IPlot *.pen vs "Old-fashioned" *.plt & *.tbl

I am working as a sub-consultant on a project with a larger firm.
They use IPlot to generate their plot sets. We do not have IPlot, and it is not going to be provided for us. I've never worked with IPlot.
I am trying to set something up so that our plots look as similar to theirs as possible.

Nobody there seems to know anything more about their plot specifications. I asked for their PLT files, and was told there are none. They gave us a *.pen file, which I was told is their "pen table". It doesn't read like a pen table - lots of "IF...END IF" statements. Some of it looks vaguely familiar, but I don't recognize a lot of it. It would appear to be some sort of IPlot "Design Script" file. I've asked their CAD guy for clarification but this was already in place when he got there. "It works, so I don't ask a lot of questions."

I need to set up a plot driver and pen table to simulate their plot set-up. How do I break this IPlot thing down into something I can actually use? Does it contain the same information as a plot driver and pen table? Where?

Thank you for your assistance.
MaryB

  • Can you install the PDF Composer? I'm not sure if it is still considered a product, but it was originally an EC (Engineering Configuration) that was essentially IPLOT Finisher with all but PDF output disabled. It will recognize and use an IPLOT Pen Table.

    Also, what I did at my last firm, was to submit a "test plot" DGN file with all 32 weights, all 256 colors and a number of examples of LC 0 thru 7 at a smatterings of weights to a client that used IPLOT for all plotting.

    This gave me a target to use to create new PLT files to mimic the results from IPLOT.

    IPLOT pen tables can be far more complicated than a MicroStation Pen Table and can be created in such a way as to be actually impossible to mimic in a MicroStation pen table.

    HTH

    Charles (Chuck) Rheault
    CADD Manager

    MDOT State Highway Administration

    • MicroStation user since IGDS, InRoads user since TDP.
    • AutoCAD, Land Desktop and Civil 3D, off and on since 1996
  • That's a fairly sophisticated InterPlot design script you posted. Aside from the nested "if / else / else if" statements that would be difficult if not impossible to convert into the flat element selection criteria offered by the MicroStation pen table, the design script makes use of InterPlot's element scaling resymbolization (see the "scale =" assignment statements).  There is no equivalent to that in a MicroStation pen table.

    MicroStation PDF Composer is probably your best option.  As caddcop stated, it is "InterPlot Lite", so you can expect conceptual differences between it and standard MicroStation printing.

          
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  • Yep...

    MaryB

    Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918
    Power InRoads 08.11.09.918
    OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2

        

  • Thanks, guys.

    I've downloaded ProjectWise Interplot Organizer, and it seems to do what I want.
    (Now I just have to learn it!)

    MaryB

    Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918
    Power InRoads 08.11.09.918
    OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2

        

  • Crikey, I thought we had complex plot scripts 8-) [Though we do have quite a few engineering disciplines to support with printing]

    Nice work Mary

    CADMinistrator ®