PDMS AutoDRAFT User Guide PDF

PDMS AutoDRAFT User Guide
Version 11.5
NOTE:
This release of AutoDRAFT is compatible with
AutoCAD Releases 13, 14 and 2000
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Contents
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
4
4.1
4.2
4.3
Introducing AutoDRAFT
What is AutoDRAFT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
About this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Manual Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1--1
1--2
1--2
1--3
The AutoDRAFT Facilities

AutoDRAFT Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2--1
The PDMS DRAFT/AutoDRAFT Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2--1
The PDMS ISODRAFT/AutoDRAFT Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2--2
The Drawing Editor -- Introduction

The Drawing Editor Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3--1
The DRAFT/ISODRAFT to Drawing Editor Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3--1
Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3--3
3.3.1
Paper--Space/Model--Space--Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3--3
3.3.2
The Drawing Editor Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3--3
3.3.3
Drawing Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3--3
3.3.4
Drawing Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3--3
The Drawing Editor -- Getting Started

Starting the Drawing Editor Directly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4--1
4.1.1
Creating the DXF--Format Transfer File from DRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4--1
4.1.2
Creating the DXF--Format Transfer File from ISODRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4--2
4.1.3
Transferring the DXF Plotfile to the Host AutoCAD Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . 4--2
4.1.4
Starting the Drawing Editor on the Host AutoCAD Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4--2
Starting the Drawing Editor from PDMS DRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4--4
Starting the Drawing Editor from PDMS ISODRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4--4
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Contents
4.4
Notes on the Transfer File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4--4

4.4.1
Drawing Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4--4
4.4.2
4.4.3
Limitations of DXF File Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4--4

FECs Support in DXF Output (PDMS/J users only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4--4
The Drawing Editor -- Autoblanking
5.1
5.2
Creating a Blanking Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5--1

Blanking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5--5
5.3
Editing Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5--6
The Drawing Editor -- Miscellaneous Facilities
6.1
6.2
Layer Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6--1

Controlling Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6--3
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
6.8
6.9
Applying PDMS Colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6--4

Loading Text from a File onto a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6--5
Copying and Resizing Part of a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6--6
Creating a Paper Space Viewport on a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6--9
Selecting a Paper Space Viewport on a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6--10
Leaving AutoCAD, Without Saving Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6--10
Leaving AutoCAD, Saving Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6--11
7
7.1
7.2
7.3
8
8.1
8.2
8.3
The Symbol Editor -- Introduction

The Symbol Editor Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7--1
AutoCAD Working Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7--1
Symbol Library Annotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7--2
The Symbol Editor -- Getting Started

Starting the Symbol Editor Directly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8--1
8.1.1
Starting the Symbol Editor on the Host AutoCAD Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8--1
Starting the Symbol Editor from PDMS DRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8--2
Setting the Drawing Size in AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8--2
The Symbol Editor -- Creating Symbol Templates
9.1
Creating the Symbol Name Attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9--1
9.2
9.3
Creating a Block and an Insert of the Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9--2

Redefining a Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9--2
10 The Symbol Editor -- Deriving DRAFT Command Files

10.1 Direct Entry to Symbol Editor (using adraftse command) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10--1
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10.2 Entry to Symbol Editor from DRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10--2

10.3 Leaving AutoCAD, Without Saving Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10--2
10.4 Leaving AutoCAD, Saving Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10--3
10.5 Symbol Template Naming Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10--3
11
11.1
11.2
The Frame Editor -- Introduction

The Frame Editor Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11--1
AutoCAD Working Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11--1
12 The Frame Editor -- Getting Started

12.1 Starting the Frame Editor Directly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12--1
12.1.1 Starting the Frame Editor on the Host AutoCAD Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12--1
12.2 Starting the Frame Editor from PDMS DRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12--2
12.3 Setting the Drawing Size in AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12--2
13 The Frame Editor -- Deriving DRAFT Command Files

13.1
13.2
13.3
13.4
13.5
A
A.1
A.2
Direct Entry to Frame Editor (using adraftbe command) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13--1

Entry to Frame Editor from DRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13--2
Leaving AutoCAD, Without Saving Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13--3
Leaving AutoCAD, Saving Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13--3
Sheet Naming Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13--3
13.5.1 Backing Sheet Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13--3
13.5.2 Overlay Sheet Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13--4
AutoDRAFT Working Practices

Using DRAFT with AutoDRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A.1.1 Suggested Working Practice 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A.1.2 Suggested Working Practice 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using ISODRAFT with AutoDRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A.2.1
A--1
A--1
A--2
A--3
Suggested Working Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A--3
AutoCAD to DRAFT Entity and Attribute Mapping
B.1
B.2
B.3
B.4
AutoCAD Entities into DRAFT Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

AutoCAD Attributes into DRAFT Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DRAFT Pens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Line Widths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B.5
B.6
B.7
Linestyles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B--5
Text Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B--5
Support for AutoCAD Bigfont Text (PDMS/J users only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B--8

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B--1
B--2
B--4
B--4
iii
Contents
C
C.1
C.2
C.3
The AutoDRAFT Menus

Drawing Editor Pull--Down Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C--1
C.1.1 Blank Pull--Down Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C--1
C.1.2 PDMS Draw Pull--Down Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Frame Editor Pull--Down Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
C.2.1 PDMS Frame Pull--Down Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Symbol Editor Pull--Down Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
C.3.1
iv
C--2
C--3
C--3
C--3
PDMS Symbol Pull--Down Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C--3

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1.1
What is AutoDRAFT?
AutoDRAFT is an AutoCAD application which gives you an easy way of using AutoCAD to
perform 2D drafting on engineering drawings imported from DRAFT, and on isometric
drawings imported from ISODRAFT. It can also create 2D entities for export to DRAFT.
As well as providing access to the full range of AutoCADs 2D draughting facilities,
AutoDRAFT allows you to transfer drawings from DRAFT and ISODRAFT to enhance
them. You can also use it to create symbols and drawing frames, and then generate macros
for their subsequent recreation in DRAFT.
You can activate AutoDRAFT directly from a DRAFT or ISODRAFT menu. Alternatively, if
AutoCAD and PDMS are running on different machines, you can generate a DXF format
file for transfer to AutoDRAFT and AutoCAD by DRAFT and ISODRAFT.
This release of AutoDRAFT has been developed to allow you to take full advantage of the
latest features of AutoCAD Releases 13/14/2000.
AutoDRAFT consists of three sub--systems:
D
The Drawing Editor, which allows you to add further details to PDMS drawings from
within AutoCAD.
The Symbol Editor, which generates PDMS macros from AutoCAD inserts to create
equivalent symbol template elements in DRAFT.
The Frame Editor, which generates PDMS macros from drawing frames in AutoCAD
to create equivalent DRAFT backing or overlay sheet elements.
A range of new AutoCAD fonts, developed at Cadcentre, is also provided for your use. These
fonts are supplied in both binary and source formats. These fonts are compatible with all
new and existing PDMS draughting fonts, and can be transferred to PC--based systems.
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1.2
About this Manual
This manual describes:

D
The AutoDRAFT facilities.
How to use the DRAFT and ISODRAFT forms--and--menus user interface to activate
AutoDRAFT directly.
Alternatively, how to create a DXF--format file of a DRAFT or ISODRAFT drawing for

separate transfer to the AutoDRAFT Drawing Editor.
How to create a PDMS DRAFT command macro in AutoDRAFT in order to transfer

AutoCAD drawing entities (forming drawing frames and symbol templates) back to
DRAFT.
How to use the AutoDRAFT facilities within AutoCAD, using typed--in commands or
menu selections.
This manual does not describe how to use the main AutoCAD facilities. Refer to your
AutoCAD user documentation for this.
1.3
Manual Audience
It is assumed that those users who are involved with creating drawings in PDMS DRAFT
and transferring them to AutoCAD have attended the appropriate DRAFT and/or
ISODRAFT training courses.
It is further assumed that users who are working on a drawing transferred from PDMS are
(at least) familiar with AutoCAD.
Best use of this manual will be made by those trained in the use both of PDMS
DRAFT/ISODRAFT and of AutoCAD.
12
VANTAGE PDMS
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1.4
References
Useful sources of reference are:

The VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide.
The PDMS DRAFT on--line help.
AutoDesks AutoCAD Release 13/14/2000 Reference Manuals.
The VANTAGE PDMS ISODRAFT Reference Manual.
The PDMS ISODRAFT on--line help.

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2.1
AutoDRAFT Functions
AutoDRAFT has three sub--systems:

D
The Drawing Editor. This enables a drawing created in DRAFT or ISODRAFT to be

transferred to AutoCAD, which can then be used to finish the drawing. The Drawing
Editor also adds new functions to those normally available in AutoCAD.
The Symbol Editor. This enables symbols created in AutoCAD to be converted into a
PDMS DRAFT command macro which can then be used to create the equivalent
symbols as DRAFT database Symbol Template elements.
The Frame Editor. This enables drawing frames created in AutoCAD to be converted
into a PDMS DRAFT command macro which can then be used to create the equivalent
frames as DRAFT database Backing Sheet elements.
Each of the above sub--systems is described in detail in the following chapters of this
manual..
2.2
The PDMS DRAFT/AutoDRAFT Interface
With the Drawing Editor, a DRAFT drawing Sheet is transferred from PDMS DRAFT to
AutoDRAFT via a DXF--format file.
With the Symbol Editor and Frame Editor, the DRAFT command macros are created as
ASCII files. If AutoCAD and PDMS are on the same hardware platform the macro files will
be transferred back to PDMS automatically. See Figure 2--1 for an illustration of the
DRAFT/AutoDRAFT interface.

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AutoDRAFT
Drawing Editor
DXF--format
drawing file
Symbol-creation
macro file
(ASCII)
DRAFT
Symbol Editor
AutoCAD
Frame--creation
macro file (ASCII)
Frame Editor
Figure 2--1 The DRAFT/AutoDRAFT Interface.
2.3
The PDMS ISODRAFT/AutoDRAFT Interface
With the Drawing Editor, you can transfer an ISODRAFT isometric to AutoDRAFT via a
DXF format file.
You cannot transfer an ISODRAFT isometric with the Symbol or Frame Editor.
22

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AutoDRAFT
ISODRAFT
DXF--format
drawing file
Drawing Editor
AutoCAD
Figure 2--2 The ISODRAFT/AutoDRAFT Interface.

