primitive to another position or series of positions is done by using the REPEAT
command with the primitive you wish to copy as current element. The REPEAT command
has three syntax variations, illustrated by the following examples:
REPEAT 5 BY X20 Y20
Produce five copies of the current primitive, each displaced (X20, Y20) from the last
REPEAT 5 BY @
Produce five copies of the current primitive, using the cursor to define displacement
REPEAT 5 @
Produce five copies of the current primitive, but with first copy at cursor position,
displacement of second and subsequent copies equal to that of first copy from original
REPEAT @
Produce five copies of the current primitive, but just one repetition
Figure 18:6.: Drafting Primitives - Use of the REPEAT Command illustrates the use of the
REPEAT command.
25
REPE 10 BY Y -25
Graphical Feedback
Many cursor commands generate graphical feedback (rubber banding) which makes the
interaction process easy - holding down the left-hand mouse button and moving the mouse
enables the primitive being created to be dragged out to the required size/orientation. Use of
the commands listed below gives the Point Construction Option form, from which you can
choose to define point(s) not only as simple 2D cursor hits but also as line end-points, circle
centre-points, intersection points etc. The relevant commands are:
The current primitive may then be positioned on the required drafting point by commands
such as:
ORIGIN point_identifier, e.g. ORIG IDDP@
ORIGIN IDDP @
FPT point_identifier e.g. FPT IDP@
DRAG TO IDDP @
(The Q IDN @ command may be used to identify the FPT or TPT of a STRAIGHT.)
ARC (ARC)
Attributes
RADI - Radius
Defining or redefining an Arc with a centre- and two endpoints is achieved using the
command:
ADEFine <dfnpt> <dfnpt> <dfnpt>
where <dfnpt> defines a position (2D, 3D, p-point etc).
The first two points are the centre - (CPT) and from point (FPT) of the Arc. These two
points define the radius. The third point defines the angle subtended by the arc. The TO-
point (TPT) lies in this direction from the Centre (CPT) at the same distance as the FPT from
the CPT. The TCOD attribute is set to CENTRE.
This command may also be used with the cursor:
ADEFine @
A prompt requests three 2D points to be input for CPT, FPT and angle subtended. 3D points
may also be input using the cursor:
ADEFine ID@ ID@ ID@
DEFine IDP@ IDP@ IDP@
CPT @
etc.
This changes the arc to be one with TCOD CENT (if not already so). The Centre is moved
whilst keeping the from point and ASUB unaltered. The to-point and radius are
recalculated.
THPT @
etc.
This changes the Arc to be one with TCOD ENDP (if not already so). The position of the
through point is moved whilst keeping the from and to points fixed - i.e. both radius and
angle subtended are altered.
FPT @
TPT @
etc.
For arcs with TCOD ENDP, the from or to point of the Arc (as appropriate) is moved whilst
maintaining the positions of the other end point and the through point.
For Arcs with TCOD CENTRE, the from or to point of the Arc (as appropriate) is moved
whilst maintaining the position of the centre and the angle subtended. Thus the radius may
change and the position of the other end point will be moved to preserve the angle
subtended.
Repeated Copying
See Circles.
Querying
Similar to Straights, but referring to RADIUS, ASUBTENDED, CPT, FPT, TPT and THPT as
appropriate. The Q IDN @ command may also be used
CIRCLE (CIRC)
Attributes
Note: If used with an existing Circle the DEF command always sets ADEG=0 and
ORIG=CENTRE
Identification
ID CIRC @
This method applies to all primitives described below, for example ID ELLI @ (ellipse),
ID RECT @ (rectangle) etc.
Resizing
DIAMETER value [DESIGN]
RADIUS value [DESIGN]
If DESIGN specified and if underneath a VIEW from which a scale can be obtained, a
scaled circle will be drawn and the diameter stored in the database as a Design value.
DIAM @
Sets DIAM equal to the distance between the two points, ADEG equal to the angle to
this line from X axis; if ORIG is CIRCUMFERENCE, origin is positioned at the first hit.
DIAM X value Y value X value Y value
Manual method
ORIG CENTRE
Sets ORIG as required and changes position of origin to point specified. The Circle
itself does not move.
ORIG CIRCUMFERENCE
Positioning (absolute)
ORIG X value Y value
ORIG CENTRE @
ORIG CIRCUMFERENCE @
ORIG IDP @
ORIG POS @
ORIG ID @
ORIG IDDP @
The last option (ORIG IDDP @) places the primitive on the drafting point used by another
primitive and hence ensures connectivity for the DRAG command.
Figure 18:7. Moving about the Origin - Use of the ORIG Command
Querying
In addition to the standard attribute queries the following are provided:
Q DESC
Queries the origin, position and diameter
Q DIAM
Queries the diameter in Annotation or Design coordinates as appropriate
Q ORIG
Queries the origin and its position
Q OFFS
Queries the position relative to the NOTE origin
DIAMOND (DMND)
Attributes
Resizing
As for Ellipses.
All other operations are as for Circles.
