Plotting - choosing paper size automatically

[jkramer]

Hi,

I'm confused... as far as I can understand, it's not possible in Annotation (Windows) to choose the paper size for a plot automatically. You'll have to choose the paper size in the plotter menu that pops up after you "confirmed" you plot in Annotation. Right???
What confuses me is that in our plot definition file (.plt), the last line of each plot definition is something like this:

"Laserjet" "| rlp -oraw -onb -dlj4mplus_rd" :ON "Lj4mplus"

This would suggest that I can tell the printer some things (like paper size, or otherwise, tray number).
But whatever I change the line to, nothing changes when plotting.

Is this line just there for Unix compatibility, or am I overlooking something???? (yes, I restarted Annotation each time I changed the .plt-file)

Thanks,
Jaap

[Harry]

That's right, it is only there for unix .

[John Scheffel]

Under Windows you can set a default paper size for each printer by clicking clicking Start, Settings, Printers to open the list of available printers. You can then right click on a printer and select Printing Preferences... to set your prefered defaults for that printer. Most Windows applications will use those defaults when the printer is selected from Print Manager. Prior to version 12 ME10/Drafting and Annotation worked this way, but in version 12 there is a bug that causes the paper size to always default to A4 after startup. We have submitted a report on this and it has been filed as a defect.

You can control the Print Manager settings from Drafting and Annotation. Here are some tips that might help you.

Because Annotation is built on the ME10 kernel, there is a LISP command that can be used to run any supported ME10/Drafting command or macro. The LISP command is:

(oli::sd-execute-annotator-command :cmd "ME10 Command or macro")

Using Drafting commands you can define custom printer names for specific Windows printers and make them current using the PLOTTER_TYPE command. For example, to define a custom printer name.
PLOTTER_TYPE ADD MSWINDOW_GDI_PRINTER PRT_DRIVER '\\hostname\network_printer_name' 'my network printer'
PLOTTER_TYPE ADD MSWINDOW_GDI_PRINTER PRT_DRIVER 'local_printer_name' 'my local printer'

Note that the printer names specified must exactly match the names defined in the local Windows installation. To make one of those custome printer names current, you use a command similar to.

PLOTTER_TYPE 'my local printer'

The command WIN_PRT_MGR which can be used to control the settings in Print Manager for the currently selected printer. For example:

WIN_PRT_MGR PAPER 'Letter' ORIENTATION PORTRAIT COPIES 1 END

By combining the sd-execute-annotator-command function with the ME10 commands, you should be able to write LISP code which will setup specific printers and a default paper size.

See the Drafting Help and the <install_dir>\appendix.htm file for more details on these command.

[jkramer]

Hi,

thanks for the replies; I'd like to add that the post "Find lower left corner of frame " from june 2003 showed me the trick to determine the size of the current sheet, so now I have a nice little plot-menu that knows if it should print portait or landscape, and doesn't bother me with the Windows-printerbox.
I'm starting to like these good'old ME10 commands :-)

Regards,
Jaap

[Thom Ivancso]

Could you share your code with the rest of us, I would be very interested in seeing how it works.


Cheers
Thom

[jkramer]

Hi,

here's the 2 files that work together in "Vlotplot" (dutch for "fast plot"). Thanks to the newsgroup and our CoCreate reseller (CadServices)!!

First of all, I put 2 lines in am_customize:
(oli::sd-execute-annotator-command :cmd "INPUT '<location of my lisp files>/vlotplot.m'")
(load "<location of my lisp files>/vlotplot.lsp")

Obviously, you'll have to fill in the appropriate path name.
The .m-file will do the ME-10 stuff, and the lsp-file is the menu.

I've defined 4 plot presets: landscape and protait for 2 printers.
Besides that there are 2 options: "Thin Lines" and "Logo".
If the drawing is larger than A3, we like to print with thinner lines, so that the A3 plot won't look "cluttered". In our company, the logo on the drawing gives it an "official status". The logo has a unique color (blue).
Depending on the options that the user clicks on, the right ME-10 functions will be called. So, next to the 4 plot-functions, there are functions for thick or thin lines and logo or no-logo.
If you want to use it, you'll need at least fill in the right address of the printers. Besides that, you'll probably have to edit the plot transformations.
To be honest, I don't understand each line of the macro (like "REQUEST_PRINT_SETUP OFF"????!!!). But it works!
By the way, the user doesn't need to choose "portrait" or "landscape". The lisp code compares the height and width of the sheet, and decides what orientation is the right one.

Regards,
Jaap

[Thom Ivancso]

Hell Jaap,

Thank you for sending the code and giving the above details.

:D


Cheers
Thom

[ssusana]

I write some macro to print a annotation file.
One for any format ISO.
See attachment.

Bye

Stefano Susana

[andrea]

How I can make to read in automatic rifle to annotation printing shaped in the PC?

In order to shape printing to select for the press of annotation in one macro lsp ??



In to ME10 I used
INQ_ENV 22
LET A (INQ 901)

.....