DRAFT User Guide Part1

PDMS DRAFT
User Guide
Part 1: Basic Drawing Creation & Output
Version 11.6SP1
pdms1161/DRAFT User Guide Part1

issue 270605
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Revision History
Date Version Notes

March 2003 11.5 Manual divided into two Parts:
Part 1: Basic Drawing Creation & Output (this manual)
Part 2: Drawing Annotation
Sept 2004 11.6 Background Processes included.

June 2005 11.6.SP1 Minor corrections and updates for this release.
VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide Revision History-i

Version 11.6SP1
Revision History
Revision History-ii VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

Version 11.6SP1
Contents
1 Introducing PDMS DRAFT ............................................................................ 1-1

1.1 What does DRAFT do?................................................................................................1-1
1.2 The DRAFT Database .................................................................................................1-1
1.3 Who Should Read this Manual ....................................................................................1-2
1.4 Organisation of the DRAFT User Guide ......................................................................1-2
1.5 Organisation of this User Guide...................................................................................1-2
2 General PDMS Commands ........................................................................... 2-1
2.1 Saving ..........................................................................................................................2-1
2.1.1 Saving and Restoring the Current Display Status..........................................2-1
2.1.2 Saving Work...................................................................................................2-1
2.1.3 Seeing Changes Made by Other Users .........................................................2-2
2.2 Accessing Multiple Database Information....................................................................2-2
2.2.1 Finding the Current User Status.....................................................................2-2
2.2.2 Finding the Current System Status ................................................................2-2
2.2.3 Listing Multiple-Database Information............................................................2-3
2.2.4 Querying MDB Information.............................................................................2-4
2.2.5 Changing Multiple Databases ........................................................................2-4
2.3 Using Multiwrite Databases .........................................................................................2-5
2.3.1 User Claims....................................................................................................2-5
2.3.2 Notes on Standard Multiwrite DBs .................................................................2-6
2.3.3 Extract Databases..........................................................................................2-7
2.3.4 How to Find Out What You Can Claim...........................................................2-9
2.4 Comparing and Listing Database Changes ...............................................................2-12
2.4.1 Comparing Database States at Different Times...........................................2-12
2.4.2 Listing Database Changes ...........................................................................2-12
2.5 Miscellaneous Facilities .............................................................................................2-14
2.5.1 Audible Error Trace ......................................................................................2-14
2.5.2 Switching Text Output Off (DEVICE TTY only) ............................................2-14
2.5.3 Logging the Alpha Display ...........................................................................2-14
2.5.4 Controlling Output of Warning Messages ....................................................2-14
3 Drawing the Design....................................................................................... 3-1
3.1 Introducing the DRAFT Database................................................................................3-1
3.2 Creating a Drawing, a Sheet and a View .....................................................................3-2
3.2.1 Defining the Contents of a View.....................................................................3-3
3.3 Defining View Contents Using the AUTO Command ...................................................3-3
3.4 Defining VIEW Contents Using Id Lists........................................................................3-4
3.4.1 Adding elements to 3D View ..........................................................................3-5
3.4.2 Selective Additions to the Id List ....................................................................3-6
3.4.3 The Spatial Map .............................................................................................3-6
3.4.4 Changing the Limits of the View Contents .....................................................3-7
3.4.5 Cleaning Up Id Lists .......................................................................................3-7
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3.4.6 Querying Id Lists............................................................................................ 3-7

3.5 Changing the Picture by Changing VIEW Attributes ................................................... 3-8
3.5.1 The VIEW Frame........................................................................................... 3-8
3.5.2 The View Size................................................................................................ 3-8
3.5.3 The View Centre............................................................................................ 3-9
3.5.4 The View Scale............................................................................................ 3-10
3.5.5 Orientation of View Contents....................................................................... 3-10
3.5.6 Perspective.................................................................................................. 3-11
3.5.7 3D View ....................................................................................................... 3-11
3.5.8 Looking Direction......................................................................................... 3-11
3.5.9 Representation Ruleset Reference ............................................................. 3-13
3.5.10 Hatching Ruleset Reference........................................................................ 3-13
3.5.11 Change Ruleset Reference ......................................................................... 3-13
3.5.12 Arc Tolerance .............................................................................................. 3-13
3.5.13 View Gap Length ......................................................................................... 3-13
3.6 More on the AUTO command.................................................................................... 3-13
3.7 Hidden Line Representation...................................................................................... 3-14
3.8 Querying Commands................................................................................................. 3-18
3.8.1 Querying View Contents.............................................................................. 3-18
3.8.2 Querying Whether an Element Appears in a View ...................................... 3-19
3.8.3 Querying the Nearest Side to an Item ......................................................... 3-19
3.9 Switching Between Databases .................................................................................. 3-20
3.10 The Background Process Manager........................................................................... 3-21
3.10.1 Introduction.................................................................................................. 3-21
3.10.2 Prerequisites................................................................................................ 3-21
3.10.3 Initiating and Using the BPM ....................................................................... 3-21
3.10.4 Managing Jobs using the Background Process Manager form ................... 3-24
4 Graphical Representation ............................................................................ 4-1
4.1 Representation Styles ................................................................................................. 4-2
4.2 Representation Rules.................................................................................................. 4-5
4.2.1 Selective Style Allocation .............................................................................. 4-6
4.2.2 Local Rules.................................................................................................... 4-7
4.2.3 Setting the VIEW ........................................................................................... 4-7
4.3 Automatic Hatching ..................................................................................................... 4-7
4.3.1 Hatching Rules .............................................................................................. 4-8
4.3.2 Hatching Rules .............................................................................................. 4-9
4.3.3 Which Elements can be Hatched .................................................................. 4-9
4.3.4 Hatching Styles.............................................................................................. 4-9
4.3.5 The Hatch Pattern ....................................................................................... 4-10
4.4.1 Querying Rulesets and Styles ..................................................................... 4-11
4.4.2 Querying Hatching Rulesets and Styles ...................................................... 4-11
5 Section Planes .............................................................................................. 5-1
5.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................. 5-1
5.2 Creating and Using Planes.......................................................................................... 5-3
5.2.1 Perpendicular Plane (PPLA).......................................................................... 5-5
5.2.2 Flat Plane (FPLA) .......................................................................................... 5-7
5.2.3 Stepped Plane (SPLA) .................................................................................. 5-8
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5.3 Altering Planes...........................................................................................................5-11

5.4 Plane Querying ..........................................................................................................5-11
6 Using the Cursor ........................................................................................... 6-1
6.1 Identifying Elements Using the Cursor.........................................................................6-1
6.2 Picking P-points and Nodes.........................................................................................6-2
6.2.1 P-point Style...................................................................................................6-3
6.3 Picking Structural Elements and P-lines ......................................................................6-3
6.4 Querying Position Data ................................................................................................6-4
6.5 Snapping 2D Points to a Grid ......................................................................................6-4
6.6 Highlighting Displayed Elements .................................................................................6-6
7 Plotting and Drawing Output........................................................................ 7-1
7.1 General ........................................................................................................................7-1
7.2 Standard DXF Output ..................................................................................................7-2
7.2.1 Creating the DXF File.....................................................................................7-2
7.2.2 DXF File Contents..........................................................................................7-2
7.2.3 Sheet migration to AutoCAD ..........................................................................7-3
7.2.4 File Header Options .......................................................................................7-3
7.2.5 Encoding of Multi-Byte Characters.................................................................7-4
7.2.6 Scaling ...........................................................................................................7-4
7.3 Configurable DXF Output.............................................................................................7-5
7.3.1 Configuration Datasets ..................................................................................7-5
7.3.2 Switches and BLOCK Rules to Control DXF Export ......................................7-8
7.3.3 Limitations ....................................................................................................7-14
7.4 Configurable DGN Output..........................................................................................7-14
7.4.1 Configuration Datasets ................................................................................7-14
7.4.2 Common Features of Option Switches ........................................................7-17
7.4.3 File-Related and Miscellaneous Options .....................................................7-18
7.4.4 Pen Related Options ....................................................................................7-21
7.4.5 Font Related Options ...................................................................................7-23
7.4.6 Level-Related Options..................................................................................7-24
7.4.7 Group Related Options ................................................................................7-25
7.4.8 Product Support Options..............................................................................7-27
7.4.9 Validation feature and options .....................................................................7-27
7.4.10 Summary of Switches and Rules to Control DGN Export ............................7-28
7.4.11 Limitations ....................................................................................................7-30
8 Pens and Linestyles ...................................................................................... 8-1
8.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................8-1
8.2 Colours.........................................................................................................................8-3
8.3 Line Representations ...................................................................................................8-4
8.3.1 Line Thicknesses ...........................................................................................8-5
8.3.2 Line Patterns ..................................................................................................8-5
8.3.3 Glyphs ............................................................................................................8-7
8.3.4 User-defined Glyphs ......................................................................................8-9
8.3.5 Line Pictures ................................................................................................8-11
8.4 Marker Types .............................................................................................................8-15
8.5 Hatch Patterns ...........................................................................................................8-16
8.6 Defining Pen Settings ................................................................................................8-21
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8.6.1 Defaults ....................................................................................................... 8-21

8.6.2 User-Definable Pens ................................................................................... 8-23
8.6.3 Graphical Feedback .................................................................................... 8-24
8.6.4 Querying Pen Settings................................................................................. 8-25
8.7 DRAFT Element Pen Attributes................................................................................. 8-25
9 Reports, Circulation Lists and Revisions ................................................... 9-1
9.1 The Report .................................................................................................................. 9-1
9.2 The Circulation List...................................................................................................... 9-2
9.3 Drawing Revisions....................................................................................................... 9-3
10 Change Highlighting ................................................................................... 10-1
10.1 Design Change Styles ............................................................................................... 10-2
10.2 Annotation Change Styles ......................................................................................... 10-3
10.3 Change Rules............................................................................................................ 10-3
10.3.1 Design Change Rules.................................................................................. 10-3
10.3.2 Annotation Change Rules............................................................................ 10-4
10.4 Attribute Setting......................................................................................................... 10-5
10.5 The Comparison Date ............................................................................................... 10-5
10.6 UPDATE Command, SHOW CHANGES Option and Error Messages ..................... 10-6
10.7.1 Querying Change Rulesets and Design or Annotation Styles ..................... 10-8
A DRAFT Database Hierarchy ......................................................................... A-1
A.1 Basic Hierarchy ........................................................................................................... A-1
B System Update Commands.......................................................................... B-1
B.1 Cross-Database Referencing ...................................................................................... B-1
B.2 Updating Symbol Instances......................................................................................... B-2
C Picture File Naming Conventions................................................................ C-1
D Guidelines for Importing DGN files from DRAFT into MicroStation ......... D-1
D.1 Introduction..................................................................................................................D-1
D.2 Exporting DRAFT drawings containing PDMS Fonts ..................................................D-1
D.3 Installing PDMS Fonts into MicroStation .....................................................................D-2
D.3.1 Creating a new Font resource library ............................................................D-2
D.3.2 Selecting .shx files to add to resource library ................................................D-3
D.3.3 Selecting the library destination.....................................................................D-3
D.3.4 Copying the fonts into the library ...................................................................D-3
D.3.5 Checking The Installation ..............................................................................D-3
D.3.6 Changing MicroStation font numbers ............................................................D-4
D.3.7 Select the required .rsc library.......................................................................D-4
D.3.8 Creating a new Font Geometry File...............................................................D-4
D.4 Mapping the Installed Fonts ........................................................................................D-5
D.5 PDMS font file names..................................................................................................D-5
D.6 Colours ........................................................................................................................D-7
D.7 Line Styles...................................................................................................................D-7
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1 Introducing PDMS DRAFT
1.1 What does DRAFT do?
DRAFT produces fully annotated scale drawings showing selected parts of the design
model created in PDMS DESIGN. DRAFT is fully integrated with DESIGN.
A model can be viewed from any direction, with hidden detail automatically removed or
shown in a different linestyle, as required. A drawing may contain more than one view
of a 3D model; for example, a plan view, a front elevation and an isometric view may be
displayed simultaneously.
In DRAFT an annotated drawing is made up of different types of graphics:
• Graphics that represent the 3D model.
• Graphics to provide backing and overlay sheets which will be common to a number
of drawings.
• Graphics providing annotation, including not only dimensioning and text but also
such items as leader lines and label boxes.
All the graphic items exist as, or are defined by, elements in the DRAFT database.
1.2 The DRAFT Database
The DRAFT database contains a complete definition of a DRAFT drawing. The DRAFT
database does not contain information describing the geometry of the graphics that
make up a drawing, but gives a description of how those graphics should be presented
on a drawing.
From this database definition (together with the Design and Catalogue databases which
describe the appropriate 3D model) a drawing is generated which reflects the state of
the design at that particular time. The drawing can be displayed on the screen and
processed to produce a hard copy plotfile.
VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide 1-1

Version 11.6SP1
Introducing PDMS DRAFT
1.3 Who Should Read this Manual
This is a command-level manual, written for people who are writing or customising their
own graphical user interface. It describes all the DRAFT commands, with worked
examples where appropriate. It is assumed that you are familiar with the normal way of
using DRAFT, through the supplied Graphical User Interface (GUI).
For an introduction to using DRAFT via the GUI, see Drawing Production Using
VANTAGE PDMS, and for further information, see the online help. For information
about DRAFT System Administration, see the VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT Administrator
Application User Guide.
For general information about customising the graphical user interface, see the
VANTAGE Plant Design Software Customisation Guide and VANTAGE Plant Design
Software Customisation Reference Manual.
1.4 Organisation of the DRAFT User Guide
The DRAFT User Guide has two parts:

Part 1, (this volume) describes all aspects of producing a drawing in DRAFT that do not
relate to annotations.
Part 2, Drawing Annotation, describes all aspects of DRAFT relating to annotations.
1.5 Organisation of this User Guide
This manual, Part 1 of the User Guide, is divided into the following chapters:
• Chapter 2, General PDMS Commands, describes some general PDMS commands,
common to several PDMS modules, which are available in DRAFT.
• Chapter 3, Drawing the Design, describes how to create a DRAFT picture without
annotations. It describes the part of the DRAFT database that stores the main
administrative and graphical elements and how to create them. It also describes
Views, which are the areas used to display Design elements, and how to define their
content.
• Chapter 4, Graphical Representation, describes how Design elements are defined and
drawn using Representation Rules. It describes how Representation Rules are
defined and describes the part of the DRAFT database that stores the
Representation Rules. It also describes Hatching Rules, used for the automatic
hatching of faces of Design elements.
• Chapter 5, Section Planes, describes how you can construct sections through Design
items, using Planes in DRAFT, which can be displayed at VIEW level.
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• Chapter 6, Using the Cursor, describes how, with many DRAFT commands, you can
use the cursor to identify an element in the graphics window by using the ID
command followed by an @.
• Chapter 7, Plotting and Drawing Output, describes how you can generate, at any
time during the drawing process, a plotfile consisting of a single Sheet, View, or the
content of an Area View.
• Chapter 8, Pens and Linestyles, defines the attributes that are associated with pens
and describes how to set these attributes.
• Chapter 9, Reports, Circulation lists and Revisions, describes how to create the
drawing office administrative elements; reports and circulation lists. It also
describes how DRAFT handles revision numbers.
• Chapter 10, Change Highlighting, describes how you use Change Rules to control
how Design and Annotation elements that have been changed are drawn on a
DRAFT View. It describes how Change Rules are defined and describes the part of
the DRAFT database that stores the Change Rules. It also describes the concept of
Comparison Dates and how these are used to determine whether Design and
Annotation elements have been changed
• Appendix A, DRAFT Database Hierarchy, provides a graphical representation of the
DRAFT database structure.
• Appendix B, System Update Commands, describes functions in DRAFT that can be
used to minimise problems with cross-database referencing when Design databases
are deleted and rebuilt from macros. It also describes how the UPDATE
INSTANCES command is used to update picture files that use the ‘instancing’
mechanism.
• Appendix C, Picture File Naming Conventions, describes the structure of picture file
names.
• Appendix D, Guidelines for Importing DGN Files from DRAFT into MicroStation,
describes how DRAFT drawings can be output as DGN files that can be imported
into a freshly installed version of MicroStation/J. It contains guidelines for ensuring
that fonts are translated correctly and how to improve other aspects of the
translation.

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2 General PDMS Commands
This Section describes some general PDMS commands, common to several PDMS
modules, which are available in DRAFT.
2.1 Saving
2.1.1 Saving and Restoring the Current Display Status

If the intention is to leave DRAFT for a short period only the RECREATE/INSTALL
facility allows the display setup (including the full forms and menus set) to be saved, for
restoration later.
For example:
RECREATE /DS1
- saves the display status in file /DS1.
RECREATE /DS1 OVER
- as above, but an existing file /DS1 is overwritten.
RECRE DISPLAY /DS2
- saves modal settings, e.g. changes from default Pen
configuration, units, text quality etc. Read back in using $M.
INSTALL SETUP /DS1
- restores the display definition stored in file /DS1. (Refers to file
saved by RECREATE, not RECREATE DISPLAY.)
Note: Forms resized or moved using the cursor will be INSTALLed to their original
size.
2.1.2 Saving Work

The command:
SAVEWORK
saves the current DRAFT additions or modifications without leaving DRAFT. It is good
practice to use this command on a regular basis during a long DRAFT session to ensure
maximum data security.