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3.1
The Drawing Editor Functions
All AutoCAD facilities are available to Drawing Editor users. AutoDRAFT adds the
following facilities to the standard AutoCAD system:
D
Blank out part of the drawing behind specified drawing items. For example, blank out
the graphics behind a label.
Create magnified copies of part of a drawing.
Apply PDMS standard colours to the DRAFT elements within an AutoDRAFT

drawing.
Layer control of layers allocated to DRAFT.
Load text from a file onto the drawing.
Create and select viewports containing views of the drawing sheet.
3.2
The DRAFT/ISODRAFT to Drawing Editor Interface
A DRAFT drawing Sheet, or an ISODRAFT isometric, is transferred to AutoDRAFT via a

DXF--format file. Where AutoDRAFT/AutoCAD and PDMS are running on separate
hardware you must create the DXF file and manually transfer it from the PDMS platform to
the AutoDRAFT platform. Where PDMS and AutoDRAFT share the same platform,
entering the Drawing Editor will cause the translation from PDMS format to DXF format,
and the transfer of the file to AutoDRAFT, to take place automatically.
The Drawing Editor drawing file is an AutoCAD drawing file with a set of AutoCAD layers
dedicated to drawing information transferred from DRAFT/ISODRAFT (its style table will
contain linestyle definitions generated by DRAFT/ISODRAFT).
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AutoCAD entities should be added to a drawing on layers other than those allocated to
PDMS. If the PDMS DRAFT part of the drawing is updated by overwriting it with a new
drawing file imported from DRAFT, none of the entities on the user--allocated (i.e.
AutoCAD) layers will be lost.
The Drawing Editor can be used to change DRAFT entities displayed in AutoCAD (the
Drawing Editor, of course, does not know about the DRAFT database hierarchy), but these
changes will be lost when the DRAFT part of the AutoCAD drawing is next updated from
the DRAFT picture.
AutoDRAFT can only be used to create new drawings, or open existing ones, with
ISODRAFT.
NOTE: PDMS or DRAFT Layers referred to in this manual should not be confused with LAYE (layer)
database elements in DRAFT. PDMS layers are AutoCAD layers that have been allocated to
drawing data generated by DRAFT. AutoCAD layers are described in the AutoCAD Reference
Manual.
See Figure 3--1 for an illustration of the use of AutoDRAFT layers.
AutoCAD Layers
User--allocated.
Contain AutoCAD entities.
DRAFT
DRAFT Layers
Automatically
allocated.
Contain DRAFT
entities drawn in
AutoCAD.
DXF
PDMS drawing
AutoDRAFT drawing
Figure 3--1 Layers in AutoDRAFT/AutoCAD.
NOTE: It is possible, within the Drawing Editor, to map the DRAFT layers onto user--defined
AutoCAD layers. See Section 6.1.
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3.3
Concepts
Before using the Drawing Editor, you should be familiar with the following concepts and
terminology.
3.3.1 Paper Space/Model Space Viewports

A drawing sheet transferred from DRAFT or ISODRAFT can be either drawn in model
space or in paper space in AutoCAD.
3.3.2 The Drawing Editor Database

A Drawing Editor database is an AutoCAD drawing file containing layers that are allocated
to DRAFT or ISODRAFT drawing elements. You add to this your own AutoCAD layers and
drawing entities.
AutoDRAFT uses special text fonts and linestyles in addition to the standard AutoCAD
supplied fonts and linestyles. The fonts and linestyles supplied with AutoDRAFT match
those used in DRAFT and ISODRAFT.
All DRAFT drawing elements are on layers named GT_ followed by a number. You should
not create layers whose names beginning with GT_, otherwise any items on
those layers will be deleted by a DRAFT drawing update operation.
3.3.3 Drawing Scale

A drawing in AutoDRAFT is a model of a drawing sheet from DRAFT/ISODRAFT. All
entities are created in AutoCAD model space.
Hidden line views of a design model are drawn as scaled views in PDMS DRAFT. The
drawing displayed in AutoCAD is a model of the drawing sheet defined in DRAFT, so the
scaled views drawn in DRAFT are effectively drawn at the same scale in AutoCAD. Thus, if
an AutoCAD linear dimension were placed on a line in a DRAFT view it would show the
length of the line on the paper, not the length of the line on the PDMS model. It is
recommended that all dimensions are created in DRAFT where the true size of dimensioned
items is shown.
3.3.4 Drawing Units

DRAFT always stores its measurements in millimetres, regardless of the units used for
drawing definition. Consequently, drawings created in PDMS DRAFT using INCH or
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FINCH units are transferred from DRAFT to the Drawing Editor with measurements in
millimetres.
A special code in the transfer file will specify whether the original DRAFT drawing sheet
was specified in MM, INCH or FINCH units. INCH/FINCH drawings are scaled from one
drawing unit = 1 millimetre to one drawing unit = 1 inch when loaded into the Drawing
Editor.
A similar system is employed for ISODRAFT drawings.
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There are two methods of starting the Drawing Editor:

D
Directly. This method is used when AutoCAD and PDMS are on separate hardware
platforms. The (DXF--format) drawing file to be used must be created in PDMS
DRAFT/ISODRAFT and manually transferred to the AutoCAD platform.
From PDMS DRAFT/ISODRAFT. This method is used when AutoCAD and PDMS are
on the same hardware platform. The (DXF--format) drawing file to be used is
automatically created and transferred to the Drawing Editor when
AutoDRAFT/Drawing Editor is activated from DRAFT/ISODRAFT.
4.1
Starting the Drawing Editor Directly
4.1.1 Creating the DXF-- Format Transfer File from DRAFT

This can be done in two ways:
D
by typing in a command (PLOT)
by using the DRAFT forms--and--menus user interface
Using the PLOT Command

The PLOT command has a variety of options. A common operation would be to create a
plotfile from the current Sheet element, in which case the PLOT command takes the form
PLOT SHEE DXF filename
where filename must always end in .dxf. For example,
PLOT SHEE DXF /SHEET1.dxf
NOTE: For best results when plotting from AutoCAD, the DXF file should be generated
using the CUTMARKS OFF option. For example:
PLOT SHEE DXF /SHEET1.dxf CUTMARKS OFF
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This is done automatically when the Drawing Editor is activated from the DRAFT
forms--and--menus interface.
NOTE: See Section 4.4.1 for details of an important restriction regarding drawing units
when using the PLOT command.
See the PDMS DRAFT User Guide for full details of the PLOT command. This section
describes the optional keywords that can be added to the command.
Using DRAFTs Graphical User Interface
See the DRAFT on--line help.
4.1.2 Creating the DXF--Format Transfer File from ISODRAFT

See the ISODRAFT on--line help.
4.1.3 Transferring the DXF Plotfile to the Host AutoCAD Platform

This would normally be achieved via ftp, the exact method of transfer being dependent on
your network installation.
4.1.4 Starting the Drawing Editor on the Host AutoCAD Platform

NOTES: In the following, where an AutoCAD drawing database file name needs to be
specified, the .dwg extension is added automatically by the script, and so this
must not be included in the specified dwg_filename.
Similarly, the transfer files .dxf extension must not be included in the specified
transfer_filename.
Starting the Drawing Editor is done by running the adraftde script which is supplied as
part of the AutoDRAFT package. The script can be used in three ways:
"
Creating a New Drawing Editor Drawing

adraftde --new dwg_filename --trfile transfer_filename [--model | --paper]
where dwg_filename is the required AutoCAD drawing database name, and

transfer_filename is the name of the file transferred from DRAFT or ISODRAFT. --model
sets up the drawing in model space, --paper in paper space. If the argument is omitted,
--paper is assumed.
The steps carried out by this form of the script are:
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1. Starts AutoCAD.
2. Creates a drawing file (.dwg) (unless you quit from the AutoDRAFT session).
3. Loads the AutoDRAFT Drawing Editor program.
4. Loads the picture from the transfer file into the drawing layers.
5. Leaves you in a Drawing Editor session. The DRAFT or ISODRAFT drawing is
displayed. The current drawing layer is Layer 0.
"
Updating an Existing Drawing Editor Drawing with a New Picture

adraftde --update dwg_filename --trfile transfer_filename [--model | --paper]
where dwg_filename is the name of the required (existing) AutoCAD drawing database,
and transfer_filename is the name of the updated version of the drawing file transferred
from DRAFT.
1. Starts AutoCAD.
2. Opens the specified AutoCAD drawing file.
4. Empties all picture layers, without altering any items on user--defined (AutoCAD)
layers.
5. Loads the picture from the transfer file into the drawing layers, including any extra fonts
and linestyles required.
6. Leaves you in a Drawing Editor session. The DRAFT drawing is displayed. The current
layer and the status of user--defined layers are left as they were when you last saved the
drawing.
"
Displaying an Existing Drawing Editor Drawing (without updating it)

adraftde --open dwg_filename [--model | --paper]
where dwg_filename is the name of the required (existing) AutoCAD drawing file.
1. Starts AutoCAD.
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4. Leaves you in a Drawing Editor session. The current layer and the status of user--defined
layers are left as they were when you last saved the drawing.
4.2
Starting the Drawing Editor from PDMS DRAFT
See the DRAFT on--line help.
4.3
Starting the Drawing Editor from PDMS ISODRAFT
See the ISODRAFT on--line help.
4.4
Notes on the Transfer File
4.4.1 Drawing Units

Entities in transfer files are always measured in millimetres. The units active in DRAFT or
ISODRAFT when the drawing is sent to AutoDRAFT are added to the transfer file as a DXF
comment. The AutoDRAFT start--up mechanism automatically queries the units and
scales the DRAFT/ISODRAFT drawing data if INCH units are specified.
NOTE: If you create a DXF transfer file in DRAFT using the PLOT command (see Section
4.1.1) then the comment inserted into the DXF transfer file to automate the setting
up of AutoCAD units will not be added.
If you then want to read such a DXF transfer file into AutoDRAFT, using INCHES
as units type, then the transfer file needs to be altered manually by appending the
following to the end of the file:
999
PDMS_UNITS INCH
These should be the last two lines of the transfer file. There should be no white
space to the left of this text.
4.4.2 Limitations of DXF File Transfer

There is no AutoCAD equivalent to the DRAFT text attribute CSPA (character spacing).
This attribute will be ignored when generating the DXF file. This results in text strings
being a different length in DRAFT and AutoCAD.
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4.4.3 FECs Support in DXF Output (PDMS/J users only)

Drawings which contain Kanji characters may be output as DXF files from DRAFT and
ISODRAFT. Both EUC and SHIFT--JIS format font files may be used. Suitable font files are
supplied with the Drawing Editor. The default is EUC. In DRAFT, to obtain output in
SHIFT--JIS format, use
PLOT SHEE DXF /sheet1.dxf CUTMARKS OFF SHIFTJS
(CUTMARKS OFF is optional, but recommended.)
It is recommended that EUC format be used for creating DXF files for use with AutoDRAFT.