ELLIPSE (ELLI)
Attributes
Resizing
XLEN @ Changes the XLEN by distance along the X axis of the primitive
XLEN IDDP @ from the origin. Note that this is not necessarily the Sheet or Note
XLEN IDG @ axis. If the origin is at the midpoint of the X axis (i.e.ORIG
XLEN IDP @ CENTRE) then XLEN will be twice this distance. If appropriate a
XLEN ID @ Design distance will be used
YLEN @ Changes the YLEN by distance along the Y axis of the primitive
YLEN IDDP @ from the origin. Note that this is not necessarily the Sheet or Note
YLEN IDG @ axis. If the origin is at the midpoint of the Y axis (i.e.ORIG
YLEN IDP @ CENTRE) then YLEN will be twice this distance. If appropriate a
YLEN ID @ Design distance will be used
Attributes
OCOD - Origin code (CENTRE, LSID, APEX, BRIGHT, BLEFT, RSIDE, BASE)
Resizing
LENGTH value [DESIGN]
Sets side length
THROUGH @
THRU @
Prompts:
Input a point on the current sheet
Sets LENG so that the triangle passes through the point specified.
This may not necessarily be a corner - ADEG will not be altered.
THR X value Y value
Manual method
FRADIUS value [DESIGN]
Sets FRAD to value specified. If this is too big for the existing value of LENG then a
warning is output, the triangle is drawn sharp-cornered, but the FRAD attribute is set
as specified and will be used when the LENG value is made large enough.
HEXAGON (HEXA)
Attributes
Attributes
All other operations on Markers are similar to those for Circles (where relevant).
Attributes
(OUTL)
FSTYLE - Fill style (used to hatch the area enclosed by the OUTL)
Setting CURFIT to CUBICFIT will cause a smooth quadratic curve (which approximates a
series of cubic curves) to be drawn through the vertex points of the OUTL. CURFIT
DEFAULT turns off the curve-fit function.
(VRTX)
Bulge Factor
The BULG attribute is unique to the VRTX element, and is the ratio of the maximum
departure of the arc from the chord joining two VRTXs to the chord half-length. It is positive
when the span lies to the right of the chord when viewed in the direction VRTX1 to VRTX2,
negative when it lies to the left. A straight span has a BULG of 0, a counter-clockwise
semicircle a BULG of 1.0, and a clockwise semicircle a BULG of -1.0. BULG would not
normally be set explicitly, but indirectly by the SPAN command (see below).
Chamfering
A chamfer may be applied between two VRTXs using
CHAMFER value [value]
The value(s) supplied in the above syntax must be greater than or equal to 0. If two values
are supplied then the first chamfer distance will correspond to the chamfer joining the
current VRTX to the previous one, and the second will correspond to the chamfer joining the
current VRTX to the next. If only one chamfer distance is supplied, then both chamfer
distances will be set equal. Setting the chamfer distance to 0 is equivalent to setting it to
OFF. If the chamfer distance is set on a VRTX then the spans on either side of it will be
drawn straight, i.e. the BULG attribute of the current and next VRTX will be ignored.
CHAMFER OFF will remove the chamfer.
Filleting
A fillet may be applied to a VRTX using
FRADIUS value
Any value may be supplied in the above syntax. A positive value will correspond to a convex
fillet radius at the VRTX, a negative value to a concave fillet. Setting FRAD to 0 is equivalent
to setting it to OFF. If the fillet radius is set on a VRTX then the spans on either side of it will
be drawn straight, i.e. the BULG attribute of the current and next VRTX will be ignored.
The position of a VRTX and the shape of the span drawn to it from the previous VRTX are
defined by the SPAN command. This command is valid at any VRTX except the first in list
order. Variations of the SPAN command are:
SPAN TO position
Vertex point defined by <position>
SPAN THROUGH position
Span defined as a circular arc passing through position. Defines BULG.
SPAN TO CLOSE
Vertex point coincident with starting vertex.
SPAN STRAIGHT TO position
Straight line span with vertex at <position>
SPAN RADIUS value
Set radius of circle of which (arc) span forms a part. Converts straight line span to an
arc.
SPAN ASUB value
Sets angle subtended by (arc) span. Converts straight line span to an arc.
SPAN BY xypos
Move the two VRTXS of the current span by the given displacements.
SPAN DRAG BY xypos
Move the two VRTXS and all connected drafting primitives of the current span by the
given displacements.
position can be a Design p-point, a 3D point or an explicit Sheet coordinate. A cursor hit can
be used with all except the CLOSE, RADIUS, ASUB and STRAIGHT options. The position
of a VRTX can also be constructed - see Point and Line Construction. If a VRTX is made
coincident with the drafting point of another 2D primitive then a logical connection will be
established and the DRAG command will affect the VRTX and the other 2D primitive.
The TO option defines the position of the VRTX without affecting the bulge factor and is thus
similar to the standard DEF command. The CLOSE option positions the current VRTX to be
coincident with the first VRTX of the OUTL and thus closes the Outline. This does not have
to be the last VRTX though - subsequent VRTXs can be created.
The BY and DRAG BY options move the VRTXs at the start and finish of the span by the
specified amount - bulge factor and curvature are unaffected. The THROUGH, RADIUS and
ASUB options only define the bulge factor - knowledge of the through point, radius and
angle subtended are lost. They do not change the position of VRTXs, only the curvature of
the span.
The RADIUS option can have a negative value - this will result in a negative BULG and
hence a span drawn in a clockwise direction. If the radius specified is not large enough to
define the curvature of the span between two VRTXs then the command will be ignored and
a warning message output, giving the minimum possible radius. By default the command
gives the minor arc, the major arc being given by
SPAN RADius value MAJor
The command SPAN @ (or NEW VRTX SPAN @) gives a simplified way of defining the
span. By default, you must define the TO position by a cursor hit, a straight-line span being
assumed. The Outline Span Construction form will appear, giving you various span
definition options. See the on-line help for details.