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General PDMS Commands
2.1.3 Seeing Changes Made by Other Users

The command
GETWORK
updates the DRAFT database with the changes made by other users, if the database has
been opened in multi-write mode.
2.2 Accessing Multiple Database Information
The Multiple Database Access facilities allow you to list information about the
databases you are using. It is also possible to change to another Multiple Database (see
Section 2.2.5), thus entering MDB Mode, from which further database-related activities
can be performed.
2.2.1 Finding the Current User Status

The STATUS command gives you information about your current user status and that of
the DBs to which you have access.
For example, a typical response to the STATUS command could be:
Project: XYZ
User: RAB (222f-PC378)
Teams: B
MDB: /DRAFTA
1 B/DRAFTA RW
2 MASTER/DRAFTAPP R
3 MASTER/DRAFTLIB R
4 MASTER/CATA R
5 MASTER/DESI R
Deferred DBS:
6 STRUCT/STEEL
This indicates that the designer has identified himself as being PDMS user RAB, that
he is logged in to workstation PC378 as user 222f (a hexadecimal code), that he is a
member of team B, that he is accessing Project XYZ, and that he has selected an MDB
called /DRAFTA.
His current DBs are B/DRAFTA, to which he has Read/Write access (as a member of the
team which owns it), and MASTER/DRAFTAPP, MASTER/DRAFTLIB, MASTER/CATA
and MASTER/DESI, to which he has Read-only access. The DB STRUCT/STEEL is non-
current and so he has no access to it at present.
2.2.2 Finding the Current System Status

The SYSTAT command gives you information about the current active status of the
project within which you are working. It lists all users who are currently accessing the

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project, the modules and databases that they are using, and whether they are examining
(Read-only status) or modifying (Read/Write status) the database. A typical response to
the SYSTAT command could be:
USER USERA (13d3-PC378)
MODULE DRAFT
MDB /USERB
DB MODE
USER/USERB RW
MASTER/DRAFTAPP R
MASTER/DRAFTLIB R
USER/DESIB R
MASTER/CATA R
MASTER/DESI R
This shows that user USERA is currently logged in and using module DRAFT. He is
accessing the MDB named /USERB whose constituent DBs are as listed. He has Read-
only status for the DBs owned by the MASTER (System) team and Read/Write access to
the DB USER/USERB.
2.2.3 Listing Multiple-Database Information

The LIST command allows you to list most of the available project information held in
the System Database, with the exception of confidential details such as other users’
passwords. The latter can only be listed by the Project Coordinator using the ADMIN
module of PDMS.
A typical response to the LIST MDB command could be:
List of MDBS for project DRA
==============================
MDB: /USERA
Current DBS:
1 USER/USERA PADD EXCLUSIVE
2 MASTER/DRAFTAPP PADD UPDATE
3 MASTER/DRAFTLIB PADD UPDATE
4 MASTER/CATA CATA UPDATE
5 MASTER/DESI DESI UPDATE
Deferred DBS:
**NONE**
MDB: /USERB
Current DBS:
1 USER/USERB PADD EXCLUSIVE
2 MASTER/DRAFTAPP PADD UPDATE
3 MASTER/DRAFTLIB PADD UPDATE
4 USER/DESIB DESI EXCLUSIVE
5 MASTER/CATA CATA UPDATE
6 MASTER/DESI DESI UPDATE
Deferred DBS:
**NONE**
A typical response to the LIST USERS command could be:

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List of USERS for project DRA

===============================
SYSTEM (FREE)
TEAMS : MASTER
GEN (GENERAL)
TEAMS : TEST
The information generated by the LIST command will be displayed within the PDMS
DRAFT REQUESTS window and can sent to a file - see Section 2.5.3.
2.2.4 Querying MDB Information

You can query the project configuration using the following commands:
QUERY USER
QUERY USER word
QUERY TEAM word
QUERY DB dbname
QUERY MDB name
2.2.5 Changing Multiple Databases

You can change the current multiple database, and also the current User and Project
during a DRAFT session without having to leave DRAFT and enter MONITOR. The
MDB command puts you into MDB Mode, where you can use a limited number of
MONITOR commands,
You can either update the current MDB to save your changes before entering MDB
Mode, or ignore any changes made since your last SAVEWORK command (see Section
2.1.2 ).
MDB UPDATE Save design changes and enter MDB Mode.
MDB NOUPDATE Enter MDB Mode without saving changes.
When you are in MDB mode, you can give the following commands, which are the same
as the corresponding MONITOR commands. For more information, see the VANTAGE
PDMS MONITOR Reference Manual.
EXCHANGE alter the databases in the current list of the current MDB
DEFER
CURRENT
PROTECT temporarily alters your access rights to specified databases.
USER changes the current user and project
PROJECT
VAR allows you to set variables

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QUERY allows you to query:

Users, including the number of active users,
Teams including the set (current) Team,
Databases, including copied Databases,
MDBs, Macros and Variables
You leave MDB mode and return to normal DRAFT mode by giving the command:
EXIT.
2.3 Using Multiwrite Databases

If a Draft (PADD) DB has been created as a multiwrite database, several users can
write to it simultaneously, although they cannot change the same element.
Multiwrite databases can either be Standard multiwrite databases, or Extract
databases. In both types, an element must be claimed before it can be modified.
Claiming an element prevents other users claiming (and modifying) the element; the
element must be unclaimed or released before another user can change it.
Claiming can be either explicit, where the user must use the CLAIM command before
attempting to modify the element, or implicit, where the claim is made automatically
when the user tries to modify the element. The claim mode is set when the DB is
created. For full details see the VANTAGE PDMS ADMIN Command Reference Manual.
2.3.1 User Claims

In a Standard multiwrite database, you must claim an element before changing it. This
is known as a user claim. If the claim mode is explicit (see below for details of how to
check this), you must first claim each element that you want to modify using the CLAIM
command. If the claim mode is implicit, the claim will be made automatically (although
you can still give explicit CLAIM commands if you want to prevent other users claiming
specific elements).
Only primary elements can be claimed, that is:
DEPT REGI DRWG LIBY SYLB ISOLB LALB SHLB BACK OVER SHEE
You can claim a specified element only, or a specified element plus all of the primary
elements below it in the hierarchy. If the claimed element is not a primary element, the
primary element above it in the hierarchy will be claimed.
Examples of use of the CLAIM/UNCLAIM commands are:
CLAIM /SHEE1 /SHEE2 /SHEE3
Claims named Sheets
CLAIM /DRWG HIERARCHY
Claims named Drawing and all of its owned hierarchy
CLAIM /VIEW2-1
Claims Sheet which owns named View (since VIEW is not a primary
element)

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An element must be unclaimed before another user can claim it and change it. User
claims are always unclaimed when you change modules or leaves PDMS, and you can
also unclaim elements at any time during a PDMS session using the UNCLAIM
command.
UNCLAIM /SHEE2 /SHEE3
Unclaims named Sheets
UNCLAIM ALL
Unclaims all elements currently claimed
2.3.2 Notes on Standard Multiwrite DBs

• Elements cannot be claimed if other users have made recent changes to them. You
must issue a GETWORK command first.
• Elements cannot be unclaimed if there are updates outstanding. You must issue a
SAVEWORK command first.
• You can insert/remove primary elements in a members list without claiming the
owner. For example, you can add a Sheet into a Drawing without claiming the
Drawing. Thus two users can add different Sheets to the same Drawing: any
discrepancies will be resolved when a SAVEWORK is attempted.
• Before an element can be deleted, that element and all of its sub-hierarchy must be
claimed.
• The following potential problems may not be revealed until you try to save changes:
o If two concurrent users allocate the same name to different elements, the second
user to attempt a SAVEWORK will show up an error. The second user must
rename their element.
o If one user inserts a primary element into another element’s list, while a
concurrent user deletes the latter element, an attempt to SAVEWORK will show
up an error. Either the first user must delete or move the primary element, or the
second user must QUIT without saving the deletion.

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2.3.3 Extract Databases

Unlike standard multiwrite databases, extracts allow users to keep elements claimed
when they exit from PDMS or change module. They can also be used, together with Data
Access Control, to manage workflow. See the VANTAGE PDMS ADMIN User Guide for
more information.
An extract is created from an existing Database. When an Extract is created, it will be
empty, with pointers back to the owing or master database. Extracts can only be
created from Multiwrite databases, and all extracts are themselves Multiwrite. An
extract can be worked on by one User at the same time as another user is working on
the master or another extract.
When a user works on the extract, an extract claim is made as well as a user claim.
If the claim mode is explicit, the extract claim will be made automatically when you
make a user claim using the CLAIM command. You can also claim to the extract only
using the EXTRACT CLAIM command.
• If an element is claimed to an extract, only users with write access to the
extract will be able to make a user claim and start work on the element.
• If the databases are set up with implicit claim, when the user modifies the
element, the element will be claimed both to the extract and then to the
user. If the element is already claimed to the extract, then the claim will
only be made to the user.
• If the databases are set up with explicit claim, then the user will need to
use the CLAIM command before modifying the element.
• Once a user has made a user claim, no other users will be able to work on
the elements claimed, as in a normal multiwrite database.
• If a user unclaims an element, it will remain claimed to the extract until
the extract claim is released or issued.
When an extract User does a SAVEWORK, the changed data will be saved to the
Extract. The unchanged data will still be read via pointers back to the master DB. The
changes made to the extract can be written back to the master, or dropped. Also, the
extract can be refreshed with changes made to the master.
EXTRACT CLAIM /SHEE1 /SHEE2 /SHEE3
Claims named Sheets to the extract
EXTRACT CLAIM /SHEE1 /SHEE2 /DEPT-PIPE HIERARCHY
Claims the named elements, and all the elements in the hierarchy to
the extract
The HIERARCHY keyword must be the last on the command line. It will attempt to
claim to the extract all members of the elements listed in the command that are not
already claimed to the extract.

Version 11.6SP1
EXTRACT FLUSH DB PIPE/PIPE

Writes all changes to the database back to the owing extract. The
Extract claim is maintained.
EXTRACT FLUSH /SHEE1 /SHEE2 /SHEE3
Writes the changes to the named elements back to the owing extract.
The Extract claim is maintained.
EXTRACT ISSUE DB PIPE/PIPE
Writes all the changes to the database back to the owning extract and
releases the extract claim.
EXTRACT ISSUE /REGI-A HIERARCHY
Writes all the changes to the named element and all elements under it
in the hierarchy back to the owning extract and releases the extract
claim.
EXTRACT ISSUE /SHEE1 /SHEE2 /SHEE3
Writes the changes to the named Sheets back to the owning extract
and releases the extract claim.
EXTRACT RELEASE DB PIPE/PIPE
Releases the extract claim: this command can only be given to release
changes that have already been flushed.
EXTRACT RELEASE /SHEE1 /SHEE2 /SHEE3
Releases the extract claim: this command can only be given to release
changes that have already been flushed.
EXTRACT RELEASE /REGI-A HIERARCHY
Releases the extract claim to the named element and all: elements
under it in the hierarchy.
EXTRACT DROP DB PIPE/PIPE
Drops changes that have not been flushed or issued. The user claim
must have been unclaimed before this command can be given.
The elements required can be specified by selection criteria, using a PML expression.
For example:
EXTRACT CLAIM ALL SHEET WHERE (:OWNER EQ ‘USERA’) HIERARCHY

Version 11.6SP1
2.3.4 How to Find Out What You Can Claim

Before you start work on an extract, you should do a GETWORK and an EXTRACT
REFRESH, which will ensure that you have an up-to-date view of the database.
This section explains what different users will see as a result of Q CLAIMLIST
commands.
For this example, take the case of a database PIPE/PIPE, accessed by USERA, with two
extracts. Users USERX1 and USERX2 are working on the extracts.
DB PIPE/PIPE
USERA
DB PIPE/PIPEX1 DB PIPE/PIPE-X2
USERX1 USERX2
Figure 2-1 Example database and users

Version 11.6SP1
USERA creates a Pipe and flushes the database back to the owning database,
PIPE/PIPE. The results of various Q CLAIMLIST commands by the three Users,
together with the extract control commands that they have to give to make the
new data available, are shown in the following diagram.
USERA:
EXTRACT REFRESH DB PIPE/PIPE
Q CLAIMLIST:
none
Q CLAIMLIST OTHER:
/PIPE-100 Extract PIPE/PIPE_EX7001
Q CLAIMLIST EXTRACT:
/PIPE-100
USERX1 creates PIPE-100 USERX2:

EXTRACT FLUSH DB PIPE/PIPE EXTRACT REFRESH DB PIPE/PIPE
Q CLAIMLIST: Q CLAIMLIST:
none none
Q CLAIMLIST OTHER: Q CLAIMLIST OTHER:
none /PIPE-100 Extract PIPE/PIPE_EX7001
Q CLAIMLIST EXTRACT: Q CLAIMLIST EXTRACT:
/PIPE-100 none
Note that USERX2 must use

Q CLAIMLIST OTHER
(not Q CLAIMLIST EXTRACT) to
see the claim
Figure 2-2 Example Q CLAIMLIST commands

Version 11.6SP1
Note:
Q CLAIMLIST EXTRACT tells you what you can flush
Q CLAIMLIST OTHERS tells you want you can't claim
A useful querying command when you are using extracts is:
Q DBNAME
This command will return the name of the database you are writing to.
You can query the extract claimlist for a named database. The database can be the
current one or its owner:
Q CLAIMLIST EXTRACT DB dbname
When you create an element, PDMS only sees it as a user claim, not an extract claim,
until the element is flushed. It will then be reported as an extract claim (as well as a
user claim, if it has not been unclaimed).
Note that a change in the claim status of an existing element will be shown by the
appropriate Q CLAIMLIST command as soon as appropriate updates take place, but a
user will have to GETWORK as usual to see the changes to the Design model data.
We recommend that:
• Before you make a user or extract claim, you should do an EXTRACT REFRESH
and GETWORK.
• If you need to claim many elements to an extract, it improves performance if the
elements are claimed in a single command, for example, by using a collection:
EXTRACT CLAIM ALL FROM !COLL
To query whether or not the PADD DB that you are using permits multiwrite access:
Q DBAC
where DBAC is a pseudo-attribute, which can have the text settings CONTROL,
UPDATE or MULTIWRITE.
To query the claim mode of the database, use:
Q DBCL
where DBCL is a pseudo-attribute, which can have the text settings EXPLICIT or
IMPLICIT.
To query whether or not an element that you want to modify is currently claimed by
another user, navigate to that element and use:
Q LCLM
where LCLM is a pseudo-attribute with the logical settings True (element already
claimed) or False/Unset (element available for you to modify).
To produce a list of all elements currently claimed by your session:
Q CLAIMLIST

Version 11.6SP1
To produce a list of all elements currently claimed by other users who are accessing the
same DB:
Q CLAIMLIST OTHER
2.4 Comparing and Listing Database Changes
2.4.1 Comparing Database States at Different Times

You can report on database changes since a specified time using the DIFFERENCE
command. The types of change reported include:
• The insertion and/or deletion of elements;
• Changes to the attribute settings of elements
DIFFERENCE ALL SHEE FOR /DEPT_1 SINCE 21 JANUARY
DIFF ALL SHEE SINCE /STAMP_001
DIFF CE SINCE 10:00
- assumes current day.
DIFF /DRWG1
- compares current settings with those at your last SAVEWORK
command.
DIFF DRWG SINCE SESSION 66
- compares current settings with those at the end of an earlier
DRAFT session.
The output may be sent to a file by using the standard ALPHA FILE or ALPHA LOG
facilities (see Section 2.5.3).
You can also report on differences in extract databases compared with other extracts
higher in the extract hierarchy, as described in the next Section.
2.4.2 Listing Database Changes

You can output all changes to one or more specified elements since a given date, session,
or Stamp using the OUTPUT command. The output is in the form of a macro. You can
then run in the macro to recreate the elements and their attributes.
You can include only those elements whose settings have been changed since a specified
earlier time (i.e. those elements which would be listed by the DIFFERENCE command).

Version 11.6SP1
The output is generated in three stages:

1. Any elements that were originally locked are unlocked. Element deletions,
name changes and type changes are output. Reordering or insertion of
elements in their owner’s members list is treated as deletion followed by
creation, so that Refno attribute settings may be changed.
2. Newly created elements and all standard attribute settings are output.
3. Reference attribute settings and rules are output. Elements which were
originally locked are relocked and GADD commands are included if any
elements were included in Groups.
Examples of the use of the OUTPUT command are:
OUTPUT /VIEW1-1
Outputs all elements, whether or not they have ever been changed.
OUTPUT ALL SHEE FOR /DEPT-1 CHANGES SINCE 21 JANUARY
Outputs all changes to named element and its members since the given
date.
OUTPUT /VIEW1-1 CHANGES
Outputs all changes to named element and its members since last
SAVEWORK command.
OUTPUT /SHEET-1 CHANGES SINCE EXTRACT
In an extract database, outputs all changes since the extract was
created.
OUTPUT /SHEET-1 CHANGES SINCE LATEST EXTRACT
In an extract database, outputs all changes compared with the latest
version of the parent extract.
OUTPUT /SHEET-1 CHANGES SINCE EXTRACT 44
OUTPUT /SHEET-1 CHANGES SINCE EXTRACT PIPE/PIPE-X1
In an extract database, outputs all changes compared with the latest
version of the given extract, which must be higher in the extract
hierarchy.
OUTPUT /SHEET-1 CHANGES SINCE SESSION 77 EXTRACT 44
OUTPUT /SHEET-1 CHANGES SINCE OCT 2000 EXTRACT PIPE/PIPE-X1
In an extract database, outputs all changes compared with the given
extract, which must be higher in the extract hierarchy, at the given
session or date.
OUTPUT /SHEET-1 CHANGES SINCE /STAMP_001
Outputs all changes to named element since the named Stamp.
The macro is sent to a file by using the standard ALPHA FILE or ALPHA LOG commands
(see Section 2.5.3).
Corresponding versions of the DIFFERENCE command will output all differences. For
example:
OUTPUT /SHEET-1 DIFFERENCESS SINCE EXTRACT 44

Version 11.6SP1
2.5 Miscellaneous Facilities
2.5.1 Audible Error Trace

When a macro error occurs, there is an audible alarm at the workstation to signal that
the error has occurred. Occasionally, macro errors can be anticipated and no audible
warning is required. This command allows the audible warning to be switched on or off
either interactively or via a macro.
If the audible warning is ON, it will sound whenever an error alert is displayed.
ALARM ON - sets the audible tone to be on.
ALARM OFF - suppresses the audible tone until it is turned on again.
2.5.2 Switching Text Output Off (DEVICE TTY only)

The TRACE command is only relevant in TTY mode. It controls the automatic output of
the Current Element name. With TRACE set to ON, the name of an element is
displayed as it is accessed. With Trace set to OFF, the element name is not displayed.
When macros are being run, TRACE is always set to OFF automatically.
Examples:
TRACE OFF - stops the automatic name output.
TRACE ON - (default) restarts automatic output of Current Element
name.
2.5.3 Logging the Alpha Display

The ALPHA command allows you to log commands and responses displayed in the
Command Input & Output window. Examples of the ALPHA LOG command are:
ALP LOG /LF1 - log displayed alpha information in file /LF1
ALP LOG /LF1 OVER - as above, but overwrite existing file /LF1
ALP LOG END - finish logging information
ALPHA FILE will only record commands you give, not the system's responses.
2.5.4 Controlling Output of Warning Messages

The WARNINGS command allows you to suppress the output of warning messages:
WARNINGS OFF - suppress the output of warnings
WARNINGS ON - enable the output of warnings (default).

Version 11.6SP1
Summary of Commands
Entering DRAFT...
DRAFT - enters DRAFT
Leaving DRAFT...
QUIT - leaves DRAFT without saving database changes.
QUIT module_name - switches to named module, without saving database changes.
module_name - switches to named module, saving database changes.
Saving and Restoring the Current Display Status...

RECREATE name [OVERWRITE]
saves the display status in the named file. (OVERWRITE option
overwrites existing file of the same name)
RECREATE DISPLAY name [OVERWRITE]

saves modal settings, e.g. changes from default pen configuration,
units, text quality etc. Read back in using $M/name.
INSTALL SETUP name

restores the display definition stored in the named file. (Refers to
file saved by RECREATE, not RECREATE DISPLAY.)
Saving and Getting Work...

SAVEWORK - saves the current DRAFT additions or modifications without
leaving DRAFT
GETWORK - updates drawings with any changes made to the PADD

database by other users.
Audible Error Trace...

ALARM ON, ALARM OFF - turns audible error trace ON or OFF.

Version 11.6SP1
Finding the Current User Status...

STATUS - list current user status.
Finding the Current System Status...

SYSTAT - list current active status of project.
Listing Multiple-Database Information...

LIST option - lists most of the available project information held in the
System Database.
option = USERS, MDBS, DBS, TEAMS
Querying MDB Information...

QUERY USER - lists information about current user.
QUERY USER word - lists information about named user.
QUERY TEAM word - lists information about named team.
QUERY DB dbname - lists information about named DB.
QUERY MDB name - lists information about named MDB.
MDB mode...
MDB UPDATE - saves changes and enters MDB Mode MDB NOUPDATE enters
MDB Mode without saving changes.
In MDB mode you can give the following commands. See the
VANTAGE PDMS MONITOR Reference Manual for more
information.
EXCHANGE alter the databases in the current list of the current MDB
DEFER
CURRENT
PROTECT temporarily alters your access rights to specified
databases.
USER changes the current user
PROJECT changes the current project
VAR allows you to set variables

Version 11.6SP1
QUERY allows you to query:

Users, including the number of active users,
Teams including the set (current) Team,
Databases, including copied Databases,
MDBs, Macros and Variables
EXIT - leave MDB Mode.
Comparing and Listing Database Changes ...