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The Drawing Editor enables you to blank out selected parts of a drawing. This could be
used, for example, to blank out the graphics behind a label. There are three principal
options:
D
Create a blank (in the form of a shape (usually a rectangle) defining the outline of a
blank).
Hide items covered by a blank (and make the blank itself invisible).
Edit a blank (various options).
These operations, and the different ways of performing them, are described below.
NOTES: Blanks are automatically placed on a special layer called PDMS_BLANKS, even if
this is not your current layer.
When a drawing is updated, any PDMS items other than text which were not
covered by blanks return to the default state, which is covered. Section 5.3
describes how to uncover selected drawing items.
5.1
Creating a Blanking Shape
This operation allows you to create a three-- or four--sided shape which can be used to blank
out parts of the drawing. This would commonly be used to blank out graphics behind a label,
as shown in Figure 5--1.

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Figure 5--1 Use of Blanking (entities blank) to hide graphics behind a Label.
Command:
pdms_blank_create
Menu Selection: Blank>Create

Initial Prompt: Entities/Irregular/<First corner>:
Use:
<First corner>
This is the default option, which creates a rectangular blanking area.
1. Move the mouse pointer and click (left--hand button) on the first corner
of the rectangle. The prompt changes to
Angle/<Other corner>
2. Move the mouse pointer and drag the dotted rectangle that appears
out to the desired size/position. Click again. The prompt changes to
Select objects not to blank:
Select objects:
At this point you can select objects which you do not wish to be covered
by the blank. For example, if blanking a label by using a blanking
rectangle, you would usually still wish to see the label border, the label
text and the leader line. Because text cannot be hidden by a blank, it
will remain shown when the blanking operation is carried out.
3. Move the small square over an object you do not wish to blank and
click. Repeat as necessary, finally pressing Enter at the Select objects
prompt.
(If you do not wish to select any objects not to be blanked then simply
press Enter straight away.)
The Angle option above enables you to create a rectangular blank at an
angle to the principal axes. A possible use of this option could be to blank
out graphics behind angular dimension text.
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Selecting this option (by pressing A after the > character) gives another
prompt which allows you to specify the angle either by typing in a value or
by pointer hit. When specifying the second corner of the rectangle, a line
will follow the pointer which represents a diagonal of the blanking
rectangle.
At this point the blanking rectangle will appear, but the objects within it
will not be blanked. See Section 5.2 for how to carry out the blanking
operation.
An example of rectangle blanking is shown in Figure 5--2. Note the gaps
in the entities behind the blank. Entity blanking can be used to give a
blank which does not leave such gaps. See Figure 5--1.
NOTE: This method of blank creation also works if you are using the
AutoCAD UCS (User Coordinate System) facility.
Figure 5--2 Use of Blanking (rectangular blank) to hide graphics behind a Label.
Irregular
This option (selected by pressing I after the > character) creates an
irregular three-- or four--sided shape.
1. Move the mouse pointer and click (left--hand button) on the first corner
of the shape. The prompt changes to
First point:
2. Move the mouse pointer and drag the small square that appears out to
the desired position. Click again.
3. Repeat step 2 twice more. At the prompt
Last Point:
define the last point as before, or press Enter to produce a triangle.
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At this point the blanking shape will appear, but the objects within it will
not be blanked. See Section 5.2 for how to carry out the blanking
operation.
Entities
This option (selected by pressing E after the > character) allows you to
define a blanking rectangle which surrounds the selected entities.
Selecting this option changes the prompt to:
Select objects:
Click on the required entities. When the last entity has been selected
press Enter.
You will then be given the option to enter a value for the Angle of the
rectangular blank. If you press Enter at this prompt, the rectangular
blank calculated will be unrotated.
At this point the blanking rectangle will appear, but the objects within it
will not be blanked. See Section 5.2 for how to carry out the blanking
operation.
NOTE: When the blanking operation is carried out, all entities except
those selected will be hidden.
The entities option is useful for blanking out graphics behind labels. The
picture on the right--hand side of Figure 5--1 has been produced by
defining the label border as the (sole) blanking entity.
Notes:
When using the Entities option, the extent of a blank is calculated from the entities chosen.
The entities that may be selected are Points, Lines, Traces, Solids, Circles, Arcs, Polylines,
Inserts, Text, Attribute Definitions, Inserts with Attributes (invisible attributes are
ignored) and combinations of the above. User coordinate systems are taken into account
when these blanks are created.
The following entities will not blank correctly:
Outsized Text
Text, such as some of the mathematical symbols

where it is wider than the specified text width, will
extend over the blank boundary.
Oblique Text
The oblique element of this text is ignored.
Vertical Text
Vertical text is ignored.
Other Thick Entities Donuts and wide polylines are treated as if they
have zero width.
Complex Inserts
54
Non--uniformly scaled blocks are treated as if they

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Shapes
Dimensions
Viewports
3D Entities
5.2
are uniformly scaled. Externally referenced blocks

(xrefs) are ignored.
Ignored.
Ignored.
Ignored.
3D Faces, 3D Meshes and 3D polylines are ignored.
Other 3D entities, such as a cylinder made from a
circle with thickness will be blanked around, but
will probably not finish up being covered.
Blanking
The blank creation operations described in the previous section produce outlines of blanks
which can be used to preview the blanks that you have defined. Hiding the graphics behind
the blanks is carried out as described below.
Command:
pdms_blank
Menu Selection: Blank>Blank

Use:
There are no command arguments or prompts. The picture is redrawn

with objects behind blanks being hidden. Any visible blank boundaries
will become invisible.
Notes:
pdms_blank temporarily removes all lines on the drawing that are

hidden by blanks. The hidden lines will reappear the next time the
drawing is regenerated.
Normally the drawing will be displayed with hidden lines showing.
Blanking can be a time--consuming process, so it is recommended that it
is only done just before producing a plot.
The recommendations given in the AutoCAD Reference Manual for the
hide command also apply to pdms_blank.
Text cannot be hidden by a blank. Items above the world axes XY plane
will not be hidden by a blank. Blanking will only work on entities drawn
on the Z=0 plane. In AutoDRAFT, Z=0 is the location of the drawing
sheet.
Plotting a blanked drawing
AutoCAD plotting should be configured so that hidden lines are removed.
In order to plot a drawing in AutoCAD where blanks hide the entities
behind them, but where their outlines are invisible, the plot must be

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activated from the main AutoCAD menu. If a plot is sent from inside the
AutoCAD drawing editor, any invisible blanks will be ignored, showing
the entities behind them.
5.3
Editing Blanks
The blank editing operations allow you to:

D
hide and show the boundaries of blanks
erase blanks
cover and uncover entities hidden by blanks.
Command:
pdms_blank_edit
Menu Selection: Blank>Visible, Blank>Invisible, Blank>Cover,

Blank>Uncover, Blank>Erase
Initial Prompt: Visible/Invisible/Cover/Uncover/Erase:

Use:
Visible
Invisible
Blank>Invisible (or I at the command prompt) will make all visible blank
boundaries invisible.
Blank>Visible (or V at the command prompt) will make all invisible
blank boundaries visible.
Notes:
Blank boundaries are drawn as purple (AutoCAD colour 194) solid lines.
If you wish to create a new blank, all invisible blanks must first be made
visible.
pdms_blank makes blanks invisible. In order to see them after a
pdms_blank command use pdms_blank_edit Visible.
pdms_blank_edit Invisible will fail if PDMS_BLANKS is the current
layer, returning an error message. To recover from this condition, make a
layer other than PDMS_BLANKS the current one.
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Cover
Uncover
Blank>Uncover (or U at the command prompt).

(Use following a Blank>Create operation but before a Blank>Blank
operation.) The prompt changes to
Select objects to uncover:
Select objects:
Click on the entities that you require not to be hidden by the covering
blank. The hit entity will be highlighted. When the last entity has been
selected press Enter.
When the next Blank>Blank operation is carried out, the hit entities will
not be hidden by the blank.
Blank>Cover (or C at the command prompt) can be used to mark as
covered entities which had previously been marked as uncovered. The
prompt changes to
Select objects to cover:
Select objects:
Click on the entities that you require to change from being marked as
uncovered to covered. The hit entity will be highlighted. When the last
entity has been selected press Enter.
When the next Blank>Blank operation is carried out, the hit entities will
be hidden by the blank.
Notes:
If an object is uncovered it will be seen on top of all blanks, if it is covered

it will be covered by all blanks. It is not possible to have a single object
covered by one blank, but uncovered by another.
Erase
The prompt changes to
Select blanks to erase:
Select objects:
Click on the boundaries of the blanks you wish to erase. The hit blank will
be highlighted. When the last blank has been selected press Enter.

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The picture will be redrawn with the outlines of the hit blanks no longer
shown.
Items hidden by erased blanks will still be hidden. Use the AutoCAD
regen command to redisplay the unblanked items.
Notes:
58
If blanks are not visible they will be made visible by this option so they
can be selected at the Select objects: prompt. If any objects other than
blanks are selected they will not be erased. Blanks can also be deleted
with the AutoCAD erase command.

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The Drawing Editor -- Miscellaneous

Facilities
Miscellaneous facilities available in the Drawing Editor enable you to:

D
map the DRAFT layers onto user--defined AutoCAD layers;
control layer visibility and the susceptibility of layers to regenerate operations;
apply PDMS colours to PDMS layers;
load text from a file onto a drawing;
copy/resize part of a drawing;
create/select paper space viewports;
leave AutoCAD avoiding the AutoCAD main menu.
These operations, and the different ways of performing them, are described below.
The available options allow you to turn PDMS and User layers on and off, and to freeze and
thaw them, enabling you to distinguish easily the PDMS and non--PDMS parts of the
AutoCAD drawing.
6.1
Layer Mapping
This facility allows you to move automatically entities from PDMS DRAFT layers to
AutoCAD layers by mapping the DRAFT layers onto user--defined AutoCAD layers. (These
user--defined layers will be created automatically if they do not already exist.)
The operation of this facility depends upon the contents of a user--defined text file named
pdmslaymap.txt, which must exist in the users local directory and which must have read
access. Each line of the file may contain the following four fields:
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1. The name of the PDMS layer.