Querying
Q DESCription is valid at OUTLs and VRTXs, giving details of origin coordinates and span
radius and angle subtended (if appropriate). Q SPAN RADius and Q SPAN ASUBtended
are valid at VRTXs only (but not at the first VRTX in an OUTL).
Miscellaneous Commands
The Q COMmon, HIGhlight, SKEtch POInts, SKEtch ORIgins and ID @ commands are all
valid at OUTLs and/or VRTXs. Note that SKETCH ORIG ALL does not sketch all VRTX
origins - only the origins of the owning OUTLs - i.e. the first VRTX below each OUTL.
RECTANGLE (RECT)
Attributes
Resizing
FRADIUS value [DESIGN] Sets FRAD to value specified. If this is too big for the
existing XLEN or YLEN values then a warning is output
and the rectangle is drawn square-cornered. FRAD will be
set as specified and will be used when XLEN and YLEN
are made large enough.
ADEFine dfnpt1 dfnpt2 Defines a rectangle where dfnpt1 defines a position (2D,
3D, p-point etc) which is the centre of the rectangle, and
dfnpt2 defines the position of a corner.
ASDEFine dfnpt1 dfnpt2 Defines a square where dfnpt1 defines the centre of the
rectangle, and dfnpt2 defines the position of a corner.
SDEFine dfnpt1 dfnpt2 Defines a square where dfnpt1 and dfnpt2 define the
positions of the corners
For example:
ADEF X400 Y400 X500 Y450 Defines a RECT 200 by 100 with its centre at
X400 Y400 and a corner at X500 Y450.
SDEF X400 Y400 X500 Y450 Defines a RECT 100 square with one corner at
X400 Y400 and the other at X500 Y500.
ASDEF X400 Y400 X500 Y450 Defines a RECT 200 square with its centre at
X400 Y400 and a corner at X500 Y500.
These commands may also be used with the cursor, for example:
ADEFine @
A prompt requests two 2D points to be input.
All other operations are as for Circles.
STRAIGHT (STRA)
Attributes
LENG - Length
LENGTH value [DESIGN] Changing LENG or ADEG for a two-point STRA will move
the to point.
ADEG value
LENGTH @ Moves the From point of the STRA, changing its LENG
and ADEG attributes.
ALENGTH @ Moves the To point of the STRA, changing its LENG and
ADEG attributes.
Positioning (absolute)
A STRA may have its from point, mid point or to point positioned or moved. Apart from
the initial keyword (FPT, MPT, TPT) specifying which point you are setting the syntax is
similar throughout, as the following examples show::
If the MPT command is used, the TCOD will be set to MIDPOINT. This is a single point
STRAIGHT and must have its LENGTH set.
A straight can also be created by giving an orthogonal To point:
OPPT x 50 y 97
OTPT @
The straight will be vertical or horizontal depending on the relative sizes of the horizontal
and vertical offsets between the From point and the To point.
Points on a STRA (FPT, TPT etc) may be identified using the command:
Q IDN @
Positioning (relative)
It is possible to move a STRA or one of its points by a given amount. For a single point
STRA (i.e. one with a mid-point) there will be no difference between moving the STRA itself
or its mid-point, but for a two point STRA moving its from or to point will cause its length
and/or its slope to change; the position of the other point will remain unchanged.
Repeated Copying
See Circles.
Querying
Q DESC
queries the Length and point attributes, i.e.
LENGTH value
ADEG value
FPT X value Y value
TPT X value Y value
Q FPT
Queries the position of the 'from' point if set. Similarly for TPT, MPT
Q OFFS
Queries the offset positions of the points set (relative to the Note origin)
Q FPT OFFS
Queries the offset of the 'from' point relative to the Note origin (similarly for TPT, MPT)
SKETCH POINTS
Sketches all points currently in use for the STRA
SKETCH FPT
Sketches the from point (if set) - similarly for the TPT and MPT
SKETCH ORIG
Sketches first node
SKETCH POINTS ALL
At NOTE level, displays all the points currently in use for all member primitives
Attributes
When instancing a symbol (SYMB), the TMRF attribute should reference a symbol template
(SYTM) in the symbol library (SYLB). If this attribute is not set, nothing will be drawn.
SYSZ @ @
SYSIZE @ @
ALENGTH value Changes the length of a straight by moving its From Point
You are requested to input two points; the first point selects a position on the symbol, the
second point sets a new position for the selected point. The new symbol size is calculated
from the ratio of the distances of those two points from the symbol origin.
TABLE (TABL)
Attributes
All operations, including definition using the ADEFine, ASDEFine and SDEFine
commands, are similar to those for Rectangles, except that FRAD does not apply. Internal
rows and columns are drawn using NLSTYLE/NLCOLOUR by default. If ROWSTYLE/
ROWCOLOUR or COLSTYLE/COLCOLOUR are set, internal rows and columns may be
drawn in a different style and colour to the outline rectangle.
Attributes
JUST - Justification
Resizing
Set the CHEI, LHEI, CSPA or LSPA attributes.