OUTPUT selection [CHANGES] SINCE [date : session number]
List changes (optional) to selected part of database since (optional)
given date or session.
OUTPUT selection [CHANGES] SINCE [stamp]

List changes (optional) to selected part of database since given
Stamp.
OUTPUT selection [CHANGES] SINCE [LATEST] EXTRACT [date : session number]]

List changes (optional) to selected part of extract database since it
was created, or since given date or session in its parent extract.
OUTPUT selection [CHANGES] SINCE EXTRACT [ no. : name]

List changes (optional) to selected part of database compared with
the latest version of the given extract, which must be higher in the
extract hierarchy.
OUTPUT selection [CHANGES] [SINCE [date : session number] EXTRACT [ no. :

name]
List changes (optional) to selected part of database compared with
the given date or session in the given extract, which must be
higher in the extract hierarchy.
DIFF selection option SINCE [date : session number]

Lists difference between selected part of database since (optional)
given date or session.
DIFF selection option SINCE [stamp]

Lists differences between selected part of database since given
Stamp.
DIFF selection [CHANGES] SINCE [LATEST] EXTRACT [date : session number]]

List differences (optional) to selected part of extract database since
it was created, or since given date or session in its parent extract.
DIFF selection [CHANGES] SINCE EXTRACT [ no. : name]

List differences (optional) to selected part of extract database

Version 11.6SP1
compared with the latest version of the given extract, which must
be higher in the extract hierarchy.
DIFF selection [CHANGES] [SINCE [date : session number] EXTRACT [ no. : name]
List differences (optional) to selected part of extract database
compared with the given date or session in the given extract, which
must be higher in the extract hierarchy.
Claiming in Standard Multiwrite Databases . . .

CLAIM selection [HIERARCHY]
Makes a user claim of selected element(s), optionally including all
elements under the named elements.
UNCLAIM [ ALL | selection option] [HIERARCHY]

Unclaims selected (or ALL) element(s).
Claiming in Extract Databases . . .

EXTRACT CLAIM selection [HIERARCHY]
Makes an extract claim of selected element(s), optionally including
all elements under the named elements.
EXTRACT FLUSH [DB dbname | selection [HIERARCHY]]

Writes changes back to the owning extract, optionally including all
elements under the named elements.
EXTRACT ISSUE [DB dbname | selection [HIERARCHY]]

Writes changes back to the owning extract, optionally including all
elements under the named elements, and releases the extract
claim.
EXTRACT RELEASE [DB dbname | selection [HIERARCHY]]

Releases the extract claim. The given elements must have been
flushed.
EXTRACT REFRESH
Refreshes the extract with changes made to the owning extract.
EXTRACT DROP [DB dbname | selection [HIERARCHY]]

Drops the changes made to the named elements.

Version 11.6SP1
Controlling and Logging the Alpha Display...

ALP LOG /LF1 - log displayed alpha information in file /LF2
ALP LOG /LF1 OVER - as above, but overwrite existing file /LF1
ALP LOG END - finish recording alpha information
Suppressing warning messages...

WARNINGs OFF - suppress the output of warnings
WARNINGs ON - enable the output of warnings (default).

Version 11.6SP1
3 Drawing the Design
This Section describes how to create an unannotated DRAFT picture. It describes the
part of the DRAFT database that stores the main administrative and graphical
elements, and how to create them. It then describes Views, which are the areas used to
display design elements, and how to define their contents.
Note: Throughout this manual, view (lower case letters) means an area view, alpha
view or plot view, whereas VIEW (upper-case letters) refers to the VIEW
database element. All other database elements are also named using four
upper-case letters (e.g. DRWG, SHEE, LIBY), but may also be referred to in
unabbreviated form with just a leading upper-case letter (e.g. Drawing instead
of DRWG).
3.1 Introducing the DRAFT Database

The top-level graphical elements in the DRAFT Database hierarchy are shown below.
DRAWING
SHEET
VIEW
Figure 3-1 The DRAFT Database Hierarchy - Principal Graphic Elements

The principal element is the Drawing (DRWG), which is the Database equivalent of the
traditional paper drawing. All the elements below DRWG in the hierarchy are used to
store the information required to completely define the Drawing.
A Drawing can own one or more Sheet (SHEE) elements, which correspond to the
sheets of a paper drawing (‘Sheet 1 of 3’, ‘Sheet 2 of 3’ etc). A Drawing can consist of a
single Sheet. A Sheet is the highest-level element that may be displayed within a view.
A Sheet may own one or more VIEW elements. These are projections of parts of the
Design Database. A VIEW element has attributes that:
• define the viewing parameters (looking direction, through point, scale, etc)
• define the size, position and orientation of the region on the Sheet that the View
occupies
• refer to another DRAFT database element that contains a list of the Design (or
Catalogue) elements that make up the VIEW picture.
The full DRAFT database hierarchy is illustrated in Appendix A.

Version 11.6SP1
Drawing the Design
3.2 Creating a Drawing, a Sheet and a View
The top-level element in a PDMS database is the World. Users cannot delete or create
the World. Starting with the World as the current element, you can create the hierarchy
under the World using a command sequence such as:
NEW DEPT /PIPES
NEW REGI /PIPREG
NEW DRWG /PD101
NEW SHEET /SHEET1
NEW VIEW /PLAN
You can omit all commands except for NEW DRWG and NEW VIEW if there is only
Department, one Registry and one Sheet on the Drawing. If the administrative elements
do not exist they will be created automatically.
Departments (DEPT) and Registries (REGI) are administrative elements.
Departments own Registries, as shown in the following diagram.
WORLD
DEPT
REGI
DRWG REPO
LIBY
SHEE
(or to a DESIGN
DLLB database element)
VIEW
DESIGN
IDLI IDLN
Database
ADDE REME
Figure 3-2 The top part of the DRAFT Database Hierarchy

Note: You can have several VIEWs on a Sheet. Each VIEW can contain a picture of a
different part of the Design model, or different views of the same part of the
model. See Section 3.5 for details of manipulating the contents of a VIEW.

Version 11.6SP1
Drawing the Design
3.2.1 Defining the Contents of a View

There are two methods of specifying the contents of a VIEW:
• Specifying the contents directly, by referencing a single Design database element.
See Section 3.3.
• Specifying the contents indirectly, by referencing a DRAFT database element,

which can be set up so as to refer to a set of Design database elements. See Section
3.4.
3.3 Defining View Contents Using the AUTO Command
The AUTO command adds a specified design element to the View. For example:
AUTO /ZONE1
This command carries out the following operations:
• The VIEW’s IDLN (ID List Name) attribute is set to the name of the Design element
to be displayed (/ZONE1 in our example).
• The VIEW’s THPO (Through Point) attribute is set to the Site coordinates
corresponding to the centre of interest of the view.
• The VIEW’s VSCA (VIEW Scale) attribute is set to a value calculated such that the
defined picture will fit within the VIEW.
Note: AUTO only sets the IDLN attribute if it has not already been set. A second
AUTO command will not change the IDLN. The AUTO command by itself will
use the existing IDLN setting.
The projection of the Design model must now be created before a picture can be
produced. This is done by typing;
UPDATE DESIGN
SAVEWORK
Notes: The UPDATE command creates the VIEW graphics in a central picture store
within the computer's memory.
The SAVEWORK command is not necessary but it is recommended. It will save
the graphics in the central picture store to picture files in the picture file
directory. In a subsequent DRAFT session, the graphics will be read from the
picture file without the need for the UPDATE command.
If you leave DRAFT via a QUIT command the graphics in the central picture
store will not be saved and any existing picture files will not be updated.
Leaving DRAFT by switching to another module will perform an implicit
SAVEWORK, and so graphics in the central picture store will be saved to picture
files.

Version 11.6SP1
Drawing the Design
An UPDATE DESIGN operation could take several minutes in complex cases. If you wish
to interrupt it (for example, you may realise there is another change you should have
made before giving the command), press Ctrl C (not NT).
Where it is known that the Update Design operation will take a considerable time, you
may wish to initiate it as a Background Process (see 3.10).
3.4 Defining VIEW Contents Using Id Lists
You can add many elements to a VIEW by displaying the contents of an Id List (IDLI
element). The Id List contains a list of the elements to be displayed. Id Lists are
contained within Drawing List Libraries (DLLB elements).
Starting at World level, the library part of the database is set up as in the following
example:
NEW LIBY /LIB1
NEW DLLB /DLB1
NEW IDLI /ID1
(See the left-hand part of Figure 3-2)
• Library (LIBY) elements can appear at four positions in the hierarchy (see
Appendix A). They are administrative elements used to group together several types
of sub-library. The type of sub-library of interest here is the Drawing List Library
(DLLB).
• The DLLB is used to group together Id List (IDLI) elements.
The Id List is constructed by using ADD and REMOVE commands as in the following
example:
ADD /ZONE.PIPES2-1
ADD /ZONE.EQUI2-1
REMOVE /PIPE2-1-12
REM /PUMP2-1-12
ADD and REMOVE may be combined on a single line, for example:
ADD /ZONE1.EQUIP, /ZONE1.PIPES REMOVE /VESS1, BRAN 2 OF /PIPE3
The ADD and REMOVE commands automatically create the Add Entry (ADDE) and
Remove Entry (REME) elements shown in Figure 3-2, also setting those ADDE and
REME attributes which refer to (in this example) appropriate elements in the Design
database. Other Id Lists may be added or removed in the same way. For example:
NEW IDLI /LIST1
ADD /ZONE1
ADD /LIST2
REM /LIST3

Version 11.6SP1
Drawing the Design
Note: When evaluated individually both /LIST2 and /LIST3 must define a set of
design elements which are then added to/removed from /LIST1, respectively. In
particular if /LIST3 is being used to remove a number of Branches (say) from
/LIST1 then it should be defined as:
ADD /BRAN1, /BRAN2, /BRAN3
and NOT as:
REM /BRAN1, /BRAN2, /BRAN3
If an Id List has Remove entries then the member list order is important. For an entry
to be removed it must have been (implicitly) added previously. Hence a Remove Entry
should never be the first element in an Id List. Consider the command sequences:
Sequence 1 Sequence 2
ADD /ZONE.PIPES ADD /ZONE.PIPES
ADD /PIPE1-1 REM /PIPE1
REM /PIPE1 ADD /PIPE1-1
In Sequence 1 the final command removes all branches owned by /PIPE1 - including
/PIPE1-1 which has been added by the second command (and implicitly by the first). In
Sequence 2 these commands have been reordered so that having removed all branches
in /PIPE1 (second command) the required Branch (/PIPE1-1) is added by the final
command.
Having created an Id List it can be used to define the contents of a VIEW by setting the
VIEW's IDLN attribute directly:
IDLI /ID1
or indirectly:
AUTO /ID1
as described in Section 3.3.
3.4.1 Adding elements to 3D View

The DESADD and DESREMOVE commands allow for the addition and removal of Design
elements to a 3D view. The syntax is similar to the ADD and REMOVE commands
described above. For example:
DESADD /ZONE.PIPES2-1
DESADD /ZONE.EQUI2-1
DESREMOVE /PIPE2-1-12
DESREM /PUMP2-1-12
This sequence of commands adds elements /ZONE.PIPES2-1 and /ZONE.EQUI2-1 to a
3D View, and removes /PIPE2-1-12 and /PUMP2-1-12. This is normally activated by the
interface.

Version 11.6SP1
Drawing the Design
3.4.2 Selective Additions to the Id List

The PDMS Selection syntax can be used to generate Id Lists. For example:
ADD ALL EQUI FOR /SITE/99
REM ALL BRAN WITH ( HBOR LT 25 AND TBOR LT 25 ) FOR /ZONE/PIPES
ADD ALL FROM !COLLECTION
where !COLLECTION is a PDMS local variable containing a list of
Design element references.
• In the above examples the Selection criteria are not stored in the database but
expanded, and the resulting list of elements stored. This can result in very long Id
Lists. You can define criteria, which are stored in the database, and only expanded
at the time of an UPDATE DESIGN command using the RULE keyword. For
example :
ADD RULE ALL ZONE WITH ( FUNC EQ 'PIPING' )
REM RULE ALL BRAN WITH ( HBOR LT 25 AND TBOR LT 25 )
You must be sure to use the RULE keyword in these cases, otherwise the criterion will
be evaluated when the Rule is defined, and very many ADDEs and REMEs may be
created.
These forms of the ADD and REMOVE commands set the CRIT attribute of the ADDE
and REME elements. The CRIT attribute can also be set directly, for example:
NEW ADDE
CRIT ALL BRAN WITH ( PSPE EQ /RF300 )
In this case the RULE keyword is not required.
3.4.3 The Spatial Map

The ADD ... WITHIN variation of the ADD command uses the PDMS spatial map. The
spatial map is a simplified geometric representation of the design model. For example:
ADD /ZONE99 WITHIN E5000 N5000 U5000 TO W1000 S1000 U0
REMOVE WITHIN E2500 N1000 U500 TO E0 N0 U0
The first example would create a list of ADD entries, one for each significant element
that is in /ZONE99 and which overlaps the specified volume. The second example would
generate a list of REMOVE entries, one for each significant element in the current MDB
that overlaps the specified volume.
Note: If the spatial map is not up-to-date the list of elements generated may not be
correct. The ADD ... WITHIN method may produce very long Id Lists. These are
liable to become out-of-date as elements are added to, and removed from, the
Design databases. Better results may be yielded by setting the IDLI’s LIMI
attribute (see Command Summary section at the end of this Section) to define
the required volume and only ADD the relevant SITEs and ZONEs to the Id
List.

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3.4.4 Changing the Limits of the View Contents

The display of Design elements within a VIEW can be changed without affecting the Id
List by changing the LIMI attribute of the IDLI element. This is done using the LIMITS
command. For example:
LIMITS E1000 N8000 U1000 TO E5000 N1000 U900
Define limits explicitly.
LIMITS @ TO @
Set limits as 3D coordinates using the cursor.
LIMITS ID @ ID @
Set limits as 3D coordinates via Design elements selected with the
cursor.
3.4.5 Cleaning Up Id Lists

Id Lists may be purged of unknown references by the command:
DELETE NULL IDLIstmembers
This command scans down the database hierarchy from the current position and deletes
all ADDE and REME elements whose IDNM attribute is null or references an unknown
element.
3.4.6 Querying Id Lists

Q FOR /design_element_name At an IDLI, or at a VIEW.
Q IDLN FOR /design_element_name A series of Design element names may be
specified, separated by spaces or commas
will output information on whether the named element is wholly included in the named
Id List (i.e. in the Id List and no member elements REMOVEd), partially included in the
named Id List (i.e. in the Id List but some member elements REMOVEd), or absent from
the named Id List. The Id List name/VIEW name is not required if the current element
is the Id List itself or a related VIEW.
Q IDLN DESC (at a VIEW) outputs Id List members and limits.
Note that querying the Id List in the usual way will list its ADDE and REME elements;
a more comprehensive output can be obtained by:
Q DESCRIPTION (at IDLI, ADDE or REME elements)
Other querying commands relating to Id Lists are:
Q MAP Lists status of spatial maps in the current MDB
Q VOLUME identifier Gives encompassing volume of given element
Q WINDOW volume Lists significant elements in the given volume

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3.5 Changing the Picture by Changing VIEW Attributes
This section describes the effects of changing the VIEW attributes. Attributes can be set
explicitly in the usual way, and the effect on an element’s attributes of giving the
various DRAFT commands can be seen by giving a QUERY ATTRIBUTES command for
the element concerned.
3.5.1 The VIEW Frame

LFRA controls the visibility of the VIEW frame. The frame will be drawn using the pen
defined by the View’s NLPN attribute. See Section 8 for a description of pens.
LFRA TRUE (or FRAME ON)
turns the frame on,
LFRA FALSE (or FRAME OFF)
turns the frame off. The frame is OFF by default.
3.5.2 The View Size

SIZE is the ‘paper size’ of the VIEW rectangle. Changing the size by a command such as
SIZE 400 400
leaves the scale of the VIEW contents unaffected, but moves the point at the centre of
the picture to the centre of the new VIEW frame.
The SIZE attribute is also be changed by the VREGION command, which may be used to
resize and reposition the VIEW. For example:
VREGION FROM @ TO @
Opposite corners of VIEW defined by cursor
VREG X100 Y100 TO X500 Y500
Opposite corners of VIEW defined explicitly
VREG AT @
Centre of VIEW defined by cursor
VREG corner AT @
Specified corner of VIEW defined by cursor:
TL top left
TR top right
BL bottom left
BR bottom right
C centre
The default size is that of the owning Sheet. The VREGION command also affects the
XYPS attribute (see below).
The SIZE command can also be used at SHEE level to change the Sheet size.

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3.5.3 The View Centre

XYPS controls the position of the centre of the VIEW on its owning Sheet. This attribute
takes two numeric values, which are the coordinates of the centre of the VIEW relative
to the bottom left corner of the Sheet. The attribute can be set directly by commands
such as
AT @
Nominate new XYPS with cursor
XYPS 350 250
Change attribute directly
See Figure 3-3. The default XYPS is at the centre of the Sheet.
Figure 3-3 Changing VIEW XYPS

ONPOS is the position of the centre of the VIEW contents, relative to the centre of the
VIEW. VIEW contents are centred within the VIEW by default, so this attribute takes
the default values x0 y0. ONPOS is set directly, for example:
ONPO 45 -25
See Figure 3-4. Changing ONPOS will make the existing VIEW graphics out-of-date, so
an UPDATE DESIGN command must be given.
ONPO ONPO
Figure 3-4 Changing VIEW ONPOS

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3.5.4 The View Scale

VSCA controls the scale of the VIEW contents. The scale will normally be set
automatically to a value which ensures that the VIEW contents fit comfortably within
the VIEW boundary (see the AUTO command), but can be changed if necessary, e.g.
VSCA 0.05
The larger the VSCA value, the larger are the displayed objects.
VIEW scale may be expressed in terms of a ratio using the VRAT (VIEW Ratio)
attribute, for example:
VRAT 1 TO 75
VRAT 1/16in TO 1ft
Two positive values have to be specified but the TO may be omitted. Setting VRAT will
cause the existing VIEW scale (VSCA attribute) to be recalculated. Setting VSCA
directly causes VRAT to be unset. The AUTO command calculates and sets VSCA
directly so this will also cause VRAT to be unset.
Care should be taken when changing VSCA, as it is easy to move the VIEW contents
over the VIEW frame. The AUTO command takes the ONPOS value into consideration
when it calculates the VSCALE.
3.5.5 Orientation of View Contents

ADEG controls the orientation of the VIEW contents. The attribute has a default value
of 0, and can be set to any angle. ADEG can be set directly or by using the TURN
command, for example:
TURN 60
ADEG -120
A positive value results in an anticlockwise rotation. Figure 3-5 illustrates the effect of
changing ADEG.