2. The name of the corresponding user--defined AutoCAD layer.
3. The colour number for the AutoCAD layer (in the range 1--255).
4. The linestyle for the AutoCAD layer (in the range 1--255).
NOTE: Not all of the above need be included. Fields 1. and 2. are compulsory. The
allowable optional fields are 3. or 3. and 4. (i.e. having fields 1., 2., and 4. only
would be illegal).
Each field should be separated by a single space or a <tab> character only. Comment text
may be inserted, denoted by having $* as the first two characters of the line.
If the AutoCAD layer does not exist it will be created with the supplied colour and linestyle.
If it does exist then the supplied colour and linestyle will be ignored. If the colour number is
not supplied, and if the AutoCAD layer is to be created, then it will be created using colour 7
(white). Similarly, if the linestyle is not supplied, and if the AutoCAD layer is to be created,
then it will be created with linestyle GTSOLID.
Command:
pdms_layer_mapping
Menu Selection: PDMS Draw>PDMS Layer Mapping

Initial Prompt: Do you want to apply layer mapping ? <NO>:
Use:
Press Enter to abort, or enter yes (or YES) and press Enter to proceed.
Assuming the pdmslaymap.txt file exists and is correctly structured, the
appropriate actions (see above) will be carried out.
Example:
Suppose pdmslaymap.txt contains the following text, and that layer

LAY1 does not currently exist on the drawing, but that LAY2 does:
$*First layer
GT_1 LAY1 5 GTSOLID
$*Second layer
GT_2 LAY2 6 GTDASH
On applying the layer mapping utility, AutoDRAFT will move all entities
from PDMS layer GT_1 to AutoCAD layer LAY1. Layer LAY1 will be
created in colour 5 (blue), and linetype GTSOLID. All entities on PDMS
layer GT_2 will be moved to AutoCAD layer LAY2. Since layer LAY2
already exists the supplied colour number (6, magenta) and linestyle
(GTDASH) will be ignored. Note that empty PDMS layers will not be
deleted. (It is suggested that these empty layers are removed by using the
AutoCAD PURGE command.)
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The Drawing Editor --- Miscellaneous Facilities
An entity whose linestyle is set to BYLAYER on its PDMS layer will also have its linestyle
set to BYLAYER when it is moved to the AutoCAD layer. However, if the linestyle setting for
an entity differs from that of the owning PDMS layer, then the entity--level setting will be
preserved when it is moved to the AutoCAD layer. This rule also applies to the colour
attribute.
If an update operation is applied (i.e. if the Update existing Drawing button is pressed
on the AutoDRAFT Drawing Editor form; see the DRAFT User Guide and on--line help)
to a drawing which has already had the pdms_layer_mapping command applied to it, then
it is likely that multiple copies of some or all of the PDMS entities will appear on the
drawing. It is therefore not advisable to apply the pdms_layer_mapping command to a
drawing which requires further PDMS updates.
6.2
Controlling Layers
Command:
pdms_layers
Menu Selection: PDMS Draw>PDMS Layers, PDMS Draw>User Layers

Initial Prompt: User/<Pdms>:
Use:
(Whether User or PDMS is selected, the resulting options are the same.)
ON
(Type ON or make On selection from pull--down menu.)
Appropriate layers are turned on.
OFF
(Type OFF or make Off selection from pull--down menu.)
Appropriate layers are turned off.
Freeze
(Press F or make Freeze selection from pull--down menu.)
Appropriate layers are frozen, i.e. they will not be regenerated by an
AutoCAD regen command.
Thaw
(Press T or make Thaw selection from pull--down menu.)
Unfreezes the appropriate frozen layers.

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For example, by selecting pdms_layers off, you can see only the AutoCAD
entities added since the DRAFT drawing was transferred.
Notes:
6.3
pdms_layers controls all PDMS (GT_) layers or all other (user) layers
with a single command. The layer controls ON, OFF, Freeze and Thaw
are described in the AutoCAD Reference Manual.
Applying PDMS Colours
This option allows you to apply PDMS standard colours to PDMS layers on a Drawing
Editor drawing.
Command:
pdms_colour (or pdms_color)
Menu Selection: PDMS Draw>PDMS Colours

Use:
(Simply type the command or make the menu selection; there are no
arguments or options)
Notes:
Each PDMS (GT_) layer on a Drawing Editor drawing corresponds to a

colour used in the drawing, so all entities in a given colour appear on the
same AutoDRAFT layer. Each entity on the PDMS layers has the default
AutoCAD colour attribute BYLAYER. The DXF output does not specify
layer colours, so all entities appear in the default AutoCAD colour 7
(white).
This facility gives you the ability to colour entities to match your plotter
pen set--up. If you want to see the PDMS colours reproduced in AutoCAD
the pdms_colour function will apply colours close to the twelve PDMS
standard colours to layers GT_1 through GT_12.
General points:
64
If the standard colour settings in DRAFT have been changed, this

change will not be picked up by pdms_colour, so only standard
colours will be used in AutoDRAFT.
If colours have already been set for the PDMS layers they will be
changed by pdms_colour.
If individual entities have been assigned specific colours they will be

unaffected by the pdms_colour command.
If entities have been coloured individually, and you want them to

appear in the layer colour, then you should use the AutoCAD chprop
command to change their colours to BYLAYER.
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6.4
Loading Text from a File onto a Drawing
This option allows you to load lines of text from an ASCII file onto a drawing.
Command:
pdms_textfile
Menu Selection: PDMS Draw>Load Text

Initial Prompt: Filename of text file:
Use:
Enter the name of the text file, with extension (if present).
Left/Centre/Right/<start point>:
Click where you wish the text to start, or select one of the justification
options (by pressing L, C or R as appropriate). The justification options
will give
Start point:
Centre point:
or End point:
prompts. Click at the required justification point. The default is left
justified.
The remaining prompts are:
Height <default>:
where default is the AutoCAD default text height. This will be the last
text height used, or the starting default (0.2). A height of at least 10 times
the AutoCAD starting default (for metric drawings) is recommended.
Press Enter to accept the default value, input a new value, or define the
text height by clicking on a point above the text start point.
Rotation angle <default>:
where default is the AutoCAD default rotation angle. This will be the last
angle used, or the starting default (0).
Press Enter to accept the default value, input a new value, or define the
angle by clicking on a suitable point.
Line Spacing (range --0.5 to 3.0) <default>:
where default is the AutoCAD default line spacing. This will be the last
spacing used, or the starting default (0).

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Press Enter to accept the default value, or input a new value.

See Notes: below for further details.
Block Name/<None>:
If you wish the text to be placed in a block then input the block name,
otherwise just press Enter.
Notes:
Text is loaded from a file onto the current layer on the drawing.
The start point is always located at the top of the input text.
Text height and rotation are specified in the same way as the AutoCAD
text command.
Line spacing factor (LSF) specifies the gap between lines of text. It is
measured as a proportion of the text height. If LSF=0 (the default) the
lines are positioned one below the other with no gap. If LSF=1, one blank
line is left between each line of text.
If LSF=--0.2 then the lines of text will overlap. Note that text fonts allow
for spacing above and below characters in the font. This means that the
text body itself may not overlap with adjacent lines of text for small
negative LSF (e.g. --0.1).
If a block name is specified the text loaded onto the drawing is put into a
block of that name and an INSERT created on the drawing. If no block
name is specified then the text is loaded onto the drawing as individual
text entities.
If a block name is used more than once, then previous examples of blocks
with that name will be redefined (to conform to the new settings) should
you respond positively to the Redefine it? prompt.
The MONOTXT font (or any other fixed--spaced font) is recommended
when loading in column style reports.
6.5
Copying and Resizing Part of a Drawing
This option allows you to copy a specified group of objects, with the option to give the copy a
different size to the original.
Command:
66
pdms_copy
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Menu Selection: PDMS Draw>Copy Magnify

Initial Prompt: Select objects:
Use:
Click on the objects you wish to copy/magnify. Press Enter to finish

selecting.
Base point or displacement:
Click on the base point, i.e. the from point for the copy operation. This
would usually be on or within one of the selected objects, but it may be
displaced. See Figure 6--1 (point 1).
2
d
1
d
undisplaced base point
1
displaced base point
Figure 6--1 Definition of Base Point for Copy Operation.

Second point of displacement:
This is the to point of the copy operation. See Figure 6--1 (point 2).
Magnify base point/<None>:
Pressing Enter at this point will give a same--size copy of the selected
group of objects.
To produce a resized copy, click on the point that you wish to be the base
point for the resize operation. Again, this would usually be on or within
one of the selected objects, but it may be displaced. See Figure 6--2.
(Resulting magnified object shown dashed).
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undisplaced base point
displaced base point
Figure 6--2 Definition of Base Point for Magnify Operation.

<Magnification factor>/Reference:
The default input for this prompt is simply a value, for example 2 will
give a copy twice as large as the original. (If you wish to produce a copy
smaller than the original, input a value less than 1.)
Pressing R (for Reference) gives two further prompts:
Reference length:
New length:
This option enables the copy to be magnified in an absolute sense rather
than a relative sense. It works in exactly the same way as the Reference
option of the AutoCAD scale command; see the AutoCAD Reference
Manual.
The final prompt of the copy/magnify operation is
Copy to current layer No<Yes>:
The magnified copy will be created on the current layer unless you reply
No (press N). Note that any objects put onto PDMS GT_ layers will be
lost when the picture is updated with the latest version of the drawing
from PDMS DRAFT.
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6.6
Creating a Paper Space Viewport on a Drawing
This option creates a paper space viewport and makes it the current viewport.
Command:
pdms_view_create
Menu Selection: PDMS Draw>Create Viewport

Initial Prompt: Select region to view
First point:
Use:
Click on one corner of the part of the drawing that you wish to be
contained within the viewport.
Other corner:
Drag out the rectangle which appears, and click on the other corner.
Position new viewport:
A rectangle representing the new viewport moves with the crosshairs.
Click on the required position.
Magnify -- base point/<None>:
Pressing Enter at this point will give a same--size copy of the windowed
group of objects, and the viewport creation operation will be complete.
To produce a resized copy, click on the point that you wish to be the base
point for the resize operation. (Should this point be outside the viewport,
the viewport will be displaced as illustrated in Figure 6--2.)
<Magnification factor>/Reference:
The default input for this prompt is simply a value, for example 2 will
give a copy twice as large as the original. (If you wish to produce a copy
smaller than the original, input a value less than 1.)
Pressing R (for Reference) gives two further prompts:
Reference length:
New length:
This option enables the copy to be magnified in an absolute sense rather
than a relative sense. It works in exactly the same way as the Reference
option of the AutoCAD scale command; see the AutoCAD Reference
Manual.