NEW CIRCLE DEF @ use cursor to mark (in this case) circle centre and
point on circumference
NEW CIRC RAD 50 ORIG CIRCUM define circle size and position explicitly
ADEG 45 AT X900 Y750
ORIG X300 Y250 origin Sheet coordinates and origin code change; primitive
OCOD TRIGHT @ moves
MIRROR ABOUT @ @ use cursor to specify two points to define mirror axis
Q COMMON queries primitives with drafting points in common with the current
element
REPEAT 5 BY X20 Y20 produce five copies of the current primitive, each displaced
(X20, Y20) from the last
18.5.9 Outlines . . .
NEW VRTX AT @ creates a new Vertex; use the cursor to define its position.
SPAN TO CLOSE vertex point coincident with starting vertex; closes Outline.
SPAN STRAIGHT TO straight line span with vertex at given Sheet coordinates.
X value Y value
SPAN RADIUS value sets radius of circle of which (arc) span forms a part to
given value.
SPAN ASUB value sets angle subtended by (arc) span to given value.
SPAN BY X value Y value moves the two VRTXs of the current span by the given
displacements.
SPAN DRAG BY Y value moves the two VRTXs and all connected drafting
primitives of the current span by the given displacement.
CURFIT CUBICFIT (at OUTL) draws quadratic curve through vertex points
SKETCH ORIGIN ALL IN identifier displays origins of all drafting primitives at/below
the specified element
SKETCH POINTS sketches all points in use for the current primitive
SKETCH POINTS ALL at NOTE level, sketches all points currently in use
SKETCH POINTS ALL IN identifier d drafting points of all drafting primitives at/below the
isplays specified element
SKETCH FPT will sketch the from point (if set) - similarly for the
TPT and MPT
19 ISODRAFT Symbols
You can create symbols in DRAFT to be used on the isometrics produced by ISODRAFT.
The symbols are created as ISODRAFT Symbol Templates (ISOTMs), which are similar to
normal symbol templates, except that they can only own STRAs and MRKPs. They have
additional attributes, described in Creating ISODRAFT Symbol Templates.
ISOTMs are stored in ISODRAFT Symbol Libraries (ISOLBs), which are identical to SYLBs
except that they can only own ISOTMs. The relevant part of the DRAFT database is shown
in Figure 19:1.: ISODRAFT Symbol Libraries and Related Elements.
ISOLB
ISOTM
MRKP
STRA
Figure 19:1. ISODRAFT Symbol Libraries and Related Elements
SKEY Symbol key: the SKEY of the new Symbol. If this attribute is
set to the SKEY of an existing symbol, the existing symbol will
be redefined. You can use wildcards to define a symbol for
several similar SKEYs, see Wildcards in SKEYs.
BKEY Base symbol key. If a new SKEY is being defined, the BKEY
must be set to a standard SKEY. Wildcards can be used, see
Wildcards in SKEYs
SCALe value Changes the size of the symbol without redefining the
coordinates of the plotted shape (100 = full size).
ORIN NONE Specifies a symmetrical fitting which the flow direction is not
relevant
ORIN FLOW Specifies a fitting for which the flow direction is important,
such as check valves
ORIN FLANGE Specifies a fitting which begins with a flange; that is, one
which is preceded by a gasket
This illustrates the use of the ** characters to cover all end conditions, i.e. BW (butt weld),
CP (compression), SW (socket weld), FL (flanged), SC (screwed) and PL (plain), when
defining a new range of SKEYs. This sequence therefore defines the SKEYs VBBW, VBCP,
VBSW, VBFL, VBSC and VBPL in a single operation.
Note: The wildcard option applies only to the definition of SKEYs. You must specify a
particular end condition when you set the SKEY attribute of a DTEX element in the
Catalogue DB; for example, by setting it to VBBW or VBCP but not to VB**.
19.1.3 Example
The following commands are an example of how to create an ISODRAFT Symbol Library
and an ISODRAFT Symbol Template:
NEW ISOLB
NEW ISOTM
XYPS X200 Y200
SKEY SSSS
SPIN NONE
FLWA TRUE
BKEY VV**
SCAL 100
FILL TRUE
NEW MRKP
PURP TEE
ORIG OFFS X0 Y0
NEW STRA
PURP LINE
TPT OFFS X4.0 Y1.0
NEW STRA
PURP LINE
TPT OFFS X8.0 Y1.0
NEW STRA
PURP LINE
TPT OFFS X8.0 Y-1.0
NEW STRA
PURP LINE
TPT OFFS X4.0 Y-1.0
NEW STRA
PURP LINE
TPT OFFS X0 Y0
NEW MRKP
PURP LEAVE
ORIG OFFS X8.0 Y0
Note: User double precision floating point representation for numbers is now used;
previously single precision was used. Double precision provides increased accuracy
in floating point numbers from six significant digits to 8.
Symbol files written by single precision releases of DRAFT cannot be re-opened for
modification in double precision releases. Such files must be regenerated from the
symbol elements using the ISOSYMBOL command to create a new file in a double
precision release of DRAFT.
Q ISOSYM list symbol keys and base symbol keys in the library file
Q ISOSYM n gives the symbol key and base key for entry number n.
You can define a position in terms of other positions rather than defining it explicitly using
the point construction facilities in DRAFT. Point construction is available for
Positioning of 2D drafting primitives
Labelling, where a 2D position is required, e.g. positioning of gaps
Dimensioning, where a 2D (or, if appropriate, a 3D) position is required, e.g. positioning
of a point through which a dimension line should pass
Positioning of Overlay Sheets
VIEW position attributes, e.g. THPO, FRPO, ONPO, VREG command
SYTM and TXTM positioning.