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ADEG 0 ADEG 90
Figure 3-5 Changing Orientation of VIEW Contents

Note that the degree of rotation produced is relative to an ADEG value of 0, not to the
last value of ADEG.
Varying RCOD (rotation code) produces a similar effect to varying ADEG, except that
the VIEW is rotated as well. RCOD may be set to UP, DOWN, LEFT or RIGHT,
corresponding to the direction of the ‘top’ of the VIEW region relative to the top of the
screen. Default is UP.
3.5.6 Perspective
PERS (perspective) can be used to give a perspective projection, the value taken by the
PERS attribute being related to the view angle. The default value of 0 gives a parallel
projection, which would be the normal setting for drawings. If PERS is changed, an
UPDATE DESIGN command must be given to change the picture.
3.5.7 3D View
A 3D View can be generated from a 2D View using the GENERATE MODEL command.
This view can be amended using the user interface. Elements can be added using the
DESADD command (see 3.4.1).
3.5.8 Looking Direction

The View’s line of sight is fully defined by any two of:
• Looking direction
• From point
• Through point

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which are defined by the attributes DIR, THPO and FRPO. Setting one of these will
unset one of the other two, assuming they are both already set.
DIR (direction) specifies the looking direction, down by default. This attribute is set by
commands such as
LOOK E
LOOK N45W
ISO3
PLAN
ELEVATION N
DIR D
Note that the picture produced by changing the looking direction may not necessarily fit
into the VIEW frame.
The THPO (through point) attribute is set to the Design coordinates corresponding to
the centre of interest of the view. These will be calculated automatically from the
VIEW’s related Id List by the AUTO command.
FRPO (the from point) is the position (in Design coordinates) at which the observer is
deemed to be.
The through point and from point may be set explicitly by commands such as:
LOOK THROUGH N53426 W632764 U2125
LOOK FROM N53426 W632764 U2125
FRPO N125671 E67342 U11254
THPO N125671 E67342 U11254
Changing the DIRECTION, THROUGH point or FROM point will make the existing
VIEW graphics out of date, so this must be updated by typing
UPDATE DESIGN
before any change in the picture will be seen.
The 3D view direction equivalent to 2D Sheet direction may be queried using
Query VIEWDIRection <sheet-dir>
where <sheet-dir>is Left, Right, Up or Down. This command gives an error when the
VIEW has Perspective or the current database position is not at or below a VIEW.
For example, in a plan VIEW with RCODE UP (the default), then the query
Q VIEWDIR LEFT
would give:
Viewdirection Left W
However, for a plan VIEW with RCODE LEFT, the result would be:
Viewdirection Left N
and for a plan VIEW with ADEG 120 (and RCODE UP) the result would be:
Viewdirection Left E 30 N

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3.5.9 Representation Ruleset Reference

The RRSF (Representation Ruleset Reference) attribute refers to elements that control
the representation style to be used. See Section 4.1.
3.5.10 Hatching Ruleset Reference

The HRSF (Hatching Ruleset Reference) attribute refers to elements that control the
representation style to be used for hatching. See Section 4.3.
3.5.11 Change Ruleset Reference

The CRSF (Change Ruleset Reference) attribute refers to elements that control the
representation styles to be used for changed design items and annotations. See Section
10.
3.5.12 Arc Tolerance

The ATOL attribute controls the Arc Tolerance (the difference between the true and the
facetted representation of curves) of the graphical output for the VIEW, being set in
units of hundredths of a millimetre on the drawing. (Default value 15.)
3.5.13 View Gap Length

The VGAP attribute allows you to define the size of the gap that DRAFT inserts in View
lines where they are crossed by non-solid primitives such as Plines, centrelines,
DRAWIs, etc. The default value is 1.5mm.
3.6 More on the AUTO command
Previous sections have described the use of the AUTO command to add Design elements
to views. There are two other uses of AUTO:
AUTO LIMITS OF /idlist_name
Here the VIEW’s VSCA and THPO attributes are calculated using only the LIMI
attribute of the referenced Id List, ignoring any Design items in the VIEW. If the Id List
name is omitted, the Id List relevant to the VIEW is assumed.
AUTO FROM position TO position
The VIEW’s VSCA and THPO attributes are calculated from the box defined by the two
3D coordinates given. The position may be specified using the cursor (3D point or
p-point), explicit p-point reference, origin of a named element, or an explicit 3D
coordinate.

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3.7 Hidden Line Representation
The VTYP (view type) attribute controls the hidden-line representation of displayed
pictures. Five possible VTYP setting are provided. These give progressively greater
graphical accuracy at the expense of increasing processing requirements. This facility
allows you to produce preliminary and intermediate drawings (where graphical accuracy
may be of secondary importance) quickly, leaving only finished drawings to incur the
greatest processing overhead. The default VTYP setting is WIRELINE, which gives a
conventional wireline picture as shown in Figure 3-6.
Figure 3-6 Typical Wireline Picture

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Modelled Wireline representation gives slightly greater realism by blending the

intersection of primitives, but without incurring the computational overheads of
removing hidden lines. Figure 3-7 shows a modelled wireline display.
Figure 3-7 Typical Modelled Wireline picture

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Local Hidden Line representation gives a picture where hidden lines are removed
from individual significant elements (EQUI, SUBS etc), but not from items hidden
behind them. This gives a picture as shown in Figure 3-8.
Figure 3-8 Typical Local Hidden Lines Removed picture

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Global Hidden Line representation gives a picture where all hidden lines are removed,
giving a picture as shown in Figure 3-9.
Figure 3-9 Typical Global Hidden Lines Removed picture

Alternative methods of setting VTYP are as follows:
VTYP WIRE - wireline (default)
VTYP MWIR - modelled wireline
VTYP LOCAL - local hidden lines removed
VTYP GLOBAL - global hidden lines removed
VTYP UNIV - global hidden lines removed and intersection lines generated
Universal representation (see Figure 3-10) gives a picture where all hidden lines are
removed (as in Global HLR), but in addition intersection lines between clashing
significant elements (e.g. EQUI and STRU or SUBS and SUBS) are generated. Whether
you will need to use this View type will depend on the way in which you have created
the model. The need for VTYP UNIVERSAL will be greater if the model is composed of a
large number of significant elements each with a small number of primitives, rather
than vice versa. It is also more likely to be needed in non-orthogonal Views, where
missing intersection lines are most noticeable.

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Global hidden line Universal hidden line

(each primitive must be
owned by a different
significant element)
Figure 3-10 UNIVERSAL VIEW Type
3.8 Querying Commands
3.8.1 Querying View Contents

You can query which Design elements are visible in a specified DRAFT View using the
Q VSCAN command. You can:
• Request a list of all significant elements that are visible in a View.
Q VSCAN SIGNIFicant IN view_id
For example:
Q VSCAN SIGNIF IN /VIEW-01
• Specify a significant design element and request a list of all its primitives that are
visible in a View.
Q VSCAN design_id IN view_id
For example:
Q VSCAN /PIPE100-B-1-B1
• Specify selection criteria to determine matching design elements visible in a View.
Q VSCAN FOR selection_criteria IN view_id
For example:
Q VSCAN FOR ALL ( VALVE VTWAY VFWAY ) WITH ( ABOR GE 50 )

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In the above examples, design_id must refer to a Design significant element, which is
EQUI, SUBE, STRU, SUBS, FRMW, SBFR, TMPL, BRAN, or HANG.
The IN view_id may be omitted if your current database position is at or below a View.
DRAFT determines whether design items are visible by scanning the data in the picture,
not by scanning the IDList. Thus elements hidden by the hidden-line-removal process
will not be found. This command cannot determine how much of the element is visible.
Note: A significant Design element will not be found in a View if it only owns other
significant elements. It must own visible primitives. This affects EQUI, STRU
and FRMW elements; they will not be found unless they own visible primitives.
3.8.2 Querying Whether an Element Appears in a View

You can query whether low-level design elements and their owners appear in a given
View using the command:
Q FIND gid IN view
where gid is the general identifier of the element and view is the view identifier. For
example:
Q FIND /BOX99 IN /SH1/V1
Q FIND /VESS-05 IN VIEW
Q FIND ILEAVE TUBE OF /VALVE-24 IN /VIEW/02
The view identifier can be omitted if it is the current element. For example:
Q FIND /BRANCH-01
Possible answers are:
FOUND
MISSING
INVALID ELEMENT
Note: A significant Design element will not be found in a View if it only owns other
significant elements. It must own visible primitives. This affects EQUI, STRU
and FRMW elements; they will not be found unless they own visible primitives.
3.8.3 Querying the Nearest Side to an Item

You can query the nearest side of a View to a given P-point, proportional distance along
a P-line, or origin of a Design element in the current View using the command:
Q VSIDE [ROTated] OF 3d_point_definition
For example:
Q VSIDE OF /VESS-99
Q VSIDE OF PPO2 OF /VALVE-100
Q VSIDE OF PPLINE TOS OF /SCTN-101 START
Q VSIDE OF PPLINE MEML OF /SCTN-101 PROP 0.5

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The ROTATION option allows the rotation (i.e. the VIEW’s RCOD attribute) to be
considered if required.
The response will be the nearest and next-nearest sides, and also whether the item is
inside or outside the View. For example, Point 1 in Figure 3-11 will be LEFT UP
OUTSIDE.
Point 1 View frame
Figure 3-11 Querying the nearest side to an item
3.9 Switching Between Databases
You can switch between the Design, Draft and Catalogue Databases using the
command:
SWITCH
If the current element is in the Design database, SWITCH will make the element last
selected in the DRAFT database current. Similarly, giving the SWITCH command when
in the Draft database will return to the element last selected in the Design database.
If the current element is a Catalogue Component, SWITCH will return to the last Design
element accessed. You can go directly to the Draft database or Design Database using
the commands:
CONTEXT DRAWING
CONTEXT DESIGN

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3.10 The Background Process Manager
3.10.1 Introduction
A facility is provided to allow updating a design to take place as a background process.
This allows you to carry on with your work while updating is performed. When required,
other views can be worked on, including Views in the same Sheet, while the background
process is running.
Background processes are managed using the Background Process Queue Manger
(BPM).
The foreground PDMS session and the BPM do not need to be active at the same time.
For example, the PDMS session could submit any number of design updates as
background processes, before the BPM is even started. The two processes are completely
independent; the queue manager can run overnight, for example.
Background processes are run one at a time. Once a background process has been
completed, you will be notified. A PDMS session must then be started in order to
refresh the updated Design view, as picture files are not updated directly by the process.
Each BPM job updates a single VIEW, or multiple VIEWs contained in a SHEET, or the
total set of VIEWs contained in multiple SHEETs of a DRAWING. Since the output is a
set of individual VIEW files, they may be imported to refresh existing VIEWs
selectively, or collectively for the owning SHEET or DRAWING. Facilities are provided
to cancel and delete jobs as well as purging unwanted files,
3.10.2 Prerequisites
Certain environment variable settings must be defined before the BPM can be used:
• PDMSEXE, since it contains the module to be executed in the background.
• PDMSWK, since it contains the job XML file, the PDMS macro, the regenerated
VIEW files and the DRAFT log file. It also contains the BPM log file.
• The project environment variables XXX000, XXXISO, XXXMAC and XXXPIC
must be defined for each project XXX to which the BPM is applied.
A batch file BPM.bat is supplied to enable the above environment variables
automatically and to start the BPM in much the same way as PDMS.bat enables to
PDMS environment variables.
3.10.3 Initiating and Using the BPM

The actions to initiate a background process are as follows:

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1. In the DRAFT module, navigate to the VIEW (or SHEET or DRAWING) to be

updated.
2. Set and save the viewing parameters, using a SAVEWORK.
3. Issue an UPDATE DESIGN NOWAIT command, normally via associated
applicationware.
4. PDMS then creates an entry in the BPM queue and returns immediately for the next
action.
5. Once started, the BPM reads the next entry in the queue and creates a ‘hidden’
DRAFT session running in the background to run the job. To avoid unlimited
multiple copies of DRAFT being initiated, a process only starts after the previous one
has finished. (How to start the BPM is described below.)
6. For each job the background DRAFT session performs a special UPDATE DESIGN
command that generates and stores each new VIEW in a separate intermediate view
file or IVF. This is a picture file prefixed with the letter ‘X’ instead of the standard
‘M’.
7. Once the process has finished, a notification is raised, which is signalled by an icon
in the Windows notification toolbar. Each background DRAFT session started by the
BPM writes a standard PDMS log file to the PDMSWK folder. The log file has the
same name as the initiating XML job file but with the .log extension.
8. You may then re-enter ‘foreground’ DRAFT and navigate back to the original VIEW
(SHEET or DRAWING) to load the new picture. Each VIEW updated by the BPM
will generate its own IVF. This enables you to refresh selected VIEWs only (or a
SHEET or a DRAWING).
9. Issue an UPDATE REFRESH command to refresh the current VIEW (SHEET or
DRAWING).
10. If the refreshed VIEWs are acceptable, you may save them permanently using a
SAVEWORK, as usual.
Notes:
• If a refreshed VIEW is unacceptable, you should NOT issue a SAVEWORK to
save it permanently. Instead, the original SHEET should be re-selected to re-load
the old contents.
• Be careful to save any outstanding changes to other VIEWs in the same SHEET
before refreshing another VIEW.

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To start and use the Background Process Manager:

1. Initiate the BPM by invoking the BPM.bat start-up file.
2. The Background Process Manager form then appears, which displays details of
each job together with its Status of ‘Not Started’ or ‘Finished’ and an exit code
showing success or failure. See section 3.10.4 for details of the Background
Process Manager form.
3. Processing of ‘Not Started’ jobs is initiated from the Background Process
Manager form. The form shows the job currently running and provides facilities
to start job processing or stopping the current job, as required.
4. When one or more jobs appear in the job list, click on the Start manager hyperlink
to start the processing of jobs with Status ‘Not Started’. Note that the hyperlink
changes to Stop manager at this point. The Background Process Manager form
may be iconised at this point.
5. Once the process for a job has finished, the Background Process notification icon
appears in the notification area on the Windows task bar.
6. The Background Process Manager form may then be restored, if necessary, to
view the updated Status and Exit Codes. An exit code of ‘Success’ means that the
updated VIEW (SHEET or DRAWING) can be refreshed into the foreground
DRAFT session.
7. The Background Process Manager form can then be minimised and the
Background Process notification icon cleared by right-clicking on it and then
selecting the Clear Item option.
8. The next waiting job is then started automatically.
9. Once the BPM is in the ‘Stopped’ state it may be exited using the File>Exit menu
selection.
A log file of the processing is saved to the PDMSWK folder and is called
BPM_ddmmyyyy_hhmmss.log
where: ddmmyyyy is the standard date and hhmmss is the standard time that the
process was started. The log file should contain a record of all processing in the
Background Process session, including errors.

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3.10.4 Managing Jobs using the Background Process Manager form
Tabbed Windows
The Manager log tabbed window contains the BPM log of jobs processed.
The Job tabbed window is used to display the log file of the finished job. To select a
finished job double-click on the appropriate row in the job list table or right-click on
View log (see below).
Cancel, Delete and Purge

Jobs may be managed collectively by using the File pull-down menu (see below) or
individually by selecting the job from the table of jobs and selecting from the right-
mouse button menu.

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Managing Jobs Collectively

The File pull-down menu is used for this. The options are:
Start manager – starts the processing of the jobs currently listed – changes to Stop
Manager.
Stop manager – stops the processing of the jobs currently listed – changes to Start
Manager.
Purge finished jobs – purges all jobs with status ‘Finished’ and deletes corresponding
XML, MAC and LOG files.
Refresh – refreshes the job list table, i.e. clears it and then repopulates it from scratch.
Delete all jobs – deletes all jobs irrespective of their status.
Exit – exits the BPM.
Managing Jobs Locally

The right-mouse button menu options on a row in the job list table are used for this.
View log – displays the log file of the selected job in the Manager log tabbed window.
Cancel job – cancels the selected job.
Restart job – restarts the selected job.
Delete job – deletes the selected job.

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Summary of Commands
At Id List . . .
ADD design_element_identifier [design_element_identifier...]
adds Design element to Id List.
REM design_element_identifier [design_element_identifier...]

removes Design element from Id List
ADD ALL design_element_identifier FOR design_element_identifier
REM ALL design_element_identifier WITH ( selection_criteria ) FOR

design_element_identifier
DESADD design_element_identifier [design_element_identifier...]

adds Design element to 3D View.
DESREMOVE design_element_identifier [design_element_identifier...]

removes Design element from 3D View
ADD ALL design_element_identifier FOR design_element_identifier
LIMITS E value N value U value E value N value U value

removes Design elements from ID List that are not wholly or
partially contained within defined limits box.
LIMITS @ TO @ set limits as 3D coords with the cursor
LIMITS ID @ ID @ set limits as 3D coords via Design elements using the cursor
DELETE ENTRY number

delete either an ADDE or REME from the Id List members - the
number is the member list number
DELETE ADD number

delete an Add item, number corresponding to number of the
element out of the Adds only
DELETE REM number

delete a Remove item, number corresponding to the number of the
element out of the Removes only

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At DRWG and below . . .

UPDATE DESIGN updates picture to latest VIEW and Design parameters
UPDATE DESIGN IGNORE
as UPDATE DESIGN, but deleted design elements (specified in Id
List) ignored (and UPDATE process does not abort)
UPDATE DESIGN NOWAIT
initiates a Background Process (see 3.10).
Full syntax is:
UPDATE DESIGN [IGNORE] [SHOW CHANGES | NOCHECK] NOWAIT
UPDATE REFRESH
refreshes the current view after a Background Process (see 3.10).
UPDATE ANNO updates Drawing annotation (including Backing Sheets) to latest
Design data and VIEW attributes
UPDATE BSHEETS updates Backing Sheets. Ensures that the latest version of the
referenced BACK is used. Also, will re-evaluate hash codewords on
it (see Section 13).
UPDATE ALL updates annotation, tag rules and Design graphics (but only for
that part of the picture file determined by the level in the
hierarchy at which the command is used).
UPDATE ALL IGNORE
as above, but deleted design elements (specified in Id List) ignored
(and UPDATE process does not abort)
Full syntax is:
UPDATE [IGNORE] [OVERWRITE] [SHOW CHANGES | NOCHECK] NOWAIT
(The above commands can be given from anywhere in the hierarchy if an appropriate
element identifier is inserted after the UPDATE keyword.)
The UPDATE DESIGN, UPDATE ANNO and UPDATE ALL commands can be specified
with the option SHOW CHANGES, for example UPDATE DESIGN SHOW CHANGES.
Database changes will be shown in the manner defined by the View's Change Ruleset.
For more information see Section 10. This option is only valid at View elements or
above, it cannot be used for a Layer, say.
UPDATE PICTURE regenerates Sheet level picture. Updates annotation graphics (but
not Design graphics). Use only when the picture file is corrupted.
DRAFT will prompt the user when this is necessary. Use at Sheet
level or equivalent.)

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At VIEW . . .
SIZE xvalue yvalue set VIEW size in mm with origin at default i.e. centre of Sheet.
Min, Max, x,y values are 1 mm, 3276 mm respectively.
SIZE paper_size set VIEW size to a standard paper size, e.g. SIZE A2
VREGION @ set VIEW size and position using cursor
VREGION FROM X value Y value TO X value Y value

set VIEW size and position explicitly
VREGION corner move VIEW using specified corner to position:

TL - top left
TR - top right
BL - bottom left
BR - bottom right
C - centre
VREGION VERTICAL direction

set VIEW (vertical axis) orientation:
U - up
D - down
L - left
R - right
AT @ position VIEW origin in Sheet using cursor
AUTO design_element_identifier
set VIEW Scale and Through Point through
design_element_identifier and scale to fit
AUTO idlist_name set VIEW Scale, Through Point and Id List reference. If
idlist_name is omitted the IDLI relevant to the VIEW is assumed.
AUTO LIMITS OF /idlist_name

use limits box of Id List to define VIEW
AUTO FROM position TO position

use specified limits box to define view. The VIEW’s VSCA and
THPO attributes are calculated from the box defined by the two 3D
co-ordinates specified by position. (position includes cursor
specification of a 3D point or p-point, explicit p-point reference,
origin of a named element, or an explicit 3D coord.)
VSCALE value set Scale of VIEW

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THPO E value N value U value

(or LOOK THROUGH ...)
set Through Point of VIEW in 3D coords
THPO ID @
(or LOOK THROUGH ...)
set Through Point as Design element p-point (converted to 3D
coord)
FRPO E value N value U value

(or LOOK FROM ...)
set From Point of VIEW in 3D coords
FRPO @
(or LOOK FROM ...) set From Point in 3D coords with cursor
FRPO ID @
(or LOOK FROM ...) set From Point as Design element p-point (converted to 3D coord)
ONPO xvalue yvalue

position the Through Point relative to the VIEW origin
ONPO @ position the Through Point relative to the VIEW origin using the
cursor
TURN value
(or ADEG value) rotate VIEW anticlockwise
VTYP option set VIEW type.