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NOTE: The drawing should be zoomed out to the edge of the drawing
sheet in order that the new views are seen in their correct
position with respect to the sheet. (See also Section 3.3.1.)
6.7
Selecting a Paper Space Viewport on a Drawing
This option selects a paper space viewport and makes it the current viewport, thus enabling
all of the AutoCAD facilities to be used within it.
Command:
pdms_view_sel
Menu Selection: PDMS Draw>Select Viewport

Initial Prompt: Select a viewport
Use:
Click on the boundary of the viewport you wish to make current.
Notes:
When a DRAFT drawing is loaded into AutoDRAFT it is placed in a paper

space viewport which is the same size as the sheet.
pdms_view_sel must be used to select a viewport; it is not possible to
make a viewport current simply by pressing the pick button inside its
boundary.
6.8
Leaving AutoCAD, Without Saving Changes
This option allows you to leave AutoCAD without saving changes, avoiding the AutoCAD
main menu.
Command:
pdms_quitacad
Menu Selection: PDMS Draw>PDMS QuitAcad

Initial Prompt: Quit AutoCAD -- Are you sure? Yes/No:
Use:
610
Press Y (or type YES or YE) to quit; anything else will not quit.

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Leaving AutoCAD, Saving Changes
This option allows you to leave AutoCAD while saving changes, avoiding the AutoCAD
main menu.
Command:
pdms_endacad
Menu Selection: PDMS Draw>PDMS EndAcad

Use:
(No prompt; simply type in the command or make the menu selection.)
Notes:
The drawing will be saved over any existing drawing of the same name.

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7.1
The Symbol Editor Functions
The Symbol Editor allows you to create symbol templates in AutoCAD and transfer the
template graphics into a DRAFT Symbol Library (SYLB element). The symbol templates
must be constructed from a subset of AutoCAD entities and attributes which can be
reproduced in DRAFT. You can create those entities using any AutoCAD geometry
definition facilities, including hatching, spline curve fitting and offsetting.
The Symbol Editor reads AutoCAD drawing entities and creates a DRAFT command macro
that reproduces AutoCAD block inserts as Symbol Templates (SYTM elements) in DRAFT,
each owning 2D primitives.
If any of the SYTMs thus defined already exist in the current DRAFT Symbol Library then
the old 2D primitives are deleted and replaced by the new definition.
See Chapters 8, 9 and 10 for details of how to use the Symbol Editor.
7.2
AutoCAD Working Practices
Symbol templates can be created using standard AutoCAD functions. The special
requirements for drawing organisation are as follows:
D
Each symbol template is represented by a Block insert which is constructed from

AutoCAD entities that can be translated into DRAFT entities by the pdms_symbols
command (see Chapter 10).
Each symbol block must have an AutoCAD attribute (ATTRIB) called PDMS_NAME.
The DRAFT symbol name is given in response to the PDMS_NAME attdef command
prompt when the symbol Block is inserted on a drawing. (See Section 9.2.)

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Symbol template inserts should be on a separate layer from any annotation for the
symbol templates. Annotation may be sent to DRAFT by using the AutoDRAFT
Frame Editor -- see Chapters 11--13.
The drawing limits must match the size of the Symbol Library sheet in DRAFT (see
Section 7.3).
Note that 3D AutoCAD entities in symbol inserts cannot be sent back to DRAFT. Attributes
entities on the top--level Insert are ignored (other than the PDMS_NAME attribute).
Entities smaller than 0.01mm may be ignored or simplified. Symbol inserts can contain the
following AutoCAD entities:
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
7.3
Line
Point
Circle
Arc
Text (with Generation Normal)
Polyline (including fitted curves and splined curves)
Inserts which contain 2D primitives as specified above, including any Attributes.
Symbol Library Annotation
In DRAFT, symbol templates are stored in Symbol Library (SYLB) elements. Each SYLB is
like a drawing sheet containing pictures of all the symbol templates in the library.
In order to add annotation to the symbol templates it is necessary to create a Backing Sheet
(BACK) element in DRAFT which is used as a backdrop on the symbol library sheet.
The annotation should be on layers separate from the symbol template graphics in the
symbol blocks. This enables you to freeze the layer(s) containing the symbol template
graphics and create a backing sheet from the remaining annotation layer(s) using the
AutoDRAFT Frame Editor.
In DRAFT, you must add a reference to the backing sheet from the SYLB element (BSRF
attribute) to see the symbol templates and annotation together.
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There are two methods of starting the Symbol Editor:

D
platforms.
From PDMS DRAFT. This method is used when AutoCAD and PDMS are on the same
hardware platform.
8.1
Starting the Symbol Editor Directly
8.1.1 Starting the Symbol Editor on the Host AutoCAD Platform

Starting the Symbol Editor is done by running the adraftse script which is supplied as part
of the AutoDRAFT package. The script can be used in two ways:
"
Creating a New Symbol Editor Drawing

adraftse --new dwg_filename
where dwg_filename is the required AutoCAD drawing database name.

1. Starts AutoCAD.
3. Loads the AutoDRAFT Symbol Editor program.
4. Leaves you in an AutoDRAFT Symbol Editor session with an empty drawing.
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"
Opening an Existing Symbol Editor Drawing

adraftse --open dwg_filename
where dwg_filename is the name of the required (existing) AutoCAD drawing database.
1. Starts AutoCAD.
3. Loads the AutoDRAFT Symbol Editor program.
4. Leaves you in a Symbol Editor session with an existing drawing displayed.
8.2
Starting the Symbol Editor from PDMS DRAFT
See the VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT Administration Application User Guide, Chapter 14.
8.3
Setting the Drawing Size in AutoCAD
The size of the AutoCAD drawing should match the size of the symbol library (SYLB) sheet.
When setting up a symbol templates drawing in AutoCAD the limits should be set such that
the lower left corner is at 0,0 and the upper right corner is at the upper right corner of the
sheet. The AutoCAD command limits is used to specify drawing limits. For example an A0
metric sheet would be specified by :
Command:
limits
ON/OFF/<Lower left corner><current value>: 0,0
Upper right corner<current value>: 1189,841
An E size sheet (44x34) would be specified by:

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The Symbol Editor -- Creating Symbol

Templates
The Symbol Editor allows you to create symbol templates in AutoCAD as AutoCAD blocks.
A block, and an insert of the block, are created. (Blocks may, of course, be created using
standard AutoCAD commands, but the AutoDRAFT Symbol Editor provides a method
which is optimised for the creation of blocks to be used as symbol templates in DRAFT.)
The procedure for creating a symbol template is:
1. Create the symbol graphics using lines, points, circles, arcs, polylines and text.
2. Create an AutoCAD attribute called PDMS_NAME for the symbol name.
3. Create a block and an insert of the block.
9.1
Creating the Symbol Name Attribute
A typical attdef command sequence would be:
Command:
attdef
Initial Prompt: Attribute modes -- -- Invisible:N Constant:N Verify:N Preset:N

Enter (ICVP) to change, RETURN when done:
Use:
set modes as required in response to the initial prompt. The remaining

prompts and required responses are:
Attribute tag: enter PDMS_NAME
Attribute Prompt: enter Enter PDMS symbol name (for example)

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The Symbol Editor -- Creating Symbol Templates
Default attribute value: press Enter (or Return)

Justify/Style/<Start point>:
Height<default>:
Rotation angle<default>:
9.2
as for text command
Creating a Block and an Insert of the Block
Command:
pdms_make_symbol
Menu Selection: PDMS Symbol>Make Symbol

Initial Prompt: Enter Symbol Block Name:
Use:
enter the desired block name in response to the initial prompt. The
remaining prompts and required responses are:
Insert base point:
Select Objects:
Scale factor<1>:
Rotation angle<0>:
select point (= origin of DRAFT symbol

template)
select symbol graphics and attribute
enter required factor or press Enter
enter required angle or press Enter
Finally, enter the required PDMS symbol name. The prompt displayed
will be that defined when the ATTDEF command was used, for example:
Enter PDMS symbol name:
NOTE: If desired, the AutoCAD block and insert commands may be used instead of the
above sequence. If this option is taken up, do not use differential scale when
defining the insertion scale factor.
9.3
Redefining a Symbol
1. Create the new symbol graphics and PDMS attribute.

2. Create a block containing the new symbol definition. If the specified block name already
exists the following prompt is given:
Block name already exists
Redefine it? <N>
If the reply is N or if Enter is pressed, the block command exits without changing anything.
If the reply is Y, any inserts of that block are redefined.
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The Symbol Editor -- Deriving DRAFT

Command Files
The procedure for this depends on whether:

D
you have entered the Symbol Editor directly (AutoCAD and DRAFT not linked together
on same hardware platform);
you have entered the Symbol Editor from DRAFT (AutoCAD and DRAFT on same
hardware platform).
10.1 Direct Entry to Symbol Editor (using adraftse command)

Command:
pdms_symbols
Menu Selection: PDMS Symbol>Write Symbol

Initial Prompt: Select Objects:
Use:
select the required block inserts. The remaining prompts and required
responses are:
Inch/<MM>:
Draft Symbol Library Name <CE>:
Draft Command Filename:
-- enter required units (default

millimetres)
-- enter name of destination
DRAFT SYLB element (default
current element)
-- enter a filename for the
command macro (note: the .mac
suffix, conventional in PDMS, is
not automatically added)

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The Symbol Editor -- Deriving DRAFT Command Files
The above procedure will create the macro file and save it in the current directory. This can
then be run in PDMS from the command line using the $M/ command (having first
navigated to the correct database position if the CE option was selected), or the relevant
DRAFT menu option may be used -- see the PDMS DRAFT Administration Application User
Guide, Chapter 14.
NOTE: The ways in which AutoCAD entities and attributes are mapped to DRAFT elements and
attributes are described in Appendix B.
10.2 Entry to Symbol Editor from DRAFT

Command:
pdms_symbols
Menu Selection: PDMS Symbol>Write Symbol

Use:
select the required block inserts.
In this case the units, DRAFT Symbol Library name and command file name have already
been specified on entry to AutoDRAFT, and so need not be reinput.
Having selected the required block inserts, AutoCAD will output messages indicating the
number of inserts read and the number of symbols output. Having exited AutoCAD, the
SYTM elements will be automatically created as members of the destination Symbol
Library.
10.3 Leaving AutoCAD, Without Saving Changes

main menu.
Command:
pdms_quitacad

Use:
102
Press Y (or type YES ) to quit; anything else will not quit.