As well as points, it is also possible to construct lines and arcs.
20.1 Introduction
A drafting point position may be specified explicitly, for example
ORIG X300 Y250
It is also possible to construct a drafting point position, using commands such as:
ORIG MIDP position position
ORIG OFFSET 2D_vector
ORIG position DIST distance
Here, position may be any of:
2D_vector specifies an offset position from the owner origin of the primitive concerned, for
example
ORIG OFFS X50 Y50
distance gives a distance and a direction from a point, and may be one of the following in a
NOTE or SYTM:
For example:
ORIG X50 Y50 DIST 200MM ANG 30
ORIG X50 Y50 DIST 200 HORI
ORIG X50 Y50 DIST 200 VERT
ORIG X50 Y50 DIST 100 X100 Y100
For a VNOT, distance may be expressed as
units_value DESIGN direction
where direction is a 3D, p-point or p-line direction. The distance specified is a Design
distance in the current View. The above syntax may also be used in most drafting
commands, e.g. FPT, TPT, CPT, DEFINE, DRAG TO, LENGTH, RADIUS etc.
All point constructions are carried out in the context of the current database position. If the
current element is owned by a NOTE or SYTM, a point construction will give a 2D point. 3D
point constructions (for example, positioning the centre of a circle on a Design element
position) are only allowed for drafting below VNOT elements.
In some cases there could be ambiguity about the point to be constructed, for example if the
point were defined using a tangent to a circle, or the intersection of two circles. In cases
such as this the point to be used can be qualified with a cursor hit.
The following sections describe the various types of point construction, with examples. The
symbol @ denotes a cursor hit.
20.2 X, Y Filtering
A 2D position may be defined in terms of the X or Y coordinates of other points. For
example, rather than an explicit point definition such as:
AT X200 Y200
a constructed point could be defined by:
AT X200 Y OF point
The above command would define a position whose Y coordinate would be the Y coordinate
of point, where point could include:
The endpoint of a line or an arc
The centre of a circle or an arc
A tangency point
An intersection points
The point on a line or an arc nearest to a given point
The point defined by the perpendicular from a given point
The constructed point could also be defined explicitly or by a cursor hit. For example:
AT X200 Y OF @
Set the Y coordinate to the Y coordinate of the cursor hit
AT X OF @ Y OF @
X coordinate from first cursor hit, Y coordinate from second cursor hit
The process of deriving a coordinate from a coordinate of another point is known as X, Y
filtering. X and Y filters may be used in any command that requires a 2D position on a
Sheet, including edits on various Dimension attributes. For example:
PTOF X OF /VALV1 Y @
DTOF X @ Y250
PLCL X @ Y OF POS E3000 S2000 U0
Y coordinate set to the Y coordinate of 2D projection of given 3D position.
3D positions may also be constructed, but this only applies to 2D drafting primitives that are
members of VNOT elements. X, Y filtering can be used with any 2D element which has a
position attribute, e.g. VIEWs, Labels, Dimension Points etc.
Examples
1. NEW STRA
FPT X100 Y100
TPT X OF @ Y OF @
(or NEW STRA DEF X100 Y100 X OF @ Y OF @)
Here a straight line is created with one of its endpoints defined explicitly and the other
constructed using cursor hits. See Figure 20:1.: X, Y Filtering - General 2D Position.
500
100
X
100 500
Figure 20:1. X, Y Filtering - General 2D Position
Here, the to point of the line takes its X coordinate from the X coordinate of hit 1 (at
200, 300) and its Y coordinate from the Y coordinate of hit 2 (at 500, 400). The to point
is therefore (200, 400).
2. DTOF X @ Y250
With a cursor hit at (400, 900), the above command would move a Dimension text
origin to (400, 250).
3. PLCL X @ Y OF POS E3000 S2000 U0
Here, a projection line clearance X coordinate would be set to the X coordinate of the
cursor hit, the Y coordinate being set to the Y coordinate of the 2D projection of the
given 3D position.
Example
1. NEW STRA
FPT MIDPOINT OF @
TPT MIDPOINT OF @
(or NEW STRA DEF MIDPOINT OF @ MIDPOINT OF @)
Here, the line would take its endpoints as the midpoints of the two hit items. If the two
hit items were an arc and another straight line then the situation could be as shown in
Figure 20:2.: Use of the MIDPOINT Construction.
The required midpoint could also be that of one side of a closed polyline primitive, e.g.
a rectangle. Line definitions of other elements (such as a line that comprises a piece of
a design item shown in a VIEW) can be extracted by cursor. As well as using a cursor
hit, the STRA or ARC may be identified explicitly.
Note: Note that with this variation of the MIDPOINT syntax, the presence of the OF
keyword is mandatory.
constructed point
2 1
Quadrant points of an arc or ellipse may also be identified. If an ellipse is rotated, the
nearest extreme of the ellipse will be selected. For example
NEW STRA
FPT @
TPT TOP ELLI /ELLI1
constructed point
2 1
500
(150, 250)
newly defined STRA
100
X
100 500
Y
previous ARC in list order
500
(400, 400)
(150, 250)
newly defined STRA
100
X
100 500
Figure 20:6. Use of the ENDPOINT Construction, with Qualifier
Example
1. NEW STRA
FPT X150 Y250
TPT CEN OF @
(or NEW STRA DEF X150 Y250 CEN OF @)
Here, the line has one of its endpoints defined explicitly, the other as the centre of the
element (in this case a circle) hit by the cursor.