Options: WIRE, MWIR, LOCAL, GLOB, UNIV
LOOK value
(or DIR value) set VIEW direction (standard PDMS)
ISO value set isometric VIEW direction
PLAN set plan VIEW direction
ELEV option set elevation VIEW direction options: N, E, S and W
PERSPECTIVE angle set VIEW perspective
ATOL value set arc tolerance
RRSF name set reference to Representation Ruleset (RRST) element
RCOD option set rotation code.

Options: UP, DOWN, LEFT or RIGHT (default UP)

Version 11.6SP1
Drawing the Design
Q VIEWDIR option query 3D view direction equivalent to 2D Sheet direction
LFRA option set visibility of VIEW frame
FRAME option Options: TRUE or FALSE (LFRA)

ON or OFF (FRAME).
LVIS FALSE makes the VIEW invisible
LVIS TRUE makes the VIEW visible (default)
Q VLIMITS gives 3D limits of View (View must be orthogonal, with no

perspective)
Anywhere . . .
SW switch Design/Drawing contexts
CONT DRAW switch to Drawing context
CONT DES switch to Design context
DELETE NULL IDLI deletes all ADDE and REME elements whose IDNM attribute is
null or which references an unknown element
Querying Contents of a View

Q FIND gid IN view
queries whether a design element appears in a given View
Q VSCAN SIGNIFicant IN view_id

Outputs a list of all significant elements that are visible in a View
Q VSCAN design_id IN view_id
Specify a significant design element and request a list of all its primitives
that are visible in a View.
Q VSCAN FOR selection_criteria IN view_id

Specify selection criteria to determine matching design elements visible in
a View
Q VSIDE [ROTated] OF 3d_point_definition

queries the nearest side, next-nearest side, and whether the item is inside
or outside the View. 3d_point_definition can be p-point, proportional
distance along a p-line, or origin of a Design element in the current View.
The ROTATED option allows the VIEW rotation (i.e. the VIEW’s RCOD
attribute) to be considered if required.

Version 11.6SP1
4 Graphical Representation
Representation Rules control how Design elements are drawn. Each Rule can specify
a given type or types of element, or named elements. Representation Rules refer to
Styles. The attributes of a Style define a series of pens, for example, frontface, backface
and centreline pens, and whether items such as p-lines and obstruction volumes are
shown. The pens define properties such as linestyle and colour. For more information
about pens see Section 8.
Representation Rules can be created in a Library and be referred to from a VIEW, or
they can be owned directly by a VIEW, in which case they are known as local rules.
Local Rules override Library Rules. See Section 4.2.2 for more information about the
order in which Rules are applied.
Representation Rules (RRUL) are stored in Representation Rulesets (RRST),
which in turn are owned by Representation Libraries (RPLB).
RPLBs are also used to store STYLs. The reference from an RRUL to a STYL is made by
setting the STYF attribute of the RRUL. When a View references a RRST, the reference
is made by setting the RRSF attribute of the View.
Library
VIEW
RPLB RRSF
RRUL
RRST STYL STYF
RRUL
STYF
Figure 4-1 Representation Rules Database Hierarchy

This Section also describes Hatching Rules, which are used for automatic hatching of
faces of Design elements. See Section 4.3.

Version 11.6SP1
Graphical Representation
For details of how changes to design elements can be shown see Section 10 Change
Highlighting.
4.1 Representation Styles
The Representation Style (STYL) defines the appearance of the elements specified by a
RRUL that references it. The STYL attributes, with their defaults, are as follows:
Tube flag TUBEF OFF
Centreline flag CLIN ON
Piping Symbol flag PSYM ON
Obstruction flag OBSTF OFF
Insulation flag INSU OFF
Profile flag PRFG OFF
P-line flag PLFG ON
Drawing Level DLEV 0
Frontface Pen FFPEN Pen 1
Centreline Pen CLPN Pen 4
Backface Pen BFPEN OFF
Obscured Pen OBPN OFF
P-line Pen PLNP 5
Member line Pen MLNP OFF
TUBEF, CLIN, PRFG, PLFG, PSYM, OBSTF and DLEV are standard PDMS display
representation controls and are not described here. (See the PDMS DESIGN Reference
Manual for details.)
If INSU is ON, Piping Component Insulation will be drawn using the frontface pen
(FFPEN). The outline of the piping Components will be hidden by the insulation in
hidden-line views. If insulation and Components are required to be displayed, two
similar views (that use different Styles) will need to be defined and superimposed.
The pen attributes allow different parts of chosen items to be drawn differently, and are
used as follows:
• Frontface Pen. In wireline VIEWs this attribute controls the pen to be used to
represent all edges. All edges are shown, except for holes that will be drawn with a
dashed line of the same colour as the FFPN. Set directly, for example:
FFPEN 6 (or FFPN 6) Use pen 6 for the frontface

May be set to OFF to allow special effects.
• Centreline Pen. This attribute controls the pen to be used for representing
centrelines. Also used for drawing LINE elements of Catalogue Components. When
drawing pipework with TUBEF ON, CENTRELINE ON, the centreline will not be
obscured by the piping Components. (Unlike FFPEN, it is not necessary to
superimpose two VIEWs with different Styles.

Version 11.6SP1
DRAWI elements owned by EQUI, SUBE, STRU, SUBS, or PTRA will be drawn using
the centreline pen of the STYL specified. For these DRAWIs the setting of the STYL’s
centreline flag (CLFG) will be ignored even though the centreline pen is used; the
LEVEL attribute should be used to control whether the DRAWI appears on the drawing.
Set directly, e.g.
CLPN 2 - use pen 2 for centrelines.
• Backface Pen. In hidden line VIEWs, this attribute controls the pen to be used to
draw the rear edges of items (set to OFF by default). Set directly, e.g.
BFPEN 3 (or BFPN 3) - use pen 3 for the backface

BFPEN would normally be set OFF for hidden line VIEWs, but if required can be used
to set the pen to be used for drawing the rear edges of items. This attribute has no effect
in wireline views. See Figure 4-2 for an example of the use of the Backface Pen.
Figure 4-2 Use of Backface Pen (shown dotted)

Version 11.6SP1
• Obscured Pen. In global hidden line VIEWs, this attribute controls the pen to be
used to draw the front-facing edges of items that would otherwise be obscured by
other objects (set to OFF by default). Set directly, e.g.
OBPEN 3 (or OBPN 3) - use pen 3 for obscured front facing edges
This attribute has no effect in wireline and local hidden line VIEWs. See Figure 4-3 for
an example of the use of the Obscured Pen.
Figure 4-3 Use of the Obscured Pen (shown dotted)

• P-line Pen. This attribute controls the pen to be used to draw p-lines. Set directly,
for example:
PLNP 4 Use pen 4 for p-lines
PLNP may be set to OFF.
• Member line Pen. This attribute controls the pen to be used to draw SCTN and
GENSEC member lines. Set directly, for example:
MLNP 6 Use pen 6 for member lines
MLNP may be set to OFF.
P-line pen and member line pen apply only to drawing steelwork Section elements. See
Section 11 for a full discussion of using DRAFT with structural steelwork.
The pen settings control the colour and style of the lines drawn. See Section 18 for a
description of pens and linestyles.

Version 11.6SP1
4.2 Representation Rules
The Representation Ruleset owns a series of Representation Rules, each of which

contains a reference to a different Representation Style. A Ruleset can therefore be used
to produce several graphical representations of the same VIEW. An example of the
commands for setting up a Ruleset is:
NEW RRST /RSET1 - create Ruleset
NEW RRUL /R11 - create Rule
USE /S2 FOR crit - set Style reference (STYF). /S2 must already exist;
crit= Design element name or selection criteria
When more than one Rule is created, the order of the command sequence is important.
Consider the command sequences:
Sequence 1 Sequence 2
NEW RRUL /R1 NEW RRUL /R1
USE /S2 FOR ALL EQUIP USE /S2 FOR ALL NOZZ
NEW RRUL /R2 NEW RRUL /R2
USE /S2 FOR ALL NOZZ USE /S1 FOR ALL EQUIP
Sequence 1 would result in Nozzles being drawn according to style /S1, sequence 2 would
give Nozzles in style /S2.
You can also assign a style reference to an individual named Design element or a series
of named elements, for example:
USE /S2 FOR /PUMP1-1 /VESS1
Note that the Design element must have a name: identifiers such as CE, FIRST EQUI,
STRU 4 etc. cannot be used.
Representation Rules can reference IDLIsts, using expressions if required. For example:
USE /STYLE1 FOR /LIST24 /LIST25
USE /STYLE2 FOR ALL IDLISTS WITH ( FUNC EQ 'STEAM' )
Once a Rule has been created, and a style set, the selection criteria can be changed
without specifying the style by giving the command:
USE FOR crit
For example:
USE FOR ALL BRAN WITH ( HBORE LE 80 )
Alternatively, the CRIT attribute can be set explicitly. For example
CRIT ALL BRAN WITH ( HBORE LE 80 )
You can set up a rule to omit elements from a selection. For example, the following
Rules (in the given order) will have the effect of drawing all Branches in Style S2 except
small bore Branches, which will not be drawn at all:
NEW RRUL /SMALLBORE
OMIT ALL BRAN WITH ( HBORE LE 80 AND TBORE LT 30 )

Version 11.6SP1
NEW RRUL /BRANCHES

USE /S2 FOR ALL BRAN
Named elements can also be omitted. For example:
OMIT /EQUIP99
The OMIT command sets the OMITFG attribute of the Rule, which automatically unsets
the STYF of the Rule.
DRAFT determines the style to use from a particular element by scanning through the
list of RRULs (in database order) until a selection criteria is matched. If DRAFT is
unable to find a relevant rule for a component the default style will be used. This is:
Tube Off
Centreline On
Profile Off
Pline On
Drawing Level 0
Ffpen 1
Clpen 4
Other pens Off
4.2.1 Selective Style Allocation

Style references may be applied selectively using PML expressions, for example:
USE /S3 FOR ALL BRAN WITH (PSPE EQ /RF150 )
USE /S4 FOR ALL BRAN WITH ((HBORE LE 50) OR (TBORE LE 50))
USE /S5 FOR ALL BRAN WITH ((HBORE GT 80) AND (TBORE GT 80))
USE /S6 FOR ALL BRAN WI ((PSPE EQ /RF200 ) AND ((HBOR GT 60) OR (TBOR GT
60)))
USE /S7 FOR ALL SCTN WI (CUTL GT 5000)
USE /STYLE1 FOR ALL BRAN WI (ISPE EQ NULREF)
Note: For full details of using expressions in PDMS, see the VANTAGE PDMS
DESIGN Reference Manual, Part 1 General Commands, or use the online help
and search for ‘‘expressions”.
The comparators available are: EQ, NE, LT, LE, GE, GT (although in some instances
only EQ and NE are valid).
• Each logical expression can be preceded by NOT, for example:
WI (PSPE EQ /RF300 AND NOT BUILT)

• The operands on either side of a comparator are interchangeable, for example:
WI (PSPE EQ /RF300 ) is equivalent to WI /RF300 EQ PSPE

WI (ABORE GT 80) is equivalent to WI 80 LE ABORE
Note that it is possible to apply a selection criterion to a list of class types by enclosing
them in brackets, for example:
USE /ST1 FOR (ALL BRAN ALL SUBS) WI (ZONE EQ /ZONE.PIPES)

Version 11.6SP1
Without the brackets the selection criterion would only be applied to SUBS.
Selection criteria should not be used unnecessarily. For example, if you wish to draw
small-bore Branches in style /ST1 and the rest in style /ST2, it is only necessary to say:
USE /ST1 FOR ALL BRAN WI (HBOR LE 80 OR TBOR LE 80)
USE /ST2 FOR ALL BRAN
As long as the criteria are defined in this order, all small-bore Branches will match the
first criterion and the rest, having failed to match the first criterion, will match the
second.
4.2.2 Local Rules

Local Rules may be set up as VIEW members in the same way as Library rules; the
resulting graphical representation is determined as follows:
• Local Rules always have priority over Rules within Rulesets in Libraries.
• A Rule’s priority is determined by its position in the list; the higher in list the higher
its priority, but a Local Rule will still have a higher priority than the top Ruleset
Rule.
This means that you should always place the more specific rules earlier in the list.
4.2.3 Setting the VIEW

Once the Rulesets and Styles have been set up, it is just a matter of setting the VIEW
attribute RRSF to point to the Ruleset that you wish to use, and updating the design.
4.3 Automatic Hatching
Model faces created by section planes, and surfaces of specified Design primitives can be
hatched automatically by defining and applying Hatching Rules. The hatching is
carried out automatically as part of the Update Design process. For more information on
Section planes see Section 1.
The Hatching Rules (HRUL elements) define the faces to be hatched, and they reference
Hatching Styles (HSTYL elements). Hatching Styles define the pens to be used to
draw the hatching. Hatching Rules are stored in Hatching Rulesets (HRST elements).
Hatching Rules and Rulesets are similar to Representation Rules and Rulesets.
Hatching Styles and Rulesets are stored in RPLBs. Local Hatching Rules can be defined
by creating HRULs owned directly by Views. The Local Hatching Rules directly
reference Hatching Styles (HSTYL).
The hierarchy of database elements for hatching is similar to the Representation Rules,
and allows you to impose company or project drawing standards.

Version 11.6SP1
Hatched areas can be auto-blanked to allow annotation placed on top of them to be

legible. See Section 2.2, Part 2, Drawing Annotation.
Library
VIEW
RPLB HRSF
HRUL
HRST HSTYL HSTYF
HRUL
HSTYF
Figure 4-4 Hatching Rule Database Hierarchy
4.3.1 Hatching Rules

Each Hatching Rule references a Hatch Style element that defines the hatch pattern to
be applied. For each Hatch Rule you can specify:
• Whether it applies to faces created by a section plane or to primitive surfaces.
• The orientation of the faces to be considered for hatching. There are three options:
• All Directions, in which case the face will be hatched regardless of its
orientation.
• Perpendicular Direction, in which case the face will only be hatched if it is
perpendicular to the viewing direction.
• Specified Direction, in which case the face will only be hatched if its normal
matches a specified value. The normal of a face is the vector perpendicular to
it and pointing out of the solid primitive. Thus the normal of the uppermost
horizontal surface of a box is Up.

Version 11.6SP1
4.3.2 Hatching Rules

The HRUL attributes, with their defaults, are as follows:
Hatch Style Ref HSTYF reference to HSTYL, default null
Face Code FCODE Sectioned-Faces
Direction Code DCODE All-Directions
Face Normal NORM unset
Selection Criteria CRIT unset
Examples of setting attributes:
HSTYF /HSTYL1
FCODE SECTionedfaces
FCODE PRIMitivefaces
DCODE ALL Directions
DCODE PERPendiculardirection
DCODE SPECifieddirection
NORM standard PDMS direction syntax
CRIT standard PDMS selection criteria syntax
As well as the usual NEW command, an HRUL can also be defined by:
USE hstyl FOR criteria
which will set the HSTYF and CRIT attributes.
4.3.3 Which Elements can be Hatched

Significant elements (BRAN, EQUI, SUBS, FRMW, etc) are sectioned, not their
primitives, and so a Hatch Rule that applies to Sectioned Faces must select on
significant elements. If it selects on BOXes or VALVs (say) no hatching will be applied.
For example, you could define three Hatching Rules for to a View to apply different
hatching patterns to concrete and steel items cut by a section plane, and a different
hatching pattern again to the top surfaces of panels representing an escape route.
A Hatch Rule can only be applied to Sectioned Faces or Primitive Surfaces, not both.
Only one Hatch Rule can be applied to a Design element. This means, for example, that
you cannot hatch both types of face of a Design element, and it is not possible to hatch
differently the three surfaces of a BOX element that are visible in an isometric View.
4.3.4 Hatching Styles

Each Hatching Style defines two pens, either of which may be set OFF. The Fill Pen
(FPEN) defines the hatch pattern to be applied to the selected faces. The Outline pen
defines the pen that is to be used to draw around the edges of the faces. For example, it

Version 11.6SP1
is possible to emphasis an area by drawing a thick line around it without actually

hatching it. For more information about pens and hatch-patterns see Section 18.
The HSTYL attributes, with their defaults, are as follows:
Outline Pen OLPEN Off
Fill Pen FPEN Pen 1
Pipe-end Symbol Flag PIPESYM TRUE
By default, when a length of implied tubing or a DUCT or STRT (ducting straight)
element is cut and the resulting face is circular or rectangular, DRAFT will generate a
typical sectioned symbol rather than just apply the hatch pattern to the face:
Figure 4-5 Typical Tubing ‘Sectioned Symbols’

The PIPESYM attribute of Hatching Styles allows this functionality to be suppressed
and replaced by normal hatching.
4.3.5 The Hatch Pattern

The hatch pattern is composed of either Solid Fill, or one or two sets of lines all the same
colour. The lines within a set are all parallel and equally spaced, and can only be
straight, solid, and of a single-pen thickness. Cross-hatching can be created using two
sets of line that are not parallel. Double-line hatching can be created using two sets of
line that are parallel.
The parameters that define each set of lines (that is, angle, separation, offset from sheet
origin) are absolute, that is, they are unaffected by factors such as Sheet size, View
scale, or View orientation. For more information see Section 18.
Note: Hatching in Isometric Views may not be entirely satisfactory. For example,
there is no way of altering the hatching parameters to suit the orientation of the
face hatched, and so the faces created by a stepped section plane will all be
hatched at the same angle and separation for a given Design element. The
hatching of two connected faces will be continuous even though the faces will
have different orientations in 3D space.

Version 11.6SP1
4.4.1 Querying Rulesets and Styles

Q DESC - at Ruleset or Rule
Q RRSF DESC - at VIEW
Q STYF FOR /design_element identifier - at VIEW or Ruleset
The last example returns the Style used for the specified design element, irrespective of
the element type specified at the RRUL. A list of design element identifiers may be
entered, optionally separated by commas.
4.4.2 Querying Hatching Rulesets and Styles

The querying facilities are similar to those provided for RRULs. Thus at a HRUL:
Q DESCription
will output a description for that HRUL with the format:
USE hstyl FOR criteria
At a HRST:
Q DESCription
will output an ordered list of descriptions – one for each of its HRULs.
At a VIEW:
Q HRSF DESCription
will output an ordered list of descriptions starting with those of the HRULs it owns &
then those of the HRST it references.
At a VIEW or HRST:
Q HSTYF FOR design-id
will return the HRUL that is relevant for the specified design item. The <design-id>
may be repeated if the HRULs for a list of design items are required.