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10.4 Leaving AutoCAD, Saving Changes

main menu.
Command:
pdms_endacad

Use:
Notes:
DRAFT will read in the macro created to produce the required Symbol
Templates (SYTW elements) in the current Symbol Library.
10.5 Symbol Template Naming Conventions

The Symbol Template name must be a valid PDMS database name.
If the name has already been defined in the current DRAFT Symbol Library, the old 2D
primitives are deleted and replaced by the new definition.
If the name has already been used for any other PDMS database element, the process will
be aborted.

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11
11.1 The Frame Editor Functions

The Frame Editor allows you to create DRAFT Backing Sheets from AutoCAD drawings.
The most common use of Backing Sheets in DRAFT is to store standard drawing frames.
These can be used by DRAFT as a backdrop to its drawing sheets.
The Frame Editor reads AutoCAD drawing entities and creates a DRAFT command macro
that reproduces the picture in DRAFT. The mapping from AutoCAD entities to DRAFT
entities is described in Appendix B.
The Sheet command file can be read into a DRAFT Sheet Library (SHLB) element in the
database. A BACK database element will be created, which owns one or more NOTE
elements containing the 2D primitives.
It is also possible to create DRAFT Overlay Sheets with the Frame Editor. An Overlay
Sheet in DRAFT has similar properties to a Backing Sheet. The Frame Editor can create
Overlay Sheet (OVER) database elements containing one or more Sheet Note (NOTE)
elements. The Sheet Note contains all the 2D primitives on the sheet.
Overlay Sheets could be used to combine a DRAFT drawing sheet with detail graphics
drawn in AutoCAD. The graphics imported from AutoCAD can then be stored, drawn and
plotted within PDMS DRAFT.
If the specified Backing Sheet or Overlay Sheet already exists in the specified DRAFT Sheet
Library then the old 2D primitives are deleted and replaced by the new definition.
See Chapters 12 and 13 for details of how to use the Frame Editor.
11.2 AutoCAD Working Practices

A Backing/Overlay Sheet can be created using standard AutoCAD functions. The only
special requirement for a Sheet is that it is constructed from AutoCAD entities that can be
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translated into DRAFT entities (see Appendix B). Note that 3D AutoCAD entities cannot be
sent back to DRAFT. AutoCAD entities smaller than 0.01mm will not be transferred. The
AutoCAD entities that can be reproduced in DRAFT are:
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
Line
Point
Circle
Arc
Text (with Generation Normal)
Attribute (Visible, with Generation Normal)
Polyline (including fitted curves and splined curves)
Inserts which contain 2D primitives as specified above
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The Frame Editor -- Getting Started
There are two methods of starting the Frame Editor:

D
platforms.
From PDMS DRAFT. This method is used when AutoCAD and PDMS are on the same hardware
platform.
12.1 Starting the Frame Editor Directly

12.1.1 Starting the Frame Editor on the Host AutoCAD Platform
Starting the Frame Editor is done by running the adraftbe script which is supplied as part
of the AutoDRAFT package. The script can be used in two ways:
"
Creating a New Frame Editor Drawing

adraftbe --new dwg_filename
where dwg_filename is the required AutoCAD drawing database name.

1. Starts AutoCAD.
3. Loads the AutoDRAFT Frame Editor program.
4. Leaves you in an AutoDRAFT Frame Editor session with an empty drawing.
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The Frame Editor -- Getting Started
"
Opening an Existing Frame Editor Drawing

adraftbe --open dwg_filename
where dwg_filename is the name of the required (existing) AutoCAD drawing database.
1. Starts AutoCAD.
3. Loads the AutoDRAFT Frame Editor program.
4. Leaves you in a Frame Editor session with an existing drawing displayed.
12.2 Starting the Frame Editor from PDMS DRAFT

See the VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT Administration Guide.
12.3 Setting the Drawing Size in AutoCAD

The size of the AutoCAD drawing should match the size of the Sheet Library (SHLB) sheet.
When setting up a Frame Editor drawing in AutoCAD the limits should be set such that the
lower left corner is at 0,0 and the upper right corner is at the upper right corner of the sheet.
The AutoCAD limits command is used to specify drawing limits. For example an A0 metric
sheet would be specified by :
Command:
limits
An E size sheet (44x34) would be specified by:

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The Frame Editor -- Deriving DRAFT

Command Files
Having drawn the required Sheet graphics in AutoCAD, the procedure for creating the
command macro for import into DRAFT depends on whether:
D
you have entered the Frame Editor directly (AutoCAD and DRAFT not linked together
on same hardware platform).
you have entered the Frame Editor from DRAFT (AutoCAD and DRAFT on same
hardware platform).
13.1 Direct Entry to Frame Editor (using adraftbe command)

Command:
pdms_sheet
Menu Selection: PDMS Frame>Write Sheet

Use:
select the required entities. The remaining prompts and required

responses are:
Inch/<MM>:
Over/<Back>:
--
Draft Sheet Library Name <CE>:
-- enter required units (default

millimetres)
-- choose to create Overlay or
Backing Sheet
-- enter name of destination DRAFT
SHLB element (default current
element)

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The Frame Editor -- Deriving DRAFT Command Files
-- enter a valid PDMS name for the

sheet
-- enter a filename for the command
macro (note: the .mac suffix,
conventional in PDMS, is not
automatically added)
BACK Sheet name:*

Draft Command Filename:
* OVER Sheet Name
if Over has been chosen earlier
The above procedure will create the macro file and save it in the current directory. This can
then be run in PDMS from the command line using the $M/ command (having first
navigated to the correct database position if the CE option was selected), or the relevant
DRAFT menu option may be used -- see the VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT Administration
Guide.
NOTE: The ways in which AutoCAD entities and attributes are mapped to DRAFT
elements and attributes are described in Appendix B.
13.2 Entry to Frame Editor from DRAFT

Command:
pdms_sheet
Menu Selection: PDMS Frame>Write sheet

Use:
select the required entities.
In this case the units, DRAFT Sheet Library name, sheet element name and command file
name have already been specified on entry to AutoDRAFT, and so need not be reinput.
Having selected the required entities, AutoCAD will output messages indicating the
number of entities read and the number output. Having exited AutoCAD, the BACK (or
OVER) element will be automatically created as the first member of the destination Sheet
Library, with a member NOTE element having 2D Primitives as its own members.
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13.3 Leaving AutoCAD, Without Saving Changes

main menu.
Command:
pdms_quitacad

Use:
Press Y (or type YES ) to quit; anything else will not quit.
13.4 Leaving AutoCAD, Saving Changes

main menu.
Command:
pdms_endacad

Use:
Notes:
DRAFT will read in the macro created to produce the required

BACK/OVER elements in the current Sheet Library.
13.5 Sheet Naming Conventions

The names assigned to Backing Sheets and Overlay Sheets which are to be created by an
imported command macro will be treated as described below.
13.5.1 Backing Sheet Name

The Backing Sheet name must be a valid PDMS database name.
If the name has already been used for a Backing Sheet in the specified Sheet Library when
the command macro is read into DRAFT, it will be assumed that this is a replacement
drawing. All graphics on the old Backing Sheet will be deleted and the new graphics read in
to replace it.
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If the name has already been used for any other database element in the PDMS database
then the command file will be aborted.
13.5.2 Overlay Sheet Name

The rules for Overlay Sheets are the same as those for Backing Sheets with one exception -if an Overlay Sheet already exists in the Sheet Library, and it contains a VIEW element, it
will not be overwritten.
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A.1
Using DRAFT with AutoDRAFT
It is difficult to describe a simple sequence of steps for using DRAFT with AutoDRAFT
because they can be combined in a number of different ways depending on users
requirements. The examples below describe two different ways of using DRAFT with
AutoDRAFT
A.1.1 Suggested Working Practice 1

Most of the drawing annotation is done in AutoCAD. The final drawing is an AutoCAD
drawing, not a PDMS drawing. Plots are output using AutoCAD. DRAFT is used to create
views of PDMS Design geometry with labels and dimensions.
The Frame Editor may not be required if all drawing borders are to be added in AutoCAD.
The Symbol Editor may be used at the beginning of a project to create a DRAFT symbol
template library for intelligent symbolic labels.
For each drawing sheet:
D
Create hidden--line views of the design in DRAFT.
Dimension the drawing in DRAFT
Add intelligent labels in DRAFT (i.e. those containing information extracted from the
database using the intelligent text system).
Send the drawing Sheet to the Drawing Editor.
Add drawing frame, symbols, text notes, detail views etc. using AutoCAD functions.
Plot the drawing using AutoCAD plotting

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To update a drawing:
D
Update hidden--line views in DRAFT, including dimensions and labels.
Send the drawing to the Drawing Editor.
The Drawing Editor removes the original PDMS layers from the AutoCAD drawing
file and replaces them with the updated DRAFT picture. Original AutoCAD additions
(on AutoCAD layers) remain unchanged, but AutoCAD additions on PDMS layers will
be lost.
A.1.2 Suggested Working Practice 2

Most of the drawing is created in DRAFT. Symbols and backing/overlay sheet libraries are
created in AutoCAD. The final drawing is a DRAFT drawing. Plots are output using PDMS
plotting. The Drawing Editor is used to add hatching and other details.
The Symbol Editor and Frame Editor are used at the beginning of a project to create
Symbol Template and Backing/Overlay Sheet libraries in DRAFT.
For each drawing sheet:
D
Create a sheet, specifying a border from a backing sheet library.
Create hidden--line views of the design in DRAFT.
Dimension and label the drawing in DRAFT.
Add symbols from the symbol template library, along with other annotation.
If necessary, send the Sheet to the Drawing Editor.
Add graphics using AutoCAD functions
Use the Frame Editor to send drawing items added in AutoCAD back to an
Overlay/Backing Sheet in the DRAFT database
Delete the AutoCAD drawing
In DRAFT, reference the Overlay/Backing Sheet from the Drawing Sheet
Plot the drawing in PDMS
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To update a drawing:
D
Update hidden--line views in DRAFT, including dimensions and labels.
If it is necessary to send the drawing to the Drawing Editor, delete from the
AutoCAD--generated Backing/Overlay Sheet any drawing items to be replaced in
AutoCAD.
Send the Sheet to the Drawing Editor, creating a new (temporary) AutoCAD
drawing.
Add new drawing items and send to a new Overlay/Backing Sheet in DRAFT.
A.2
Using ISODRAFT with AutoDRAFT
It is difficult to describe a simple sequence of steps for using ISODRAFT with AutoDRAFT
because they can be combined in a number of different ways depending on users
requirements. The example below describes one way of using ISODRAFT with AutoDRAFT
A.2.1 Suggested Working Practice

Most of the drawing annotation is done in AutoCAD. The final drawing is an AutoCAD
drawing, not a PDMS drawing. Plots are output using AutoCAD. ISODRAFT is used to
create isometric views of PDMS.
For each drawing:
D
Send the drawing to the Drawing Editor.
Add drawing frame, symbols, text notes, detail views etc using AutoCAD functions.
Plot the drawing using AutoCAD plotting
NOTE: With ISODRAFT, AutoDRAFT can only be used to create new drawings or open existing ones.