500
X
100 500
Figure 20:7. Use of the CENTRE Construction
3. NEW STRA
FPT @
TPT FOC OF /ELLI1 QUAL @
Here, the to point of the line is placed at the focus of ellipse /ELLI1 qualified by a
cursor hit.
constructed point 2
Example
1. NEW MRKP
DEF NEAREST PREV STRA QUAL X150 Y250
In the left-hand case shown below, the MRKP element and the position (X150, Y250)
lie on the perpendicular to the STRA. In the right-hand case, the MRKP lies at the
endpoint of the STRA. In both cases, the MRKP element is the nearest point that lies
on the previous STRA in the list order to the given qualifying point.
Y Y
100 100
X X
100 500 100 500
2. NEW STRA
FPT X150 Y250
TPT NEAREST PREV ARC QUAL @
Here, the STRA has its from point defined explicitly, its to point being defined as the
nearest point which lies on the previous ARC in list order to the given qualifying point.
Y
newly defined STRA
(150, 250)
100
X
100 500
3. NEW MRKP
DEF NEAR @
Here, the MRKP element would be snapped to the primitive nearest the cursor hit. Note
that in this case a qualifying point is not needed.
20.9 Intersection
Here, a point is constructed which is at the intersection of two primitives. The primitives
should be chosen from STRA, ARC, or CIRC, although line-parts of more complex
primitives may be identified by cursor. An ellipse (ELLI) is also an allowable primitive, but it
is only possible to calculate the intersection point between an ellipse and a straight line. A
qualifying point may also be specified when there is more than one point of intersection (cf.
use of qualifier in Endpoint Position)
Examples
1. INT @
This variation uses a single cursor hit to pick the intersection point explicitly.
constructed point
2. INT BETW @ @
This constructs a point at the intersection of two hit primitives:
constructed point
3. INT BETW @ @
In this case the second cursor hit acts as a qualifier:
constructed point
constructed point
(100, 100)
5. NEW STRA
FPT INT BETW PREV ARC AND PREV CIRC QUAL X200 Y300
TPT MIDP OF PREV STRA
Here, the STRA has one endpoint defined as that intersection between the specified
arc and the specified circle which is the nearest to the qualifying point, the other
endpoint being the midpoint of a specified line.
Y
newly defined STRA
500
(200, 300)
100
X
100 500
500
This STRA element has an explicit FPT; its TPT is the point on the ARC that, together
with (X300, Y200), forms a tangent to the ARC. Here the cursor hit acts as a qualifying
point. Notice that the STRA produced here is not a tangent line.
2. NEW STRA
FPT X200 Y100
TPT X200 Y100 TAN PREV CIRC QUAL @
Here, the STRA has one endpoint defined explicitly and the other defined as the point
where the tangent line through (X200, Y100) intersects the previous CIRC in list order
which is closest to the cursor-specified qualifying point.
500
100
(200, 100)
newly defined STRA
X
100 500
The qualifier is necessary since in this case there are two possible tangents. (Other
tangent shown dashed.) Other cases would not need a qualifier since only one tangent
would be possible (see below).
generated point
(200, 100)
2 1
Figure 20:14. Use of the TANGENT Construction to give a Line perpendicular to a Tangent
Examples
1. NEW STRA
FPT X300 Y100
TPT X300 Y100 PERP PREV STRA
Here, the STRA has one endpoint defined explicitly and the other defined as the
intersection of the perpendicular from the specified reference point to the previous
STRA in list order. See Figure 20:16.: Use of the PERPENDICULAR Construction.
500
X
100 500
Where the specified primitive is a line, the constructed point may lie beyond the ends of
the line (as above).
Other variations of the PERPENDICULAR Construction are shown below.
2. NEW STRA
FPT X0 Y0
TPT X0 Y0 PERP PREV CIRC QUAL @
Here (see opposite), two constructed points are possible and so a qualifying cursor hit
is used.
500
500
The first point to be specified must be explicit, i.e. it cannot itself be a constructed point. A
3D position may be constructed if appropriate.
Sheet boundary
Note: that if the current SHEE size is changed, the FPT (From point) and TPT (To point) of
the STRA will not be updated.
Note: that if the current SHEE size is changed, the TPT of the STRA will not be updated.
Note: that if the current SHEE size is changed, the TPT of the STRA will not be updated.
2 1
1 2
CHAMFERD 20 @ @ CHAMFERD 20 40 @ @ CHAMFERD 20 40 @ @
Figure 20:21. Chamfer Lines
Note: in the above example the effect of changing the order in which the lines to be
chamfered are identified. (The same effect could be achieved by leaving the order of
identification unchanged but switching the chamfer distances values in the
command.) If a single value is specified, this is used for both chamfer distances.
20.17.1 Labelling
Point construction is available in all syntax that requires the input of a single 2D position. For
example,
GAP AT INT @
could be used to introduce a gap in a leader line at the point at which it crosses another line
(which may be part of the design graphics or annotation).
20.17.2 Dimensioning
Point construction is available in all syntax that requires the input of a single 2D (or, if
appropriate, a 3D position). For example,
DIM CENTRE OF @
could be used to position a Dimension line to run through the centre of an existing CIRC
element.