Version 11.6SP1
Summary of Commands
At Representation Rule . . .
USE stylename FOR crit
set drawing style for Design generic types, see above.
CRITeria crit set the CRIT attribute for the current rule
OMIT elements omits the elements specified, by name or type, which may be an
expression, from the representation
At Representation Style . . .
FFPN integer set pen number for drawing edges (modelled wireline VIEWs) or
visible (front face) edges (hidden-line VIEWs).
BFPN integer set pen number for drawing rear edges of items (no effect in
modelled wireline VIEWs).
OBPN integer set pen number for drawing front-facing edges of items that would
OBPN OFF otherwise be obscured by other objects (global hidden-
line VIEWs only).
CLPN integer
CLPN OFF set pen number for drawing centrelines.
PLNP integer
PLNP OFF set pen number for drawing p-lines

MLNP integer
MLNP OFF set pen number for drawing member lines
PROFile ON
PROFile OFF set profile flag
PLINes ON
PLINes OFF set p-line flag

Version 11.6SP1
At Hatching Rule . . .
USE hstylename FOR crit
set hatching style for Design generic types, see above.
CRITeria crit set the CRIT attribute for the current HRUL.
FCODE SECTionedfaces
Sectioned faces will be hatched.
FCODE PRIMitivefaces
Primitive faces will be hatched.
DCODE ALLDirections
All faces will be hatched, regardless of direction
DCODE PERPendiculardirection
Faces perpendicular to the viewing direction will be hatched.
DCODE SPECifieddirection
Faces whose normals match the direction specified in the NORM
attribute of the HRUL will be hatched. The normal of a face is the
vector perpendicular to it and pointing out of the solid primitive.
Thus the normal of the uppermost horizontal surface of a box is
Up.
NORM direction Standard PDMS direction syntax
At Hatching Style . . .
OLPEN integer Set different pen number for drawing outline of selected faces.
OLPEN OFF Selected faces will not be outlined.
FPEN integer Set pen number for hatching selected faces.
PIPESYM TRUE
PIPESYM FALSE Pipe end symbols (or HVAC duct end symbols) will be drawn
instead of hatching.
PIPESYM TRUE
PIPESYM FALSE Pipe ends (or HVAC duct ends) will be hatched.

Version 11.6SP1

Version 11.6SP1
5 Section Planes
Note: There are extensive graphical facilities for creating and manipulating Section
Planes in Draft’s Graphical User Interface. See the Draft online help, also
VANTAGE PDMS Drawing Production Using PDMS for details.
5.1 Introduction
DRAFT gives you the ability to construct sections through specified Design items, the
results of which can be displayed at VIEW level. All Planes are database items and can
therefore be used with more than one VIEW. There are three types of Plane element
that can be used to define four types of section plane, namely:
• A Perpendicular Flat Plane passes through a specified point in the 3D design,
being oriented so as to be perpendicular to the current VIEW direction. The VIEW
contents that are discarded can be on either side of the plane. This type of plane
would be used as either a section or a backing plane.
• A Flat Plane is similar to a perpendicular flat plane, but can be oriented to allow
views of the section from any angle.
• A Stepped Plane is a folded plane (i.e. a series of non-intersecting straight line

spans) that extends to infinity in both directions along a specified axis. The shape is
defined by a series of points, the ends of the plane also extending to infinity. The
simplest form of stepped plane would be defined by two points and would be
equivalent to a Flat Plane. Any VIEW direction can be used and the VIEW contents
on either side can be discarded. Note that the two end spans must not intersect each
other or an inner span. A stepped plane is illustrated in Figure 5-1.
• An Enclosed Plane. This is a particular form of stepped plane in which the first
and last points that define it coincide to form a ‘tube’ that is infinitely long along its
axis. Any VIEW direction can be used and either the inside or outside of the ‘tube’
can be removed. An enclosed plane is illustrated in Figure 5-2.

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
Figure 5-1 Stepped Plane
Figure 5-2 Enclosed Plane
All Planes have a standard ‘retain’ and ‘discard’ side, depending on how the Plane is
defined in the database. The Plane can be used in either ‘standard’ or ‘reverse’ mode,
which effectively switches the Plane’s action without altering its definition. This allows

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
the Plane to be used in different VIEWs both as a section or backing plane. Planes can
only be used with modelled VIEWs, that is not with basic wireline views.
5.2 Creating and Using Planes
All Planes are created and held within a Library structure, and are owned by a Planes
Library (PLLB) element. The part of the DRAFT database hierarchy relating to Planes
is shown in Figure 5-3.
LIBY VIEW
PLLB VSEC
PLRF
PPLA FPLA SPLA
WPOS
Figure 5-3 Database Hierarchy - Plane Elements

To use a plane to produce a sectioned VIEW, you need to create a View Section (VSEC)
element under a VIEW; VSEC attributes are:
• PLRF (Plane Reference) - the name of the plane to be used.
• IDLN - an Id List name for the section to operate on. If left undefined this will
default to the World (i.e. /*). This means that all elements in the VIEW’s Id List will
be sectioned. A single Design item name can be used.
• PMOD - the mode in which the plane will be used to section the VIEW, i.e. the side
to be retained or discarded. The default is STANDARD, which is as the plane is set-
up. REVERSE switches the side to be retained or discarded. OFF switches the plane
off.

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
• CLMO (centreline mode) By default this is set to ON, which has no effect on
functionality. If it is set to OFF then the section will not be applied to line elements
of Piping Components. This allows you to remove Components and tubing by a
section plane, but leave the centreline to show the path of the Branch. All other non-
solid primitives are sectioned normally and are unaffected by the value of attribute
CLMO.
• SMOD (a View attribute) - the section mode attribute, which defines how small
parts of piping components and implied tube that are cut by the front and back
sectioning planes will be treated. This attribute only affects piping components and
implied tube in orthogonal, non-perspective Views.
If SMOD is set to STANDARD (the default), all elements will be sectioned in the
usual way. If SMOD is set to OMIT FRACtional PCOMonents, the following
functionality will apply when the design graphics of the View are updated:
• All piping components whose origins (P0) lie outside the front and back
sectioning planes will be removed from the drawlist. All other piping
components will be drawn completely, even if they are cut by one of the
sectioning planes.
• All lengths of implied tube that lie outside the front and back sectioning planes
will be removed from the drawlist. In this case the test for lying outside the
sectioning planes will be based on the vector Parrive -> Pleave, and not on the
actual volume occupied by the length of tube. Lengths of tube that lie within or
cross the front or back sectioning planes will be drawn completely.
Where an IDList is defined by a set of piping components (for example, ADD

/VALVE1 /VALVE2 /VALVE3) the functionality will not apply.
The names of the items omitted can be output by the command
SMODE MESSAGES ON
but this will include all those piping components in the View’s IDList that fall
outside the clipping box and would therefore not be drawn in any case.
Several VSEC elements can be used to produce as complex a section as you require, but
the larger the number the slower the operation will be.
After setting up the VSEC it is just a matter of updating the design (with an UPDATE
DESIGN command), remembering that sectioning will only take place if the VIEW
attribute VTYPE is set for Local , Global or Universal hidden line removal, or Modelled
wireline.

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
5.2.1 Perpendicular Plane (PPLA)

A PPLA has a single attribute POS which defines the 3D point through which the plane
passes, the retained side being that towards which the VIEW direction points. The
orientation of the plane will always be perpendicular to the direction that you specify for
the VIEW. The basic command syntax for creating a PPLA is:
NEW PPLA
- create a PPLA
POS @
- set POS attribute to a 3D Design position or
POS ID @
- set POS attribute to the 3D Design position of a Design element
POS IDP @
- set POS attribute to the 3D Design position of a Design element
p-point
Note: You can only input a 3D Design position on orthogonal VIEWs; the looking
direction of such a VIEW will determine which coordinate is returned as zero.
For example, a plan view will return U0, which you may need to alter to give
the required section.
Figure 5-4 illustrates the use of a perpendicular Plane, positioned at the pump coupling.

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
Figure 5-4 Use of the Perpendicular Plane (PPLA)

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
5.2.2 Flat Plane (FPLA)

A FPLA has an attribute POS, which defines a 3D, point through which the plane
passes, and an attribute NORM which defines the vector normal to the plane. The
retained side is that towards which the normal points. The basic command syntax for
defining an FPLA is:
NEW FPLA
POS @
NORM direction
The NORM direction can be any standard ‘PDMS direction’, e.g. N45W, ISO2, or can be
by reference to a Design element p-point, in which case the result will be stored as a 3D
vector and the reference will be lost. Figure 5-5 illustrates the use of a flat Plane,
positioned at the pump coupling and with a NORM direction of N45W.
Figure 5-5 Use of the Flat Plane (FPLA)

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
5.2.3 Stepped Plane (SPLA)

A Stepped Plane can be ‘Open’ or ‘Closed’, the type being determined by the setting of
the SPLA’s GTYP attribute. The default is GTYP OPEN. GTYP CLOSED defines a
closed Stepped Plane or Enclosed Plane. The only other attribute is DIR, which
determines the Plane’s extrusion direction.
An SPLA owns WPOS elements, one per plane ‘step’, whose sole attribute is POS, the
step’s 3D Design position. Specifying a 3D position automatically creates a WPOS
element and sets the POS attribute.
The order in which the points are defined plus the direction of the plane’s extrusion
determines which side of the plane is retained. A ‘handy’ rule for determining the
‘retain’ side (with PMODE STANDARD) is to hold the thumb, index finger and middle
finger of the left hand mutually at right angles; if the thumb points in the extrusion
direction and the index finger points towards the last step point then the middle finger
will point towards the retain side - see Figure 5-6. A similar ‘rule’ applies for Enclosed
Planes.
Figure 5-6 Defining a Stepped Plane

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
The SPLA shown in Figure 5-6 would be created by a sequence of commands such as:
NEW SPLA
DIR U
GTYP OPEN
STEP @ @ @ @ - Define a series of points through which an SPLA will be
constructed
The STEP command will invoke the cursor, which will enable 3D positions or Design p-
points to be identified, automatically creating WPOS elements. DRAFT imposes no limit
on the number of steps, but in practice only four points can be defined by a single STEP
command due to command line length restrictions. If a plane with more than four steps
is required, further STEP commands will enable additional points to be appended to the
existing member list. The minimum number of points required to define an SPLA is 2,
which will have the effect of a Flat Plane.
WPOS elements can be created explicitly by command sequences such as:
NEW WPOS
POS E120500 N236785 U0
If this syntax is used you must leave the list of WPOS elements in the correct order for
the SPLA to function. Figure 5-7 illustrates some examples of Stepped Planes.
Figure 5-7 Use of the Stepped Plane (SPLA)

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
(The pictures in the left half of Figure 5-7 illustrate the use of the SKETCH PLANE
facility - see Section 5.4.)
If the STEP command is used then once a series of points are entered a check is made to
ensure correct SPLANE definition; if satisfactory then a message of the form:
Splane /name is satisfactory
is output. If the plane is not satisfactory then the message will indicate what the
problem is. Generally, an SPLA will be incorrect if parts of the plane overlap even if
extruded to infinity at the ends; Figure 5-8 illustrates this situation.
Figure 5-8 Plane Errors

If you have defined a plane that is unsatisfactory then it will have to be manipulated. In
examples A and B, the plane can be corrected by either reordering or repositioning one
of the points or by adding a new point. Alternatively the plane could be made an
enclosing type. In example C the plane can only be corrected by either reordering the
points or by repositioning one or more of them. How to move points is discussed in the
next Section.

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
5.3 Altering Planes
If you wish to change which side of a plane is retained or discarded, you can do this by
reversing the plane’s orientation if it is an FPLA and by changing the DIR or reordering
the WPOS points for a SPLA. The CHANGE ACTION command, for example:
CHANGE ACTION /PL2-5 - alter named Plane
CHANGE ACTION - alter current (Plane) element
will do this for you by altering either the DIR or NORM attributes depending on the
plane type. A PPLA cannot have its action reversed since it does not have an
orientation.
Of course, changing the PMOD of the appropriate VSEC element would have the same
apparent effect as a CHANGE ACTION operation in this case, but whereas the former
operation only changes the view section representation, the latter operation changes the
Plane database element itself.
The CHANGE ACTION command is valid at any Plane element, and at WPOS element
level in the case of a Stepped Plane.
If you require a plane point to be moved, i.e. either a POS attribute for a PPLA or an
FPLA, and the POS attribute of a WPOS element for an SPLA, the BY command can be
used. For example:
BY N500
BY @ - Move by the difference between two cursor hits on the same
orthogonal VIEW
For an SPLA, the BY command will move the complete plane, i.e. the POS attribute will
be changed for all of the SPLA’s member WPOS elements.
You can delete individual WPOS elements in the normal way but you can also delete
several at once using the command:
DELETE STEP number number
where the number arguments define the list position range of the points to be deleted.
5.4 Plane Querying
Once a plane has been created, it can be queried in the following ways:
Q DESC - at Plane level (or at WPOS elements)
The plane referred to by the PLRF attribute of the VSEC can be queried by:
Q PLRF DESC - at VSEC level
It is possible to query whether a given 3D point is on the retained or discarded side by
using the following:

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
Q SIDE @ - at plane level

Q SIDE /plane_identifier @ - from anywhere
Q SIDE /plane_identifier E value N value U value - from anywhere
In the latter case, only two coordinates need to be given dependent on which orthogonal
view direction you are working on, e.g. for a Plan view only the Easting and Northing
are required.
You can make any plane visible in a suitable VIEW (i.e. one that is orthogonal to the
axis of the plane) by using the following commands:
SKETCH PLANE IN /view_identifier - at Plane level
SKETCH PLANE /plane_identifier - at VIEW level
SKETCH PLANE /plane_identifier IN /view_identifier - from anywhere
Figure 5-7 shows the SKETCH PLANE command in use. Once the plane has been
sketched then it will always be visible, irrespective of VIEW or area view manipulation.
Only one plane at a time can be sketched. A plane can be erased by either of the
following commands:
ERASE PLANE - at VIEW level
ERASE PLANE IN /view_name - from anywhere
Note that the sketch facility is only a ‘drafting aid’ and is not part of the VIEW
annotation. Any change made to a sketched Plane will not result in a corresponding
change to the displayed sketch - another SKETCH PLANE command will be needed.

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
Summary of Commands
Setting Plane Position . . .

POS @ - Set POS attribute to a 3D Design position
POS IDP @ - Set POS attribute to the 3D Design position of a design

element p-point
NORM direction - Set an FPLA normal direction
For SPLAs . . .
DIR value - Set extrusion direction Use any PDMS direction syntax e.g. N45E
GTYP OPEN or CLOSED

- Set GTYP. OPEN will define a stepped plane, CLOSED will
define an enclosed plane
STEP @ @ @ . . . . - Define a series of points through which an SPLA will be

constructed
Creating Section Plane points directly . . .

NEW WPOS - create WPOS element
POS E value N value U value

- set position attribute
Switching retain/discard side . . .

CHANGE ACTION /plane gid
- reverse the action of an FPLA or SPLA by reversing the
direction of the NORM or DIR attributes respectively

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
Moving Section Plane points . . .

BY N500 - Move the point in 3D Design World coordinates explicitly
BY @ - Move by the difference between two cursor hits on the same

orthogonal view
Editing Section Plane points . . .

DELETE STEP value value
- where value is the list position of the point to be deleted
Setting up the VIEW to accept Section Planes . . .

NEW VSEC - Create a VIEW Section element under a Layer
PLRF name - The reference name of the plane to be used
IDLN name - An Id list name for the section to operate on. If left
undefined will default to the Id list specified by the VIEW.
The Id list can only have Added items, any Removes will be
ignored. A single Design item name can also be used.
PMOD [STANdard | REVerse | OFF]
The Mode in which the plane will be used to section the view, i.e.
which side will be retained or discarded. The default is either
STANDARD, which is as the plane is set up, or REVERSE, which
switches which side is retained or discarded. For a SPLA or FPLA,
this has the same result as using the CHANGE ACTIONS
command.

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes
Querying . . .
Planes
Q DESC - At Plane level
Q PLRF DESC - At VSEC level Retained/Discarded side
Q SIDE @ - At plane level
Q SIDE /plane_name @
- From anywhere
Q SIDE /plane_ name E value N value U value

- From anywhere
Plane sketching . . .
SKETCH PLANE IN /view name
- At Plane level
SKETCH PLANE /plane name

- At VIEW level
SKETCH PLANE /plane name IN /view name

- From anywhere
Plane erasing . . .
ERASE PLANE - At VIEW level
ERASE PLANE IN /view name

- From anywhere

Version 11.6SP1
Section Planes

Version 11.6SP1
6 Using the Cursor
6.1 Identifying Elements Using the Cursor

With many DRAFT commands, you can use the cursor to identify an element in the
graphics window by using the ID command followed by @:
ID @
At this point, picking an element with the cursor will select and identify the displayed
element (the lowest-level element, i.e. a primitive, will be picked).
Elements down to and including Design primitives or Catalogue piping components (e.g.
FLANGES) may be accessed. Dimensions, Dimension Points and Labels may also be
accessed in this way.
Other cursor identify commands are:
ID element_type @ - element_type is any Design, Catalogue or Drawing
element (e.g. EQUI, SHEE)
ID VALV @ - select and identify valve
ID VALV VTWA @ - select and identify valve or VTWA
ID NOZZ @ - select and identify nozzle
You can specify up to 20 element types. For example:
ID VALV VFWA VTWA @
See Sections 8, 9 and 14 for ID commands relating to Dimensions, Labels and 2D
drafting respectively.
The following command can only be used as part of a command:
IDP @ - select and identify p-point or structural node
(PNOD or SNOD)
For example, ON IDP @.
You can restrict items picked to be either Design database elements or Draft database
elements by using the commands:
ID DESEL @
ID PADEL @
ID DRAEL @
Picking an element with the cursor will make the item the current element (i.e. the
current position in the database will move to that item). If you select a Design element
(e.g. a Cylinder primitive in a vessel) you will move to the Design database; if you select
a Drawing element (e.g. the edge of a Sheet) you will move to that element within the
DRAFT database.

Version 11.6SP1
Using the Cursor
6.2 Picking P-points and Nodes
P-points and structural node points (that is, PNODs and SNODs) may be picked by the
cursor. The main uses are
• for positioning annotation at a particular point on a primitive, for example the end
of a cylinder axis
• for identifying primitives below EQUI, STRU or SUBS elements.
A p-point or node may be identified using

Q IDP @
In addition, the p-point may be directly selected, for example
ON IDP @ - attach annotation to specified p-point or node
To identify a p-point, move the cursor across the VIEW display with the left-hand mouse
button held down (the cursor changes its appearance); as the cursor moves across (by
default) a significant element its p-points will become visible.
Moving the cursor over a p-point (with the left-hand mouse button still depressed) will
cause the p-point identifier to be displayed in the Status Form; also, the appearance of
the cursor will change.
Selecting a p-point is achieved by releasing the mouse button with the cursor over the
required point. The identifier, direction and position of the point will appear in the
PDMS DRAFT Command Input & Output form and the p-point display markers will
disappear.
Releasing the left-hand mouse button without selecting a p-point will leave the current
set of p-points visible; you will be able to zoom or pan the view, or quit out of the
command line by clicking on Cancel on the Status Form.
Whether the p-points for the last significant element identified or for the last primitive
identified are made visible is controlled by the PPOINTS command:
PPOINTS SIG - significant element p-points made visible
PPOINTS PRIM - Design primitive p-points made visible
Q PPOINTS - query current setting
In the latter case, identifying a length of implied tube will cause only the Branches Head
and Tail p-points to be made visible. Lines generated by a section plane (see Section 5)
are assigned to the significant element and not to the primitive sectioned; picking on one
of these lines will cause all the p-points of the significant element to be made visible -
even when in ‘Design primitives’ mode. P-points that lie outside the view rectangle will
not be shown.