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AutoCAD to DRAFT Entity and Attribute

Mapping
B.1
AutoCAD Entities into DRAFT Elements
The table below shows the mapping from AutoCAD entities into DRAFT elements. Any
AutoCAD entities not mentioned in the table are ignored, and will not be represented in the
DRAFT database.
All AutoCAD entities must be in model space. They can be drawn in the world coordinate
system, or they can be drawn in a User Coordinate System (UCS) providing that the Z--axis
of the UCS is in the same direction as the World Z--axis.
AutoCAD Entity
DRAFT Element
Line
Line (STRA)
Point
Point (MRKP)
Circle
Circle (CIRC)
Arc
Arc (ARC)
Text
Text (TEXP)
Attribute
Text (TEXP)
Polyline straight
Line (STRA)
Polyline arc
Arc (ARC) including arcs generated by curve fitting
Ellipse (polyline)
Set of arcs (ARC)
Spline fit polylines
Set of lines (STRA).

Spline frame control points ignored
Expanded into 2D primitives as specified above. Insert must not
be differentially scaled.
Insert

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B.2
AutoCAD Attributes into DRAFT Attributes
The table below shows the mapping from AutoCAD attributes into DRAFT attributes. Any
AutoCAD attributes not mentioned in the table are ignored, and will not be represented in
the DRAFT database.
AutoCAD Attribute
DRAFT Attribute
Linetype
DRAFT preconfigured GT
linestyles
GTSOLID
NLPN 1
GTDASH
NLPN 2
GTDOT
NLPN 3
GTCHAIN
NLPN 4
GTLDASH
NLPN 5
AutoCAD standard linestyles

Centre, Dashdot
NLPN 4
CHAINED
Dashed, Hidden
NLPN 2
DASHED
Dashedx2, Hiddenx2
NLPN 5
LDASHED
Dot
NLPN 3
DOTTED
Border
NLPN 121
DDASHED
(colour 1 only)
Divide
NLPN 122
DDOTTED
(colour 1 only)
Phantom
NLPN 124
DCHAINED
(colour 1 only)
others
NLPN 1
SOLID
DRAFT new linestyles (loaded as

part of forms--and--menu interface)
GTDDASH
NLPN 121 (colour 1 only)
GTDDOT
GTFDOT
GTDCHAIN
GTTCHAIN
Width
=0
No change to NLPN
Add 5 to above NLPN values (THICK line)
Line Colour
B2
NLPN + 10
RED
NLPN + 30
YELLOW
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AutoCAD Attribute
DRAFT Attribute
NLPN + 40
GREEN
NLPN + 50
CYAN
NLPN + 60
BLUE
NLPN + 70
VIOLET
NLPN + 0
GREY
other
NLPN + 0
GREY
Text
Height
CHEI
Width (for fitted text)
No mapping
Angle
ADEG
Font
PDMS HORTXT font
FONT 1
PDMS HTXnn font
DRAFT Equivalent -- Font nn
PDMS HTX--nn font
DRAFT Equivalent extension character -- Font nn
HTX63 font
PDMS Symbolic character
Roman
FONT 3
Italic
FONT 4
other
FONT 1
Vertical alignment
Top
ALIG TB
Middle
ALIG HB
Bottom
ALIG BB
Baseline
ALIG BASE
Horizontal alignment
Left, fit and aligned
JUST L
Centre
JUST C
Right
JUST R
Oblique forwards
Forward slope font variant
Oblique backwards
Backward slope font variant
Generation flags
Always normal

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AutoCAD Attribute
DRAFT Attribute
Text Colour
B.3
TPEN = 11
RED
TPEN = 31
YELLOW
TPEN = 41
GREEN
TPEN = 51
CYAN
TPEN = 61
BLUE
TPEN = 71
VIOLET
TPEN = 1
GREY
other
TPEN = 1
GREY
DRAFT Pens
In DRAFT, linestyle, line thickness and colour are bundled into a single value called a PEN.
Each linear 2D primitive in DRAFT has a NLPN (note line pen) attribute which refers to a
PEN number.
In order to convert from AutoCAD linestyle, line width and colour to DRAFT PEN the
NLPN values are combined as shown in the table. For example:
A solid, narrow, white line gives
A dashed, narrow, green line gives
A dashdot, wide, blue line gives
B.4
NLPN = 1 + 0 + 0 = 1
NLPN = 2 + 0 + 40 = 42
NLPN = 4 + 5 + 60 = 69
Line Widths
There are eleven line widths in DRAFT, 0mm to 2mm. Please note that the original DRAFT
settings for linewidths (thin and thick) are still supported. These are equivalent to
linewidths of 0mm and 0.4mm.
In AutoCAD all lines, circles and arcs are thin, but polylines may have a measured width
which varies along the length of a polyline span.
The mapping from AutoCAD to DRAFT is:
D
all entities with zero width are DRAFT thin lines
all polyline spans with non--zero thickness at either end of the span are DRAFT thick
lines
B4

Version 11.5
User Guide
The mapping from DRAFT and ISODRAFT to AutoCAD is:

D
all eleven line widths are mapped correctly
B.5
Linestyles
Linestyles are scaled differently in DRAFT and AutoCAD. The AutoCAD linetype scale is
ignored, so dash and gap lengths may not match between the two systems. However, the
linestyles listed in the table will have a similar pattern of gaps and dashes.
Pens 1 to 120 are preconfigured in DRAFT. These map on to five linestyles each in two
widths and 10 colours as described in the PDMS DRAFT User Guide. There are five new
linestyles. The DRAFT forms--and--menu interface maps these on to pens 121 to 130 -- five
styles each in two widths, colour 1.
NOTE: User defined linestyles are now available in DRAFT. AutoDRAFT will export (and
maintain) these linestyles correctly in AutoCAD.
In order to export any user defined linestyles, AutoDRAFT creates a file called
pdmsuser.lin in the local directory. This file is only used by AutoDRAFT during
the current session, after which it is deleted. You should note that AutoDRAFT will
not work if a file called pdmsuser.lin already exists in the local directory.
If you are pre--loading any user defined linestyles into AutoCAD (for example, via
the acad.lsp file) which use the same names as any of your DRAFT user--defined
linestyles exported via AutoDRAFT, the pre--loaded linestyles will be used in
preference to DRAFT ones.
B.6
Text Fonts
If a non--PDMS text font is used in AutoCAD the height of the text will be the same in both
systems, but the length of the text will differ. The mapping of non--PDMS fonts on to font
numbers in DRAFT assumes that the default Font family definition is in use for the PDMS
project.
AutoCAD width factor and vertical text path are ignored. AutoCAD underlining will be
interpreted as DRAFT underlining. AutoCAD overscore codes are ignored. Positive oblique
angle is interpreted as forward shear. Negative oblique angle is interpreted as backward
shear. Non--standard text--generation flags are ignored.
Version 11.5
User Guide
B5
AutoCAD special symbols degree, plus/minus and diameter symbol will be converted to the
appropriate DRAFT special symbol.
AutoCAD special character numbers are ignored. AutoCAD Bigfont text cannot be
generally transferred -- but see below. However special characters in the AutoCAD fonts,
that have been defined to work with PDMS, will be reinterpreted back into the equivalent
special characters in DRAFT.
Text in styles HTX--nn will be assumed to be PDMS extension font characters (e.g. Latin--1
or Latin--2) and will be sent back to PDMS as ESC--X sequences.
To simplify the transfer of files between systems which have restrictions on filename
lengths, a convention for file naming has been adopted that never produces filenames with
a prefix greater than eight characters long. The system does this by:
D
The first five digits of the old font file names have been condensed to two alphanumeric
characters.
The prefixes f , ef , of and sf have been shortened to their first letter.
As DOS is case--insensitive, UPPER CASE is used for prefixes (TESTFILE etc.) with
lower case letters for the suffix (.txt for example).
The condensation method mentioned in point one above is designed to be reasonably

memorable. The initial two digits of the old file name are re--encoded as follows:
Initial code
01
02
03
04
05
11
12
13
09
B6
New Code
L
G
C
A
H
X
J
K
O
Meaning
Latin
Greek
Cyrillic
Arabic
Hebrew
Chinese
Japanese
Korean
Oddments (1 byte)

Version 11.5
User Guide
The next three digits of the old file name (which represent the character set) become:
Initial Code New Code
004
B
006
A
100
1
101
2
109
3
110
4
148
5
018
G
537
R
521
D
998
R
999
P
058
X
087
J
126
L
144
L
127
L
138
L
Meaning
British
American
right--hand half of Latin--1
Greek
Russian
German (Deutsch)
Russian mixture (Latin--Cyrillic)
PDMS symbols
Chinese basic
Japanese basic
right--hand half of Latin--Greek
right--hand half of Latin--Cyrillic
right--hand half of Latin--Arabic
right--hand half of Latin--Hebrew
NOTE: The re--use of character set L is not important, as the fonts concerned are made
distinct by the alphabet letter.
The current range of alphabets and character--sets supported is represented as:
Old Code
01004
01006
01100
01101
01109
01110
01148
01521
02018
02126
03537
03144
04127
05138
09998
11058
12087
New Code
LB
LA
L1
L2
L3
L4
L5
LD
GG
GL
CR
CL
AL
HL
OR
XX
JJ
Meaning
Latin, British
Latin, American
Latin, German
Greek
right--hand half of Latin--Greek
Cyrillic, Russian
right--hand half of Latin--Cyrillic
right--hand half of Latin--Arabic
right--hand half of Latin--Hebrew
Latin--Cyrillic (obsolete)
Chinese (basic set)
Japanese (basic set)