When creating linear and angular Dimensions, it is possible to dimension to a constructed
2D point using the
TO POS OF @
syntax. (Similarly FROM POS OF @. This procedure is possible provided the current VIEW
is orthogonal, and the 2D position lies in the current VIEW. For example, the syntax
FROM POS OF INT @
WORLD
REPO DRWG
OLINES HPATTE
TEXT LIBY
(see overleaf)
SHEE REVI
TEXT
(see overleaf)
LAYE RRUL HRUL VSEC
(see overleaf)
Filenames
Picture filenames incorporate the database reference and version number (PVNO attribute)
of the picture element. Picture file names have the form:
M46-2107-20-13
where the first two numbers are the database reference of the picture element. The third
number is the value of the EXFI attribute (which is normally the database/extract file number
at the time the picture was saved). The final number is the picture version number (PVNO
attribute). This is incremented every time the picture is modified.
Only those picture elements that may include design graphics (that is SHEEs and OVERs)
have picture files. The graphics for other picture elements (LALBs, BACKs etc.) are created
when required.
Folder Structure
The picture file folder %<project>PIC% is split to improve the file system performance on
large projects, with increasing numbers of picture files. There are 32 subfolders numbered
00 through to 31 and the picture files are distributed among these subfolders according to a
pseudo-random algorithm based on database reference. The algorithm is designed to
distribute picture files homogenously among the subfolders; there is no user-configurable
option.
The picture filename may be queried at the picture element (SHEE, OVER) using the
command:
Q PICFilename
This returns the picture directory and file name, for example:
%ABCPIC%/27/M46-2107-20-13
Note: The details of the distribution algorithm are an internal feature of DRAFT. AVEVA
might adjust it in future versions so user applications should rely on the PICFilename
pseudo-attribute, as it is guaranteed always to return a valid picture file path.
Index
Connection Point Offset (CPOF) attribute . . Dimension origin (of angular dimension) 12:34
13:13, 13:14, 13:17 DIMENSION PEN command . . . . . . . 12:21
CPT (centre point) command . . 18:18, 20:2 Dimension points . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:2, 12:3
CRIT command . . . . . . . . . . 4:12, 4:13, 10:8 deleting unwanted . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:50
Crosshairs Colour (CHCOLOUR) attribute . DIMENSION RADIUS command 12:40, 12:45
12:48 DIMENSION SEPARATION command 12:12
Crosshairs Line style (CHSTYLE) attribute . Dimension Style
12:48 of radial dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . 12:29
Crosshairs Line Style/Colour (CHSTYLE/CHCO- Dimension text . . . . . . . 12:13, 12:19, 12:45
LOUR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:31 Dimension text angle . . . . . . . . 12:14, 12:26
Crosshairs Overshoot (CHOSHT) attribute . Dimension Text Character Height (DTCH) attri-
12:31 bute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:45
CSPA (Character Spacing) attribute 13:7, 13:29 DIMENSION TEXT command . . . . . . 12:13
Curve fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:25 Dimension Text Font (DFONT) attribute 12:31
Dimension Text Letter Height (DTLH) attribute
D 12:19, 12:45
Dimension Text Offset (DTOF) attribute 12:14,
Databases 12:26, 12:32, 12:44, 12:45
switching between . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:3 Dimension text underlining
DDNM attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:2, 12:5 in radial dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . 12:29
DDNX system attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:2 DIMENSION OFFSET command . . . . . 12:9
DEFINE command 18:16, 18:19, 18:30, 20:2 Dimension, Text, Character, Height (DTCH) attri-
DELETE command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:7 bute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:19
DELETE NULL ANNO command . . . . 12:50 DIR attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:12, 12:9
DELETE NULL IDLI command . . . 3:7, 3:28 Direction
DELETE STEP command . . . . . . 5:10, 5:12 of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:12
DESADD command . . . . . . . . . . . 3:6, 3:24 Display
Design Data Name (DDNM) attribute . 12:5, preserving, recovering . . . . . . . . 2:1, 2:5
12:12, 12:23, 12:35, 12:45, 12:49, DLFG attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:41, 12:48
12:50, 13:3, 13:20, 13:23, 13:27, 13:31 DLLB (Id List Library) element . . . . . . . . 3:5
Design elements DMND (Diamond) element . . . . . . . . . 18:22
hatching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:8 DMTX (Dimension Line Text) attribute 12:13,
Design Symbol (DESSYM) . . . . . . . . . . 3:18 12:24, 12:40, 12:45, 14:1, 14:6
Design Symbol Layer (DSLAYE) element 3:18 DOFF attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:9
Design Symbol Link (DRSYLK) . . . . . . 3:18 Double Precision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19:4
DESREMOVE command . . . . . . . 3:6, 3:24 DPBA (Dimension Point Before/After) element
DESSYM (Design Symbol) element . . . 3:18 12:3, 12:50
DFLAG attribute . . . . . . . . . . . 12:24, 12:48 DPOI (Dimension Point) element . . . . . 12:3
DGN Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:15 DPPT (Dimension Point/P-Point) element 12:3,
DIM @ command . . . . . . . . . . 12:32, 12:44 12:35, 12:50
Dimension arc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:35 DRAFT
Dimension attribute key (AKEY) . . . . . 12:23 entering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:4
Dimension Line Angle (DDEG) Attribute 12:25, DRAFT command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:4
12:32, 12:44, 12:48 DRAG command 18:6, 18:9, 18:18, 18:32, 20:2
Dimension Line Direction (DIR) . . . . . . 12:9 Draughting origin
Dimension Line Position (DPOS) attribute . . shifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:8
12:39, 12:43 Draughting points . . . . . . . 18:6, 18:14, 20:1
Dimension Line Spacing (DMSP) attribute . identifying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:14
12:12, 12:40, 12:47 positioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20:1
Dimension line terminators . . . 12:20, 12:47 Draughting primitives
Dimension lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:2, 12:43 copying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:12, 18:13
truncating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:47 creating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:6
Dimension Offset (DOFF) attribute 12:4, 12:8, mirroring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:12
12:9, 12:39, 12:43, 12:45 moving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:9, 18:11
G L
