About Text in Custom Linetypes

Products and versions covered

By:

Help
Oct 13 2017In-Product View

SHARE

ADD TO COLLECTION
Characters from text fonts can be included in linetypes.

Linetypes with embedded characters can denote utilities, boundaries, contours,

and so on. As with simple linetypes, lines are dynamically drawn as you specify
the vertices. Characters embedded in lines are always displayed completely; they
are never trimmed.

Linetype pattern descriptors that include embedded characters is similar to that

for simple linetypes.

For example, a linetype called HOT_WATER_SUPPLY is defined as

*HOT_WATER_SUPPLY,---- HW ---- HW ---- HW ---- HW ---- HW ----

A,.5,-.2,["HW",STANDARD,S=.1,U=0.0,X=-0.1,Y=-.05],-.2
This indicates a repeating pattern starting with a dash 0.5 drawing units long, a
space 0.2 drawing units long, the characters HW with some scale and placement
parameters, and another space 0.2 drawing units long. The text characters come
from the text font assigned to the STANDARD text style at a scale of 0.1, an
upright rotation of 0 degrees, an X offset of -0.1, and a Y offset of -0.05. This
pattern continues for the length of the line, ending with a dash 0.5 drawing units
long. The linetype would be displayed as shown below.
Notice that the total space length is 0.2 + 0.2 = 0.4 and that the text origin is
offset -.01 units in the X direction from the end of the first upstroke. An
equivalent linetype would be

*HOT_WATER_SUPPLY,---- HW ---- HW ---- HW ---- HW ---- HW ----

A,.5,-.1,["HW",STANDARD,S=.1,U=0.0,X=0.0,Y=-.05],-.3
The total space length is still 0.1 + 0.3 = 0.4, but the text origin is not offset in
the Xdirection.

Character Descriptor Format

The format for adding text characters in a linetype description is as follows:

["text_string",text_style_name,scale,rotation,xoffset,yoffset]
Scale, rotation, x-offset, and y-offset values must be expressed as signed decimal
numbers such as 1, -17, and 0.01.

Text string
The characters to display in the linetype.

Text style name

The name of the text style to be used. If no text style is specified, the
currently defined style is used.

Note: Embedded text characters are associated with a text style in the
drawing. Any text styles associated with a linetype must exist in the
drawing before you load the linetype.
Scale
The scale factor to be used for the text style relative to the scale of the
linetype. The scale factor provided must be prefixed with S=, for
example S=.5 indicates a scale factor of 0.5. The height of the text style is
multiplied by the scale factor. If the height of the text style is 0, the value
for S=value alone is used as the height.

Rotation
The rotation angle of the characters to be displayed in the linetype. The
rotation angle must be prefixed with U=, R=, or A=.

 U= specifies upright or easy-to-read text.

 R= specifies relative or tangential rotation with respect to the
line.
 A= specifies absolute rotation of the text with respect to the
origin; that is, all text has the same rotation regardless of its position
relative to the line.
The value can be appended with a
  d for degrees (degrees is the default value)
 r for radians
 g for grads
The following illustration is of a linetype defined with an upright rotation.

If rotation is omitted, 0 relative rotation is used. Rotation is centered

between the baseline and the nominal cap height.

Note: Drawings containing legacy linetypes that do not use the U (upright)
rotation flag can be updated to the latest linetype definition by reloading
the linetype from the LIN files. Custom linetypes can be updated by
changing the R (rotation) flag to the U (upright) flag prior to reloading a
linetype definition.
X-offset
The shift of the text on the X axis of the linetype, which is along the line.
The offset provided must be prefixed with X=, for example X=.1 indicates
an offset of 0.1. If an offset is omitted or is 0, the text is elaborated with
no offset. Use this field to control the distance between the text and the
previous pen-up or pen-down stroke. This value is not scaled by the scale
factor defined by S=value, but it is scaled to the linetype.

Y-offset
The shift of the text in the Y axis of the linetype, which is at a 90-degree
angle to the line. The offset provided must be prefixed with Y=, for
example Y=.1 indicates an offset of 0.1. If an offset is omitted or is 0, the
text is elaborated with no offset. Use this field to control the vertical
alignment of the text with respect to the line. This value is not scaled by
the scale factor defined by S=value, but it is scaled to the linetype.