Document Information

Document Type: TechNote 

Product(s): AutoPLANT 2004, XM, V8i

Version(s): All

Original Author: Joey Bertone, Bentley Technical Support Group

Overview

The Posistioned Text or .POS file passes drawing data such as Area, Linenumber, and sheet number to the Isogen Drawings. Data passed by the .POS to Isogen documents can have its font and text color customized to customer or shop requriments along with the bill of materials and piping text.

Solution

The defalut font and color for .POS output is set to autocads defualt monotext and white. The basic requirements for font and colors referenced in the .POS file to output to the isogen file are as follows

1.  Reference the FONTSTD.FIF file in the Isogen Input
2. Options File set Switch 71 Plotfile / Backing Sheet Format to SMART DWG
3. .DWG Drawing Frame saved in "AutoCAD R14/LT98/LT97 Drawing" format
4. .POS file with the extended TextPos records
5. .DDF file with COLOURs attributed to layers

Use the steps outlined for each section to create a customized .POS output. Please check each step of the procces any section left out can result in no output of an isogen file or the font and color outputing unchanged.

FONTSTD.FIF

The font information is not referenced in any isogen style; use the steps below to add the file to the style folder and reference it.

1. Place a copy of the FONTSTD.FIF file from C:\Program Files\Common Files\Bentley Shared\Plant XM\Isogen in the Isogen style in use example Final: C:\Bentley Plant XM Projects\SAMPLE_IMPERIAL\Config\isogen\final.

2. Reference the FONTSTD.FIF file in Project Administrator %Project%>Isogen>Input. Change Font Information to reference the FONTSTD.FIF file in C:\Bentley Plant XM Projects\SAMPLE_IMPERIAL\Config\isogen\final.

FONTSTD.FIF references all fonts that are usable in Isogen for AutoPLANT. AutoCAD only fonts are 1-15 and general use font are 101-153. information on which font corresponds to each number is found in the Fonts.ppt located in C:\Program Files\Bentley\Plant XM\Help\Isogen\isotrain.zip.

Options File: set Switch 71

Fonts are not passed when using a dxf as the backing sheet. The Plotfile / Backing Sheet Format Option Switch must be changed to use a dwg file. Change the isogen Option Switch to use the SMART DWG format with the procedure below.

In Project Administrator go to %Project%>Isogen>Input and Edit the Options File. The opening screen for Options Editor will have option switch 71 Plotfile / Backing Sheet Format. Change switch 71 to SMART DWG. Then Save and close.

.DWG Drawing Frame

Now that Isogen is set to use a SMART DWG Plotfile / Backing Sheet Format the current backing sheet must be changed to a dwg file and saved in the AutoCAD R14/LT98/LT97 Drawing format.

1. In Project Administrator go to %Project%>Isogen>Input
2. Edit the Drawing Frame (AutoCAD will open the current Drawing Frame)
3. Save as the drawing and change the file format to AutoCAD R14/LT98/LT97. The Drawing Frame is now saved in the same location with the same name as previous Drawing Frame but in a dwg format.
4. Close AutoCAD
5. Change the Drawing Frame to the newly created Drawing Frame in the dwg format

.DDF file with Colors Attributed to layers

Because the .POS file cannot attribute a color to a specific output in the .POS file the attribute must point to a layer to be placed on and that lay must have a color value. Edit the .DDF file manually to change the layer colors.

1. Open the final.ddf file; Example location %Project Root%\Config\isogen\final
2. Find the LAYER-NAMES section and add "COLOUR #" after the layer name.
   1. Note: Color must be spelled with the British spelling "COLOUR"

Example;
LAYER-NAMES
1 'LAYER1' COLOUR 1
2 'LAYER2' COLOUR 2
3 'LAYER3' COLOUR 3
4 'LAYER4'
5 'LAYER5'
6 'LAYER6'
7 'PIPE'
8 'SPECIAL-STAT'

   3.   Layers 1, 2, and 3 is will now output in the colors Red, Yellow, and Green.

The basic AutoCAD colors correspond to the following Index Numbers.  For more color Index Numbers open AutoCAD and type COLOR in the command line. Then the Select Color dialog will open. Next highlight a color and its Index Number will display under the color palette.

Primary AutoCAD color Index Numbers

• 1=Red
• 2=Yellow
• 3=Green
• 4=Cyan
• 5=Blue
• 6=Magenta

.POS File with Extended TextPos Records

The extended .POS file is difficult to recreate for AutoPLANT Isogen because of conflicting information in the isotrain.zip.  The link below has an example file that can be used as a basis for any needed customization.

http://communities.bentley.com/Other/Old_Site_Files/Member_Folders/m/joeys_files/47891/download.aspx

 Fonts

Fonts can be changed using section 15. Set the value to a corresponding font value in the FONTSTD.FIF file.

Font Number Examples

1. Arial 101
2. Arial Italic 102
3. SansSerif 126
4. Times New Roman 136

Colours

To change the colour of the text assign the text to a layer with colour using section 13 in the pos file. The default layers number 1 - 50; with 1 - 6 being generic layers.

See Also

Product TechNotes and FAQs

How To Set Colors For Layers Or The BOM In ISOGEN

Changing The Font Of Your Isogen Output

External Links

Bentley homepage

Bentley Technical Support KnowledgeBase

Bentley LEARN Server

Comments or Corrections?

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