GAP command . 12:21, 12:47, 13:14, 13:31 Label attachment point . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:2
Gaps, sketching and erasing . . . . . . . 12:21 Label attributes
GBOX (frame clearance) attribute . . . 13:27 querying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:31
Pitch Circle Dimension (PDIM) elements 12:2, Projection Text Letter Height (PTLH) attribute
12:32, 12:44 12:19, 12:46
creating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:32, 12:44 PROJLINE CLEARANCE command . . 12:8
modifying . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:32, 12:44 PROJLINE OVERSHOOT command . . 12:9
PJUS (projection line text justification) command PROJLINE PEN command . . . . . . . . 12:21
12:17, 12:46 PTANG attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:46
PKDI (p-line distance) attribute 13:3, 14:4, 16:3, PTANGLE attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:18
16:4 PTFA (point reference) attribute 18:6, 18:14,
PKEY (p-line name) attribute . . . 13:3, 16:3 18:16, 18:30
Plane editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:10, 5:12 PTRF (point reference) attribute 18:6, 18:14,
Plane querying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:12 18:19
Plane retained/discarded side PURP (Purpose) attribute . . . . . . 11:2, 17:3
determining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:12
switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:11 Q
Plane sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:10, 5:13
Planes Library (PLLB) element . . . . . . . . 5:3 Qualifiers:in point construction . . . . . . . 20:6
Planes, erasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:11, 5:13 Querying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:21
PLCL (projection line clearance) attribute 12:8, AKEYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:23
12:39, 12:47 Id Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:8
PLDI (projection line direction) attribute 12:9, spatial map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:8
12:10, 12:43 symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19:4
P-lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14:12 view contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:19
PLLB element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:3 view direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:12
PLMP (P-line style/colour) attribute . . . . 4:4 QUIT command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:4
PLOT command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:1
Plotfiles R
size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:1
PLRF (Plane Reference) attribute . 5:3, 5:10, Radial Dimension (RDIM) elements 12:1, 12:44
5:12 creating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:32, 12:44
PLTX (Projection Line Text) attribute 14:1, 14:6 modifying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:32, 12:44
PMOD (Plane Mode) attribute . . . . 5:3, 5:12 Radial Dimension Position Point (RPOI) element
Point construction defaults . . . . . . . . . 20:18 12:32
POS attribute 5:4, 5:5, 5:7, 5:10, 5:11, 18:10 Radial Dimension P-Point (RPPT) element .
POSFOR attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14:17 12:32
Position Radial Dimensions
converting 2D/3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:4 including projection arcs with . . . . 12:31
PPDI (p-point direction) attribute 3:19, 12:12, Radius Dimension
12:45, 13:6 obtaining from Diameter . . . . . . . 12:24
PPLINE command . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:3, 16:1 RAYLINE command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20:16
P-point Direction (PPDI) attribute . . . . . 3:19 RCOD (rotation code) attribute . 3:11, 12:25
P-point Number (%NUM) attribute . . . . 3:19 Recipient (RECI) element . . . . . . . . . . . 9:2
PPOINTS command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:2 Recipient name (RNAM) attribute . . 9:2, 9:4
PROJECTION DIRECTION command 12:10, RECREATE command . . . . . . . . . . . 2:1, 2:5
12:43 RECT (rectangle) element . . . . 18:19, 18:28
PROJECTION JUSTIFICATION command . Reflected points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20:15
12:17 Registry (REGI) element . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:2
Projection line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:2 REMOVE command . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:5, 3:24
Projection line direction (PLDI) . . . . . . . 12:9 Remove Entry (REME) element . . . . . . . 3:5
Projection Line Style/Colour (PLSTYLE/PLCO- REPEAT command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:12
LOUR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:31 Report (REPO) element . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:1
Projection line text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:46 Representation Rules
Projection text angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:18 Querying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:11
Projection Text Character Height (PTCH) attri- Setting up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:5, 10:3
bute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:19, 12:46 Representation Ruleset Reference (RRSF) attri-
V
Vertex (VERT) element . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:25
VGRID command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:5
View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:17
centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:9
direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:12
frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:8
gap length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:13
limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:7
orientation of on Sheet . . . . . . . . . . 3:11
ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:10
scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:11
size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:8
type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:14
View contents
orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:11
querying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:19
VIEW element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:2
View Gap (VGAP) attribute . . . . . . . . . . 3:13
View Scale (VSCA) attribute . . . . . . . . . 3:18
View Section (VSEC) element . . . . 5:3, 5:9
Views
labelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:5
querying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:19
Visibility
of primitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18:15
VNOT (View Note) element 18:3, 18:5, 18:6,
18:11, 18:35
VRAT attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:10
VREGION command . . . . . . . . . . . 3:9, 3:26
VSCA (View Scale) attribute . . . . . . . . . 3:18