Version 11.5
User Guide
B7
The prefix of one to three initial letters becomes a single letter, as described above:
Letter Meaning
F
Filled Font
O
Outline Font
U
Uniform Width Font
}
} 1--byte fonts
}
E
S
} 2--byte fonts
}
B.7
EUC Encoding
Shift--JIS Encoding
Support for AutoCAD Bigfont Text (PDMS/J users only)
Kanji text in EUC--format PDMS fonts may be transferred back to PDMS DRAFT using the
Frame and Symbol Editors. This is sent back to PDMS as byte pairs in &~. . . . . . &
sequences. Transfer of text in SHIFT--JIS PDMS fonts is not supported, nor is FECs text in
non--PDMS fonts.
B8

Version 11.5
User Guide
The AutoDRAFT Menus
The AutoCAD Reference Manual describes command input to AutoCAD from the command
line and from standard screen menus.
The functions described in this document are defined as commands entered via the
keyboard at the AutoCAD Command: prompt.
AutoDRAFT customises the standard AutoCAD menus by the addition of the AutoDRAFT
options.
Note that the appropriate Autodesk, Inc. copyright notices apply to the AutoDRAFT menu
files which are derived from an original AutoCAD menu file. For example, for AutoCAD
Release 13, the following notice applies:
Copyright E 1982--1995 Autodesk, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Release 13_c3a (9/22/95) Silicon Graphics
C.1
Drawing Editor Pull--Down Menus

...
Blank
PDMS Draw
C.1.1 Blank Pull-- Down Menu

Visible
Make blank boundaries visible (pdms_blank_edit Visible)
Invisible Make blank boundaries invisible (pdms_blank_edit Invisible)

Blank
Hide covered items (pdms_blank)
Create
Create a new blank (pdms_blank_create)

Version 11.5
User Guide
C1
The AutoDRAFT Menus
Erase
Erase blanks (pdms_blank_edit Erase)
Cover
Choose items to be covered by blanks (pdms_blank_edit Cover)
Uncover Choose items to be uncovered so they are not hidden by blanks

(pdms_blank_edit Uncover)
C.1.2 PDMS Draw Pull-- Down Menu

The PDMS Draw menu contains all of the AutoDRAFT Drawing Editor functions except for
blanking.
PDMS Layers >
Display Layers submenu (pdms_layers PDMS command)
User Layers >
Display Layers submenu (pdms_layers USER command)
PDMS Colours
Sets PDMS layers to PDMS colours (pdms_colour)
Loa d Text
Load text from a text file onto the drawing (pdms_textfile)
Copy Magnify
Copy and scale part of the drawing (pdms_copy)
Select Viewport
Select viewport by picking viewport boundary (pdms_view_sel)
Create Viewport
Create viewport containing a magnified view of a region of the

drawing sheet (pdms_view_create)
PDMS EndAcad
Ends an AutoCAD session, saving the current drawing and

automatically exiting from the main menu screen.
PDMS QuitAcad
Quits an AutoCAD session without saving the current drawing, also

Layers Submenu
The layers submenu is used to control both the PDMS layers and the non--PDMS layers
through the pdms_layers command
On
Switch layers on
Off
Switch layers off
Freeze
Freeze layers
Thaw
Thaw layers
C2

Version 11.5
User Guide
The AutoDRAFT Menus
C.2
Frame Editor Pull--Down Menu

...
PDMS Frame
C.2.1 PDMS Frame Pull-- Down Menu

Write sheet
Write PDMS Backing or Overlay sheet command file (pdms_sheet)
PDMS EndAcad

PDMS QuitAcad

C.3
Symbol Editor Pull--Down Menu

...
PDMS Symbol
C.3.1 PDMS Symbol Pull-- Down Menu

Make symbol
Make symbol template block & insert (pdms_make_symbol)
Write symbol
Write PDMS symbol template command file (pdms_symbols)
PDMS EndAcad

PDMS QuitAcad


Version 11.5
User Guide
C3
Index
A
adraftbe script, 12--1, 12--2
adraftde script, 4--2
adraftse script, 8--1, 8--2
attdef command (AutoCAD), 7--1, 9--1
B
Backing Sheet (BACK) element, 11--1
Backing Sheet element (BACK), 7--2
Backing Sheet Reference (BSRF) attribute, 7--2
block command (AutoCAD), 9--2
Blocks (AutoCAD), 9--1
Blocks, use of, 6--6
BYLAYER attribute, 6--4
C
CSPA (character spacing) attribute, 4--4
CUTMARKS OFF option, 4--1
D
Differential scale, use of in AutoCAD, 9--2
Drawing Editor, drawing file, 3--1
Drawing Editor drawings
creating, 4--2
displaying, 4--3
updating, 4--3
Version 11.5
User Guide
Index1
Index
Drawing limits, in AutoCAD, 7--2

DXF files
creating from DRAFT, 4--1
creating from ISODRAFT, 4--2
transfer of, 3--1
use of, 2--1
E
Entities, mapping to PDMS elements, 7--2, 11--2
Entities blanking, entity selection, 5--4
F
Font files, transfer, B--6
Frame Editor drawings
creating, 12--1
updating, 12--2
G
GT_Layers, 3--3, 6--4, 6--8
I
insert command (AutoCAD), 9--2
Inserts (AutoCAD), 9--1
L
Layers
AutoCAD, 3--2, 3--3, 7--2
GT_, 3--3, 6--4, 6--8
mapping, 6--1
PDMS, 3--2
PDMS_BLANKS, 5--1, 5--6
limits command, 8--2
M
Mappings, AutoCAD to DRAFT, 10--2, 13--2
Model Space, setting up an imported drawing in, 4--2
N
NOTE element, 11--1, 13--2
Note line pen (NLPN) attribute, B--4
Index2

Version 11.5
User Guide
Index
O
Overlay Sheet (OVER) element, 11--1
Overscore codes, treatment of, B--5
P
Paper Space, setting up an imported drawing in, 4--2
pdms_blank command, 5--5
pdms_blank_create command, 5--2
pdms_blank_edit command, 5--6
PDMS_BLANKS layer, 5--1, 5--6
pdms_colour command, 6--4
pdms_copy command, 6--6
pdms_endacad command, 6--11, 10--3, 13--3
pdms_layer_mapping command, 6--2
pdms_layers command, 6--3
PDMS_NAME attribute, 7--1, 9--1
pdms_quitacad command, 6--10, 10--2, 13--3
pdms_sheet command, 13--1, 13--2
pdms_symbols command, 10--1, 10--2
pdms_textfile command, 6--5
pdms_view_create command, 6--9
pdms_view_sel command, 6--10
pdmslaymap.txt file, 6--1
PLOT command, 4--1, 4--4
Plotting a blanked drawing, 5--5
S
Sheet Library (SHLB) element, 11--1
Sheet size, specifying, 12--2
Symbol Editor drawings
creating, 8--1
updating, 8--2
Symbol Library (SYLB) Element, 7--1, 7--2
Symbol Template, Naming Conventions, 10--3
Symbol Template (SYTM) Element, 7--1
T
Text height, 6--5
Text line spacing, 6--6
Version 11.5
User Guide
Index3

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PDMS AutoDRAFT User Guide

Copyright 1992 through 2003 AVEVA Solutions Limited

AutoCAD is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc.

The AutoDRAFT Facilities

The Drawing Editor -- Introduction

The Drawing Editor -- Getting Started

VANTAGE PDMS AutoDRAFT

Notes on the Transfer File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4--4

Limitations of DXF File Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4--4

The Drawing Editor -- Autoblanking

Creating a Blanking Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5--1

Editing Blanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5--6

The Drawing Editor -- Miscellaneous Facilities

Layer Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6--1

Applying PDMS Colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6--4

The Symbol Editor -- Introduction

The Symbol Editor -- Getting Started

The Symbol Editor -- Creating Symbol Templates

Creating the Symbol Name Attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9--1

Creating a Block and an Insert of the Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9--2

10 The Symbol Editor -- Deriving DRAFT Command Files

VANTAGE PDMS AutoDRAFT

10.2 Entry to Symbol Editor from DRAFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10--2

The Frame Editor -- Introduction

12 The Frame Editor -- Getting Started

13 The Frame Editor -- Deriving DRAFT Command Files

Direct Entry to Frame Editor (using adraftbe command) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13--1

AutoDRAFT Working Practices

Suggested Working Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A--3

AutoCAD to DRAFT Entity and Attribute Mapping

AutoCAD Entities into DRAFT Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

VANTAGE PDMS AutoDRAFT

The AutoDRAFT Menus

PDMS Symbol Pull--Down Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C--3

VANTAGE PDMS AutoDRAFT

About this Manual

This manual describes:

The AutoDRAFT facilities.

Alternatively, how to create a DXF--format file of a DRAFT or ISODRAFT drawing for

How to create a PDMS DRAFT command macro in AutoDRAFT in order to transfer

Useful sources of reference are:

VANTAGE PDMS AutoDRAFT

The AutoDRAFT Facilities

AutoDRAFT has three sub--systems:

The Drawing Editor. This enables a drawing created in DRAFT or ISODRAFT to be

The PDMS DRAFT/AutoDRAFT Interface

VANTAGE PDMS AutoDRAFT

The AutoDRAFT Facilities

Figure 2--1 The DRAFT/AutoDRAFT Interface.

The PDMS ISODRAFT/AutoDRAFT Interface

VANTAGE PDMS AutoDRAFT

The AutoDRAFT Facilities

Figure 2--2 The ISODRAFT/AutoDRAFT Interface.

VANTAGE PDMS AutoDRAFT

The Drawing Editor -- Introduction

The Drawing Editor Functions

Create magnified copies of part of a drawing.

Apply PDMS standard colours to the DRAFT elements within an AutoDRAFT

Layer control of layers allocated to DRAFT.

Load text from a file onto the drawing.

Create and select viewports containing views of the drawing sheet.

The DRAFT/ISODRAFT to Drawing Editor Interface