Version 11.6SP1
Using the Cursor
6.2.1 P-point Style

P-points will be drawn for Design elements in all VIEW types. They are shown as
markers. You can change the marker type and scale, see Section 8.4. You can change
the colour using the SETFEEDBACK command, see Section 8.6.3.
6.3 Picking Structural Elements and P-lines
A p-line (or member line) may be identified by cursor hit using the commands:
IDPL @ - select and identify p-line
IDPE/ND @ - select and identify p-line start or end
This will return syntax to the command line in the following form:
PPLINE word OF element_identifier
The IDPE/ND command will generate text such as:

Pline RTOS of /SCTN-98 start
Pline MEML of /SCTN-99 end
depending how far along the Pline the cursor hit was made. This may be used, for
example, to position annotation at the start or end points of Plines or to obtain the 3D
coordinates of these points. For example:
NEW GLAB ON IDPE @
will position a GLAB on the identified Pline at either its start or end
point.
Q IDPE @
will return the ENU position of the start or end point of the identified
Pline.
This syntax is used for querying and to identify a p-line for direction (note that it may
not appear at the beginning of a command line).
The command
IDPDistance @
will return the proportional distance along the identified p-line. For example a GLAB
can be positioned by either of:
ON IDPL @
ON IDPD @
Examples of text returned by these commands could be (respectively):

ON PPLINE BOS OF /SCTN.PN1_PN5
ON PPLINE BOS OF /SCTN.PN1_PN5 PROP 0.65
In the former case the default value for proportional distance will be used.

Version 11.6SP1
Using the Cursor
6.4 Querying Position Data
There are two query commands that enable you to convert between 2D Sheet positions
and 3D design data positions.
To derive a 3D position from 2D data use:
Q ENUPOSITION OF sheet_position (at/below a VIEW)
where sheet_position is a position on the Sheet. This position (which must be within the
VIEW rectangle) may be specified by cursor. This command returns the back-projection
of this position at Z=0 into the 3D world coordinate system of the current or specified
VIEW, for example:
W 15500 N 10020 U 0
The specified VIEW must be axonometric without perspective.
To derive a 2D position from 3D data use:
Q SHPOSITION OF position (at/below a VIEW)
where position may be a 3D point or p-point, explicit p-point reference, origin of a named
element, or an explicit 3D coordinate. This position or item may be specified by cursor.
This command returns the projection of the explicit or implied 3D position onto the
Sheet for the current VIEW. For example,
X 574 Y 200
As with the ENUPOS query command, the specified VIEW must be axonometric without
perspective and the specified position must lie within the VIEW rectangle.
You can query the 3D origin in World coordinates of any Design element using the
command:
Q IDORI @
Q IDORI sheet_position (at/below a VIEW)
The response will be of the form:
ID =123/456 ORIGIN W 0000mm N 0000mm U 0000mm
6.5 Snapping 2D Points to a Grid
Cursor commands which request 2D points will be rounded to the nearest point on the
SNAP grid (if on). The grid is defined by the SNAP command, for example:
SNAP ON - turn the snap grid on
SNAP OFF - turn the snap grid off (the default)
SNAP ON 10 - define a square grid, 10mm in both X and Y directions
SNAP ON SPACING X25 Y40 - define a rectangular grid

Version 11.6SP1
Using the Cursor
When the SNAP grid is ON, all 2D cursor hits (including the BY @ command) will be
snapped onto the nearest grid point. This does not affect graphics picking or pseudo-3D
cursor hits. Snapping only applies to cursor-generated positions; positions entered
explicitly from the keyboard or via a macro are not snapped. Cursor hits will be snapped
on any picture, whether or not the visible grid (see VGRID command below) is
displayed.
By default, the SNAP grid origin is positioned at the bottom left-hand corner of the
Sheet, and is drawn parallel to the X, Y axes of the Sheet. This origin may be changed
by commands such as
SNAP AT X100 Y100 - define snap origin explicitly
SNAP AT @ - define snap origin with cursor
SNAP settings apply to all Sheets (and Symbol Libraries, Overlay Sheets etc) when
SNAP is ON. The initial setting (on entry to DRAFT) is a square grid at the Sheet
origin, with snapping switched off, i.e.
SNAP OFF AT X 0mm Y 0mm SPACING X 25mm Y 25mm
If the current PDMS units on module entry are INCH or FINCH, the initial SNAP
spacing is one inch square.
The snap grid may be queried using the command:
Q SNAP
The same information will also be output to file by a RECREATE DISPLAY command.
Visible Grids
The snap grid is invisible unless it is turned on by the command
VGRID ON
Visible grids are not output to plotfiles.
The VGRID command uses the current settings of the SNAP grid. A visible grid will be
output on the current Sheet using some multiple (default 1) of the current SNAP grid.
An element identifier may be specified as part of the command, for example:
VGRID /VIEW1-2 ON
This command would turn the visible grid on for the picture element (i.e. the SHEE,
LALB, BACK, OVER, ISOLB or SYLB) owning the specified element.
The visible grid is not maintained with changes in SNAP settings, so it is advisable to
reset the grid (with another VGRID ON command) if the SNAP settings are changed.
The spacing of the visible grid may be changed by commands such as
VGRID SNAP 2 - change visible grid spacing to twice that of snap grid
This command would give a less-cluttered grid display on the drawing. The default
setting may be returned to by giving the command
VGRID SNAP

Version 11.6SP1
Using the Cursor
The following would cause a visible grid to be erased from the current Sheet (or a
specified Sheet), where sheet identifier identifies a picture element or an owned element:
VGRID [sheet identifier] OFF
ERASE AIDS [IN sheet identifier]
ERASE VGRID [IN sheet identifier]
The following causes all visible grids to be erased:
Module switching
Entry to MDB mode
The snap multiple of the visible grid may be queried using the command:
Q VGRID
Details of the VGRID snap multiple will also be output to file by a RECREATE DISPLAY
command.
It is also possible to query whether a specified Sheet currently has a visible grid
displayed, using
Q VGRID sheet_identifier
6.6 Highlighting Displayed Elements
Displayed elements can be highlighted (flashed) by using the HIGHLIGHT command. The
elements concerned may be Design elements (from significant element downwards,
including implied Tubing and Rodding) or DRAFT annotation elements (i.e. Layers,
Dimensions, Labels, 2D Drafting primitives). Overlay (OLAY) elements may also be
highlighted. For example:
HIGHLIGHT
Highlight current annotation element in all area views in which it
appears
HIGHLIGHT IN /VIEW1-1
Highlight current element (design or notation) in named VIEW
HIG IN ID VIEW @
Highlight current element in cursor-identified VIEW
HIG /1501B IN ID VIEW @
Highlight named design element in cursor-identified VIEW
HIG
HIG
HIG
HIG
IARRIVE TUBE OF /VALVE1 IN /VIEW4
ILEAVE TUBE OF CE IN /PLAN_VIEW
HEAD TUBE OF /BRAN99 IN CE
TAIL TUBE OF CE IN /E_ELEVATION
} Example commands
for highlighting
implied tubing

Version 11.6SP1
Using the Cursor
HIG IN _f1_v1
Highlight current element in named area view
HIG /1501B
Highlight named Design element in all area views in which it appears
HIG /1501B IN _f1_v1
Highlight named element in named area view only
Elements may also be highlighted simply by passing the cursor over them in the display
with the left-hand button held down.
Note: For the permanent highlighting of 2D Drafting primitives, see the ENHANCE
command in Section 9.4.4, Part 2, Drawing Annotation.

Version 11.6SP1
Using the Cursor
Summary of Commands
Cursor Identification/Selection . . .
ID @ - select and identify any displayed element
ID element_type @ - select and identify any Design, Drawing or Catalogue

element (e.g. EQUI, SHEE, PJOIN)
ID VALV @ - select and identify valve
ID VALV VTWA @ - select and identify valve or VTWA
ID BEND ELBOW @ - select and identify bends or elbows
ON IDP @ - attach annotation to specified p-point
ON IDPL @ - attach annotation to specified p-line
ID NOZZ @ - identify a Nozzle
The following can only be used as part of a command. For example, ON IDP @:
IDP @ - select and identify p-point
IDPL @ - select and identify p-line
IDPE/ND @ - select and identify p-line start or end
ID DESEL @ - select and identify any Design element
ID PADEL @
ID DRAEL @ - select and identify any Draft element
Querying . . .
Q ENUPOSition OF sheet_position
derives a 3D position from 2D data
Q SHPOsition OF position
derives a 2D position from 3D data
You can query the 3D origin in World coordinates of any Design element using:
Q IDORI @
Q IDORI sheet_position
(at/below a VIEW) returns the 3D origin in World coordinates of a
Design element

Version 11.6SP1
Using the Cursor
P-point Visibility . . .
PPOINTS SIG - significant element p-points made visible
PPOINTS PRIM - Design primitive p-points made visible
Highlighting Elements...
HIGHLIGHT - highlight current element in all area views in which it appears
HIG IN _f1_v1 - highlight current element in named area view
HIG /1501B - highlight named Design element in all area views in which it
appears
HIG /1501B IN _f1_v1

- highlight named element in named area view only
HIG /1501B IN ID VIEW @

- highlight named Design element in VIEW picked by cursor
Snapping 2D Points to a Grid...
SNAP ON - turn snap grid on
SNAP ON 10 - define a square snap grid, 10mm in both X and Y directions
SNAP ON SPACING X25 Y40

- define a rectangular snap grid
SNAP AT X100 Y100 - define snap grid origin explicitly
SNAP AT @ - define snap grid origin with cursor
VGRID ON - turn visible grid on
VGRID SNAP integer

- change visible grid spacing to integer times that of snap grid
VGRID SNAP - return to default visible grid spacing
Q SNAP - query snap grid
Q VGRI - query visible grid snap multiple

Version 11.6SP1
Using the Cursor

Version 11.6SP1
7 Plotting and Drawing Output
At any time during the drawing process, you can generate a plotfile that can consist of a
single Sheet, View or the contents of an Area View.
7.1 General
Plotfiles are produced by the PLOT command, which takes the following alternative
forms:
PLOT uuname filename [papersize] [OVERWRITE]
PLOT /sheet_name /filename [papersize] [OVERWRITE]
PLOT SHEE FILE /filename [papersize] [OVERWRITE]
PLOT VIEW FILE /filename [papersize] [OVERWRITE]
For example:
PLOT /SHEET1 /SH1.PLT
PLOT VIEW FILE /VW1.PLT A3
If the paper size is not specified then it will be taken as the same as the item being
plotted. Existing plotfiles will not be overwritten unless the OVERWRITE option is used.
There are three additional options which may be specified between papersize and
OVERWRITE:
• CUTMARKS. By default the rectangular limit of the plotfile will be shown; this can
be suppressed by CUTMARKS OFF.
• The BORDER value option will cause a border to be left within the specified paper
size. The image size of the item being plotted will be reduced accordingly.
• The FRAME option causes a frame to be drawn around the image; FRAME can only
be used in concert with the BORDER option and marks the inside edge of the
border. It does not control the frame around the edge of the plotfile (see CUTMARKS
above).
An example of a PLOT command using its entire syntax is:

PLOT SHEE FILE /S3.PLT A1 CUT OFF BORD 25 FRAME OVER
If required, plotfile pen definitions can be made different from those on the screen.
Hence a line that appears as thin, solid, red on the screen could be made thick, dashed,
and black on plotfiles. See Section 8.6.2.

Version 11.6SP1
Plotting and Drawing Output
You can query the size of a plotfile using the command:

Query PLOTFile name SIZE
The response will be the size rectangle of the plot.
7.2 Standard DXF Output
7.2.1 Creating the DXF File

DXF format plotfiles (for use in AutoCAD) can be generated in a similar way to PDMS
plotfiles simply by adding DXF to the command. For example:
PLOT SHEE DXF /SHEET1.DXF
PLOT /SHT1/V1 DXF /VIEW1.DXF A3 OVER
It is recommended that the CUTMARKS OFF option be used when generating DXF files.
7.2.2 DXF File Contents

The DXF file created has a brief header section, followed by the TABLES section, which
defines text styles and line types, and the ENTITIES section, which contains the
drawing data. The DXF BLOCK section is not used.
The HEADER section contains two comments, giving file creator's name and the
time/date of creation. The only other variables set are $LIMMIN and $LIMMAX (the
limits of the drawing Sheet), $LTSCALE and $DIMSCALE. See also Section 7.2.3.
The TABLES section defines all required text styles and line types. Two sets of text
styles are available corresponding to horizontal and vertical text (paths Right and
Down), and both assume the existence of font files fnnnnnnnnnn (where nnnnnnnnnn
denotes a ten-digit number) that correspond to the fonts used in a DRAFT session. The
line types are the standard DRAFT predefined set; they have been given names for
AutoCAD use, which are the DRAFT names, prefixed by ‘GT’, e.g. GTSOLID, GTDOT
etc.
• Lines are passed as POLYLINE entities consisting of two or more points. The
available linestyles have names prefixed by ‘GT’.
• Pen thicknesses are available. See Section 8.3.1.
• Arcs/Circles are currently passed as POLYLINE entities with bulge factors.
• All text strings are passed as TEXT entities in the appropriate font. For example,
text in Font 21 is output in style HTX21. The corresponding set of font files is
defined in the TABLES section of the DXF file. Text height and shear are
supported. All text is justified to the bottom-left corner of the text string. Note that
non-zero character spacing is not supported in DXF output.
AutoCAD font files are provided as part of the AutoDRAFT software. Instructions
for installing these can be found in the VANTAGE PDMS Installation Guide.

Version 11.6SP1
• Layers are assigned to entities according to their colour definition within DRAFT.
These layers are named GT_n , where n is a number that corresponds to a PDMS
colour.
• Colours are maintained according to Layer (i.e. BYLAYER in AutoCAD). Note
that the Layer colour for all DRAFT layers is white.
The ENTITIES section then follows, and is normally closed by the standard AutoCAD
EOF.
7.2.3 Sheet migration to AutoCAD

Sheets and Overlays can be converted to AutoCAD format using the command
XMLEXPORT:
XMLEXPORT <sheet_name>
This process is not reversible. It sets the APICT attribute of the Sheet or Overlay to ON.
Within the User Interface, this command is implemented by the Utilities>Export to
Final Designer menu selection.
XMLEXPORT exports the Sheet/Overlay to the <project>DWG directory as a .pdmsdwg
file, naming it according to the existing naming convention (as defined by attribute
ACNAME, or NAME if ACNAME is unset). The file is then loaded into AutoCAD.
For Overlays, when saved an exploded model-space version of the sheet is saved as a
.dwg file to the subfolder PDMS_Overlays.
XMLEXPORT also exports Backing sheets and Symbols (SYTM). These are stored as
.dwg files, though they may contain custom entities (such as intelligent text). They are
stored in a subfolder below the <project>DWG folder.
All symbol templates in a symbol library can be exported using XMLEXPORT at
SYLB/LABL level. This scans all SYTMs that have ACEXPO set to OFF or REEXPORT,
and export them as .dwg files, setting ACEXPO to EXPORTED.
The command ACDISPLAY allows an existing AutoCAD sheet to be displayed:
ACDISP/LAY <gid> (MOD/IFY) (READ/ONLY)
MODIFY is optional.
If the Sheet can be written to, the AutoCAD drawing can be modified. If the Sheet is
loaded as READ/ONLY, it is loaded into AutoCAD as a read-only file. However, if the
Draft user then modifies this Sheet it is converted to WRITE access.
7.2.4 File Header Options

DXF files may have full AutoCAD headers and Z-coordinates in the ENTITIES section.
Example commands are:

Version 11.6SP1
PLOT SHEE DXF /SHEET1.DXF ACAD ZCOOR

- include AutoCAD headers and Z-coordinates
PLOT SHEE DXF /SHEET1.DXF CADC ZCOOR
- as above, but use AVEVA header
If no header type is specified, the brief AVEVA header is assumed. If the ACAD option is
used, then the DXF file produced will contain a header, which is defined in file
acadxf.hdr in the PDMS executable directory (as defined by global variable
PDMSEXE).
File acadxf.hdr must contain, as a minimum, the following:
• HEADER section
All terminated by an
• TABLES section ENDSEC keyword
• BLOCK section (optional)
• ENTITIES section (optional) -Unterminated
If the ZCOORD option is used, the DXF file produced will contain Z-coordinates of value
0.000 (i.e. code 30 entries) in the $EXTMIN and $EXTMAX parameters in the header
section, and in polyline vertices and TEXT entities.
7.2.5 Encoding of Multi-Byte Characters

Multi-byte characters (e.g. Japanese) may be encoded in the DXF file in one of two
formats, namely Extended UNIX Code (EUC) and Shift-JIS. The format required will
depend upon the machine for which the DXF file is intended. The format should be
specified after the header and Z-coordinate requirements. For example:
PLOT SHEE DXF /SHEET1.DXF ACAD ZCOORD EUC
PLOT SHEE DXF /SHEET1.DXF CADC ZCOORD SHI/FTJIS
If no encoding format is specified, EUC will be assumed. These options will have no
effect if only single-byte characters are output.
7.2.6 Scaling
The output written to the DXF file can be scaled using the SCALEUP command option. If
required, the scaling value should be specified after the Z coordinate and character
encoding requirements. For example:
PLOT SHEE DXF /SHEET.DXF ACAD ZCOORD EUC SCALEUP 100
This will cause all values in the file to be increased by 100. Factors such as paper size,
line thickness and character height will all be affected. This option allows the effects of
VIEW scaling to be reversed to some extent.

Version 11.6SP1
7.3 Configurable DXF Output
7.3.1 Configuration Datasets

It is possible to control the format of DXF output using configuration datasets. The
configuration dataset controls how the PDMS information is to be mapped into DXF
format. It does the following:
• Controls how DRAFT graphics are to be grouped as DXF Block and Group
definitions.
• Enables PDMS elements to be assigned to DXF layers.
• Maps fonts, colours and linestyles between DRAFT and DXF.
• Allows PDMS attribute information to be exported from DRAFT as DXF Block
attributes.
The configurable DXF facility uses ‘loadable image’ (LI) applications, usable at Sheet
level. The DXF export application can be executed using the LIEXEC command (which
also loads the application if it has not already been loaded).
The following example command uses the configuration data set ’MyConfigData’ to
control the export of DXF information:
LIEXEC /Draft_DXF_LI ’DXFOUTR13’ ConfigData ’MyConfigData’
Here ’DXFOUTR13’ is an application feature. At the current release of PDMS,

DXFOUTR13 for producing AutoCAD Release 13 .DXF output is the only supported
feature.
This will create a DXF file with a name and format defined in the specified dataset for
the current picture element (e.g. SHEE, SYLB, etc.). Before giving the above command,
the configuration dataset must have been defined in DRAFT by typing in the
configuration data at the command line or by reading in a predefined macro file.
Three example macro files are provided:
default_dxf.mac Defines the default configuration settings.
full_dxf.mac Defines a sample set of configuration settings to produce fully -
blocked, grouped and layered DXF files closely mapped to the
DRAFT Sheet exported. Note that blocking commands for Design
graphics in this file are only intended as an example, and may
require modification to suit your own requirements.
graphics_dxf.mac Defines a configuration for graphics-only DXF files, minimal in
size, which can be imported into systems, which do not support
full AutoCAD Release 13 DXF file format. This provides
compatibility with AutoCAD Release 12.
Other commands related to this facility are:
LILIST Lists features of application(s) loaded by LILOAD/LIEXEC.

