How to start sheet numbering at anything pother than 1?

We use a pen table with Text Substitution to manage our sheet numbering through Print organizer for us. While it has it's drawbacks, it works well enough for normal projects.

I have a project where we are a Sub-consultant, and our sheets are inserted to the middle of the plans. The regular text substitutions for _DOCSET_CURRENTSETDOC_ AND _DOCSET_NUMSETDOC_ aren't going to work for us because we are not starting at 1 (we are starting at 71). Is there any way to tell Print Organizer to start counting at a specific number (other than 1)?

If not, is there any other way to automate sheet numbering that I can do in ten minutes or less? I don't have all day to figure out how to set something up and I don't really have the authority to override too many company standards.
Thank you

  • You'll need to create a custom named expression in a .dgnlib that takes the print definition's position number (PrintDefinition.SetPrintDefNumber) and adds an arbitrary number.  That custom named expression can be referenced in your pen table, Print Organizer output file name expression, etc.

    An example screenshot is attached that demonstrates how to do this for pen table text substitution.

    For a more in-depth explanation for a similar task, see communities.bentley.com/.../a-step-by-step-guide-for-advanced-pen-table-text-substitution

          
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  • That would probably work, but I am not authorized to change the pen tables to add any additional text substitutions. And I'd have to make a whole separate DGNLIB just for one variable that can be used on one job? How does that one job know to look for that one DGNLIB (since that particular value would not be valid for anything else)? Too bad I can't get that link to open...Where is this documented in the Help file in-depth?
    I'll have to talk to the powers that be about adding custom substitutions for just such an emergency.

    MaryB

    Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918
    Power InRoads 08.11.09.918
    OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2

        

  • The documentation is in different places.  Named expressions are described in the Help under Programmed Customizations / Named Expressions, the available printing system symbols that can be used in a named expression are documented under the Utilities / Named Expressions dialog via the Utilities / Report Symbols command, and the use of the <expr?name="name of a named expression">  syntax in pen table text substitution is described in the Help under Working with Complete Designs / Printing / Print Resymbolization and Pen Tables / Modifying Pen Tables / Text Substitution.

    The blog article I referenced attempts to tie all that together into an easier-to-follow tutorial demonstrating the power of named expressions for advanced text substitution.  I don't know why you wouldn't be able to see it.

    In V8i at least, named expressions for use by the printing system can be placed in any DGNLIB loaded into the session.  It's not required to create a separate DGNLIB just for a single named expression, although many users do prefer to organize their DGNLIBs with named expressions kept separate from levels, text styles, etc.

    I do not believe there's any way to accomplish your goal without modifying your pen table, or creating a bunch of dummy print definitions in the PSET.  The _DOCSET_CURRENTSETDOC_ pen table text replacement token is a simple wrapper around the PrintDefinition.SetPrintDefSetNumber expression symbol.  It always evaluates to the position of the print definition within the print set.  

    Another technique that does not require a DGNLIB or hardcoding your sheet number offset into a named expression is to use a custom expression in the Print Organizer dialog.  The same underlying principle applies: start with the PrintDefinition.SetPrintDefSetNumber symbol value and add an abitrary offset number to it.  In this case, the custom expression is entered directly in Print Organizer's Default Print Definition Name dialog.  Now the arbitrary offset number is maintained and saved in the PSET file, not a DGNLIB.  The adjusted sheet number is stored in the print definition name (in my example, I used the formula 'adjusted sheet number-dgn filename' but you could use just the sheet number if you liked.  In the pen table text substitution dialog, you would need replace the original text with the print definition name instead of _DOCSET_CURRENTSETDOC_.  Unfortunately, in V8i at least, there is no predefined replacement token for the print definition name.  You would need to use a simple inline expression, <expr?expr="PrintDefinition.Name">, as the replacement text.

    There is not a big difference between this technique and the previous one I proposed.  The primary advantage of the second technique is that the offset value can be more easily changed by modifying the print definition default name expression in the PSET, and running the Print Organizer 'Edit / Rename by Expression' command.

    If your PSET is small and you do want to go the dummy print definition route, you can create a 'dummy' folder at the top and fill it with enough print definitions to cause your first real print definition to start at the desired index.  The PrintDefinition.SetPrintDefSetNumber symbol does recurse folders when calculating the position for each item.

    I should point out that in CONNECT Edition, the sheet index tool is designed around the idea that sheet numbers may start at arbitrary values.  The sheets and their numbering schemes are managed in the sheet index without the need to define named expressions or involve DGNLIBs.  When printing from the sheet index, pen table text substitution works conceptually the same as the second technique I proposed above for V8i: the sheet number from the sheet index automatically turns into the print definition name, which can then optionally be used in pen table text substitution, output PDF file name, etc.

          
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  • I tried this and didn't work, I don't know what I'm doing wrong

  • A small thing, but are those expressions Case Sensitive?

    MaryB

    Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918
    Power InRoads 08.11.09.918
    OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2