Jim McKim
10-21-2002, 04:43 PM
I just got done creating some custom editable-parameter symbols that are selectable from the Symbols browser, and I thought I'd share some of my findings. I used the information in the Help files to guide me, but still ran into a couple of glitches:
1. If you want an icon to appear in the Symbols browser, it's easiest if you create the file for it first, before you create the symbol. On Windows, the trick is to save the file from Paint with a .xbm extension instead of the default .bmp. Save the file where you will have your am_customize file look for it. Also, in Paint set your image attributes to 90 pixels wide by 24 pixels high, even if you don't need that much for the icon, because it will get stretched in the browser to that size if you don't.
2. For the actual symbol, create it as a sketch in Annotation. You'll need to first create or load a drawing. The owner of the sketch can be anything. You don't need to save the sketch before defining the symbol, it will be saved as part of the process. If you edit the file outside of the symbol creation process, the editable parameter relation will be lost.
3. To make a text field in your sketch be an editable parameter in the symbol, click on it as part of the 'define symbol' process.
4. To be able to register your new symbol automatically upon starting Annotation, you need to write it to a file that will be read as part of Annotation startup. If you use the Write Symbol Registration function in the Actions menu of the Symbol browser, it will write out ALL the symbols, so I sent it to a temp file, then cut and pasted my new symbol from that to a Symbols file I have am_customize load. That way I don't overwrite the stock symbols.
This was all pretty time consuming and harder than I thought it should have been. If you have trouble, feel free to contact me - I might be able to lessen your pain!
1. If you want an icon to appear in the Symbols browser, it's easiest if you create the file for it first, before you create the symbol. On Windows, the trick is to save the file from Paint with a .xbm extension instead of the default .bmp. Save the file where you will have your am_customize file look for it. Also, in Paint set your image attributes to 90 pixels wide by 24 pixels high, even if you don't need that much for the icon, because it will get stretched in the browser to that size if you don't.
2. For the actual symbol, create it as a sketch in Annotation. You'll need to first create or load a drawing. The owner of the sketch can be anything. You don't need to save the sketch before defining the symbol, it will be saved as part of the process. If you edit the file outside of the symbol creation process, the editable parameter relation will be lost.
3. To make a text field in your sketch be an editable parameter in the symbol, click on it as part of the 'define symbol' process.
4. To be able to register your new symbol automatically upon starting Annotation, you need to write it to a file that will be read as part of Annotation startup. If you use the Write Symbol Registration function in the Actions menu of the Symbol browser, it will write out ALL the symbols, so I sent it to a temp file, then cut and pasted my new symbol from that to a Symbols file I have am_customize load. That way I don't overwrite the stock symbols.
This was all pretty time consuming and harder than I thought it should have been. If you have trouble, feel free to contact me - I might be able to lessen your pain!