Version 11.6SP1
DLICON Defines a named set of configuration options. For example:

DLICON
{configuration options}
EXIT
A DRAFT Configuration Dataset is made up of a series of switches and Blocking rules.
The {configuration options} will contain the BLOCK and SWITCH syntax that control the
content of the DXF file produced. See Section 7.3.2 for a full list of the switches and their
permissible and default values.
For example:
SWITCH GroupGLAB ON
Group GLABs into DXF groups
SWITCH HeaderFileName 'header.dxf'
Specify the DXF header file name
The switch names are case-independent, but are shown as mixed case here to aid
legibility.
Standard PDMS selection syntax is used to define Blocking Rules. These specify how
PDMS design elements are to be organised into DXF Blocks. PDMS attributes can be
included in block definitions. For example:
BLOCK ALL STRU, INCLUDE NAME
BLOCK ALL BRAN WITH ( HBOR GE 100 OR TBOR GE 100 ) , INCLUDE NAME SPREF
Elements that can be blocked are:

SITE, ZONE, STRU, SUBS, FRMW, SBFR, EQUI, SUBE, PIPE, BRAN, HVAC, REST
The configuration options may be overridden by LIEXEC command line options; in

particular the Outputfilename switch would normally be overridden by an LIEXEC
option. For example:
LIEXEC /Draft_DXF_LI 'DXFOUTR13' CONFIGDATA 'MyConfigData' OutputFileName '%PDMSUSER%/new.dxf'
It is also possible to omit the CONFIGDATA, in which case the default values of all the
switches will be assumed and no blocking will take place. However, in such a case a DXF
header file must be specified; for example:
LIEXEC /Draft_DXF_LI 'DXFOUTR13' HeaderFileName 'header.dxf'
The datasets currently defined within DRAFT can be determined by:
DLICON LIST
The definition of a specific dataset can be determined by:
DLICON name DUMP
The value of a specific switch within a dataset can be determined by:
DLICON name CHECK SWITCH switchname
Whether or not there is a blocking rule applicable to a specified Design element can be
determined by:

Version 11.6SP1
DLICON name CHECK BLOCK element_identifier

Version 11.6SP1
7.3.2 Switches and BLOCK Rules to Control DXF Export

Switch name Value (default) Description
PrimitiveThickness [ ON ] Allows primitive thickness to be
represented by Polyline width in
AutoCAD. The PlineWidthFactor
switch defines the scale of width
factors used by DXF export.
OFF Prevents primitive thickness from
being represented in AutoCAD. All
entities are generated using Lines,
Arcs and Text with no Polylines.
PlineWidthFactor 0.1, [ 0.2 ], 0.3, … Defines the scaling of width factors
1.0 translated from Draft to AutoCAD.
Polyline width is defined by
[( LTHICK - 1 ) * PlineWidthFactor].
ViewNumberPrefix ON Adds a unique numeric view prefix
value to the beginning of each
AutoCAD Layer name created from
Draft views.
[ OFF ] Suppresses any numeric layer name
view prefix.
LayerZone ON Creates a unique layer for each
Design ZONE and places all design
information from that zone onto the
layer.
[ OFF ] Suppresses zone layering.
LayerSite ON Creates a unique layer for each
Design SITE, and places all design
information from that site onto the
layer.
[ OFF ] Suppresses site layering.
LayerBack ON Creates a unique layer for the backing
sheet and places the backing sheet
information on that layer in
AutoCAD.
[ OFF ] Suppresses backing sheet layering.
LayerOlay ON Creates a layer for each overlay and
places the overlay information on that
layer in AutoCAD.

Version 11.6SP1

[ OFF ] Suppresses overlay layering.
LayerNote ON Creates a layer for each note and
places the note information on that
layer in AutoCAD.
[ OFF ] Suppresses note layering.
LayerLaye ON Creates an equivalent layer in
AutoCAD matching Draft annotation
layers and places information from
the Draft layers onto subsequent
AutoCAD layers.
[ OFF ] Suppresses Draft layer to AutoCAD
layer mapping.
FontMapping [ ON ] Maps Draft text styles using
Autodraft equivalent AutoCAD font
styles.
OFF Uses the standard AutoCAD
“STANDARD” (txt) font style for all
fonts in AutoCAD.
LinetypeMapping [ ON ] Maps Draft linepattern definitions
onto equivalent AutoCAD linetype
definitions contained within the DXF
header.
Unsupported or undefined linepattern
names are exported to AutoCAD using
an equivalent Draft style name, with
a standard dashed representation.
OFF All Draft linepatterns are represented
by the default “CONTINUOUS”
linetype, mapped using “BYLAYER”
in AutoCAD.
ColourMapping [ ON ] Draft pen colours 1 to 15 are mapped
to equivalent AutoCAD colour
numbers. Colour numbers above 15
are mapped directly to AutoCAD
colours in the range 1 to 254.
OFF Suppress colour mapping and assign
all Draft pen colours to AutoCAD
colour “BYLAYER”.
IncludeZCoordinates ON Uses explicit X,Y and Z co-ordinate
values in the DXF export file.

Version 11.6SP1

[ OFF ] Uses explicit X and Y co-ordinate
values in the DXF file, where Z is
assumed to be 0. If Z is not equal to 0,
it will be output explicitly.
GraphicsOnlyDXF ON Exports minimal DXF header
information and omits all R13 specific
data, including Objects, Handles,
AcDb markers, dictionaries and table
information; Except: Layers,
Linetypes and Styles.
This switch can be used to produce
AutoCAD release 12 compatible DXF
files and can be used to minimise DXF
information in terms of file size and
production time with the following
switches set to OFF:
LinetypeMapping,
ColourMapping,
IncludeZCoordinates
The following switches are forced OFF
when the GraphicsOnlyDXF switch
is ON: EntityAcDbMarkers and
IncludeDXFHeaderEntities
All Group switches are ignored when
this option switch is used although
blocking is permitted!
[ OFF ] Exports DXF information using a well
defined full AutoCAD release 13 DXF
format.
EntityAcDbMarkers ON Exports AutoCAD release 13 AcDb
object markers in all entities in the
DXF file. This option may be required
for less tolerant DXF interpreters.
[ OFF ] Suppresses AutoCAD release 13
AcDb object markers in all entities.
Suppressing AcDb markers in the
DXF file can significantly reduce the
resulting DXF file size.
NestedBlocks ON Allows hierarchically related blocks to
be nested into a single block hierarchy
in AutoCAD.

Version 11.6SP1

[ OFF ] Prevents hierarchically related blocks
from being nested together in
AutoCAD. Block definitions that
contain multiple sub-component
blocks will be represented by a
collection of individual blocks as
opposed to a single block definition.
These individual, yet hierarchically
related blocks can be grouped together
using the GroupBlocks switch.
BlockBack ON Creates a single Block definition for
the Draft backing sheet.
[ OFF ] Suppresses blocking of backing
sheets.
BlockOlay [ ON ] Creates a single Block definition for
each Draft overlay sheet.
OFF Suppresses blocking of overlay sheets.
BlockSymb ON Creates a single Block definition for
each instanced Draft symbol.
[ OFF ] Suppresses blocking of symbols.
BlockFill [ ON ] Creates a single Block definition for
each Draft hatch/fill pattern.
OFF Suppresses blocking of hatch
patterns.
BlockGraphicFile ON Creates a single Block definition for
each occurrence of a plot spool file
used to represent backing sheets or
overlays.
[ OFF ] Suppresses blocking of Graphic plot
spooled files.
GroupDims ON Groups dimensions into unique
AutoCAD release 13 groups.
[ OFF ] Suppresses Grouping of dimensions.
GroupNote ON Groups notes into unique AutoCAD
release 13 groups.
[ OFF ] Suppresses Grouping of notes.
GroupVnot ON Groups view notes into unique

Version 11.6SP1

[ OFF ] Suppresses Grouping of view notes.
GroupFrame ON Groups frames into unique AutoCAD
release 13 groups.
[ OFF ] Suppresses Grouping of frames.
GroupGlab ON Groups GLAB labels into unique
[ OFF ] Suppresses Grouping of GLAB labels.
GroupSlab ON Groups SLAB labels into unique
[ OFF ] Suppresses Grouping of SLAB labels.
GroupBlocks ON Groups together hierarchically related
blocks, generated from blocking
structures and sub-structures or sub-
frameworks. This switch should only
be used when the NestedBlocks
switch is set to OFF.
[ OFF ] Suppresses Grouping of related
Blocks
FontFilePath ‘/search/path/…’ Specifies the search path used to
locate AutoDRAFT font shape files.
This value is appended to the
beginning of all font style records
created in the DXF file.
[ OFF ] If the search path is set to off, no
directory path is appended to the start
of font style records. This option can
be used if the relevant AutoCAD
shape files are located in the ACAD
support directory path.
UseShiftJISFonts ON Specifies font mapping should be
applied using the Shift JIS standard.
[ OFF ] Specifies font mapping should be

applied using the default EUC
standard.

Version 11.6SP1

IncludeDXFHeaderEnt ON Allows drawing information contained
ities within the DXF header file to be
merged with the exported Draft
drawing information. Under normal
export circumstances, this switch
should be omitted or set to OFF.
[ OFF ] Ignores all DXF entities in the
ENTITIES section of the DXF header
file.
HeaderFileName [‘%PDMSEXE%/draft_dxf_li.dxf’]
Specifies the DXF header file name,
which will be read into Draft and used
as a backbone template for generating
the DXF information. If a header file
name is specified, it must be a valid
AutoCAD release 13 DXF file, based
on the default ‘draft_dxf_li.dxf’'
OutputFileName [‘output.dxf’] Specifies the output DXF file name
produced when exporting DXF file
information.
IgnoreBlockRules [ ON ] Allows the DXF export application to
ignore all BLOCK rules in the
configuration data-set, used to speed
up processing of non-blocked DXF
export.
OFF Allows the DXF export application to
search and compare configuration
data-set BLOCK rules against
database information in order to block
components in the DXF export file.
ScaleFactor Positive Real No. Scale Factor applied to entire DXF
(default 1.0) File to enable Full scale Design units
to be output in the DXF File
[ 1.0 ] Scale Factor 1.0 - DXF File in
Annotation units
Note: The default values specified in this table are those set up by the configuration
macro default_dxf.mac, as supplied with the product. The supplied default
values will always be obtained when using the System Defaults for DXF Output
option on the Configurable DXF Output form in the standard graphical user
interface.

Version 11.6SP1
7.3.3 Limitations
The following limitations apply:
• DRAFT's intelligent blanking primitives are not exported to the DXF file as there
are no equivalent AutoCAD primitives to which to map them.
• User-defined line patterns (see Section 18.3.2) are assigned to a fixed (dashed)
linetype definition in the DXF file using the DRAFT line pattern name as the DXF
linetype name. This definition can be redefined in AutoCAD to provide the
linestyle required.
• User-defined glyphs and line pictures (see Sections 8.3.4 and 8.3.5) are ignored.
• Differentially scaled symbols are not supported.
7.4 Configurable DGN Output
7.4.1 Configuration Datasets

DGN files (for use in MicroStation/J) may also be created from DRAFT Sheets. DGN is a
binary format.
It is possible to control the format of DGN output using configuration datasets. The
configuration dataset controls how the PDMS information is to be mapped into DGN
format. It does the following:
• Controls how DRAFT graphics are to be grouped as DGN Group definitions.
• Enables PDMS elements to be assigned to DGN Levels.
• Maps linestyles, colours and fonts between DRAFT and DGN.
• Allows PDMS attribute information to be exported from DRAFT as DGN Group
attributes.
The configurable DGN facility uses ‘loadable image’ (LI) applications, usable at Sheet
level. The DGN export application can be executed using the LIEXEC command (which
also loads the application if it has not already been loaded).
The following example command uses the configuration dataset ’MyConfigData’ to
control the export of DGN information:
LIEXEC /Draft_DGN_LI ’DGNOUT’ ConfigData ’MyConfigData’
Here ’DGNOUT’ is an application feature.
This will create a DGN file with a name and format defined in the specified dataset for
the current Sheet element. Before giving the above command, the configuration dataset
must have been defined in DRAFT. This may be done either by typing in the
configuration data at the command line; by building up the required mappings using the
DRAFT applicationware; or by reading in a predefined macro file.
Other commands related to this facility are:

Version 11.6SP1
LILIST Lists features of application(s) loaded by LILOAD/LIEXEC.

DLICON name Defines a named set of configuration options. For example:
DLICON /myconfig
configuration_options
EXIT
A DRAFT Configuration Dataset is made up of a series of Switches, Group rules and
Level rules. The configuration_options will contain the GROUP, LEVEL and SWITCH
syntax that controls the content of the DGN file produced.
For example:
SWITCH LevelDefault '63'
Level 63 to be used by default
SWITCH SeedFileName 'seed.dgn'
Specifies the DGN header file name
GROUP ALL EQUI, INCLUDE NAME
A group will be created for each equipment, which will be tagged with
its name
LEVEL ALL NOTE, 'ON 32'
Level 32 to be used for NOTE elements
Switch names are case-independent, but are shown as mixed case here to aid legibility.
Switch values are PDMS text strings, and should be quoted.
Rules for Groups and Levels use PML expressions, similar to those used in
Representation rules. GROUP rules may be followed by the INCLUDE argument to tag
the group with attribute data; LEVEL rules should be followed by a text string defining
the level or range of levels to be used.
Note: For full details of using expressions in PDMS, see the VANTAGE PDMS
DESIGN Reference Manual, Part 1, Section 2-3-11, or use the online help and
search for ‘‘expressions”.
The configuration options may be overridden by LIEXEC command line options. In
particular, the OutputFileName switch would normally be overridden by an LIEXEC
option. For example:
LIEXEC /Draft_DGN_LI 'DGNOUT' CONFIGDATA 'MyConfigData' OutputFileName '%PDMSUSER%/new.dgn'
It is also possible to omit the CONFIGDATA, in which case the default values of all the
switches will be assumed, the internal default seed will be used, and no grouping or
levelling will take place.
The datasets currently defined within DRAFT can be determined by:
DLICON LIST
The definition of a specific dataset can be determined by:
DLICON name DUMP
The value of a specific switch within a dataset can be determined by:

Version 11.6SP1
DLICON name CHECK SWITCH switchname

For example, to query the value of the UNITS switch in the configuration /myconfig:
DLICON /myconfig CHECK SWITCH Units
Whether there is a grouping or levelling rule applicable to a specified DESIGN or
DRAFT element can be determined by:
DLICON name CHECK GROUP element_identifier
DLICON name CHECK LEVEL element_identifier
For example, to query whether the configuration contains a level rule which applies to
/PUMP1:
DLICON /myconfig CHECK LEVEL /PUMP1
Sample Configuration Datasets

Sample configuration files are provided in the %PDMSDFLTS% directory as PML data
files (pmldat). Further configuration files can be created using the DRAFT
applicationware. The supplied configuration files include:
dra-dgn-basic.pmldat Defines a restricted range of essential settings for
configured DGN output.
dra-dgn-pdms.pmldat Defines a sample set of configuration settings to produce
fully-grouped and levelled DGN files closely mapped to
the DRAFT Sheet exported. Note that the grouping and
levelling commands for Design graphics in this file are
only intended as an example, and may require
modification to suit your own requirements.
dra-dgn-imperial.pmldat Defines an equivalent set to dra-dgn-pdms.pmldat, in
imperial-units
dra-dgn-nnnn.pmldat Defines a sample set of configuration settings that uses
levelling by pen number, and uses text size to select
levels for annotation (metric units)
dra-dgn-dddd.pmldat Defines a sample set of configuration settings that uses
levelling by functional descriptions (imperial units)
Note: These configuration files may be converted to PDMS command-line macro files
for batch creation of DGN files, using the PDMS applicationware as follows:
!dgn = object dgnout()
!dgn.load( !!file( ‘%PDMSDFLTS%/name.pmldat’ ) )
!dgn.save( !!file( ‘%PDMSUSER%/name.pmldat’ ) )
where name is one of the supplied configuration datasets. The macro file
%PDMSUSER%/name.mac is created when the PML data file is saved.

Version 11.6SP1
7.4.2 Common Features of Option Switches

General Mappings
Several of the option switches map one set of values (DRAFT) to another (MicroStation).
For example, DRAFT colour numbers may be mapped to MicroStation colour numbers,
and DRAFT line-pattern names or numbers may be mapped to MicroStation numbered
or customised line-styles. These mappings are all handled in the same way.
Each mapping consists of one or more sub-mappings, separated by commas. Each sub-
mapping has a left-hand (DRAFT) list and a right-hand (MicroStation) list separated by
a colon.
Each list can include elements that are numbers (non-negative integers or reals) or
strings (quoted or unquoted). Multiple elements are separated by a + character. Integers
may be separated by a '–' character to represent an inclusive range. A right-hand list of
integers can include the characters 'R' (repeat) or 'D integer' (default).
The following rules apply:
• The left-hand list must not be empty.
• If the right-hand list has a single element, all values in the left-hand list are mapped
to the same value.
• If the right-hand list has the same number of elements as the left-hand list, each
element in the left list is mapped to the corresponding element in the right list.
• If the right-hand list contains integers with an 'R' option, each element of the right-
hand list is used in turn, the elements being repeated as necessary.
• If the right-hand list contains integers with a 'D' option, each element of the right-
hand list is used in turn once only, then the default value is used for all further
mappings as necessary.
For example:
'CHAINED:pdmsChained, DASHED:pdmsDashed, DDOTTED:pdmsDdotted'
'1–11:15,12–20:33–41'
'1–20:26–30R' (maps 1:26, 2:27, 3:28, 4:29, 5:30, 6:26, 7:27, etc.)
'20–29:1–3D6' (maps 20:1, 21:2, 23:3, 24:6, 25:6, etc.)
Quoted Strings
Strings within mappings may be quoted, if necessary, with ' or | characters. For
example, some MicroStation custom line-styles have names that include a comma or
colon, such as {dash, medium}. In order to map to this MicroStation custom line-style,
you must use an extra set of quotes to prevent the name being treated simply as {dash.
You need outer quotes to tell DRAFT where the option string ends, and inner ones to tell
Draft_DGN_LI where each line-style name ends, thus:
SWITCH MapLineStyle |DASHED:'{dash, medium}',LDASHED:'{dash, long}'|
A string must be quoted if any of the following apply:

Version 11.6SP1
• It contains a comma, colon or plus character.

• It starts or ends with a space or tab.
• It starts with a minus, single quote or vertical bar.
• It starts with a digit but is not a number (e.g., 345P).
Continuing Long Mappings

Some mappings may require string lengths longer than the permitted maximum (about
100 characters). To achieve this, switches may be continued. Continuation switches have
the same name as the base switch, but extended by a single letter between A and Z.
These must be used in alphabetic order. For example, the following long switch setting
(all one line):
SWITCH MapLineStyle |CHAINED:pdmsChained, DDOTTED:pdmsDdotted,
DASHED:'{ dash, medium }',LDASHED:'{ dash, long }'|
could be split over the following switch settings:
SWITCH MapLineStyle |CHAINED:pdmsChained|
SWITCH MapLineStyleA |DDOTTED:pdmsDdotted|
SWITCH MapLineStyleB |DASHED:'{ dash, medium }'|
SWITCH MapLineStyleC |LDASHED:'{ dash, long }'|
Note: Continuation switches can be used in DLICON configuration syntax. They cannot
be used in the LIEXEC command syntax.
7.4.3 File-Related and Miscellaneous Options

Several switches in this section represent pathnames. These can include standard
PDMS environment variable settings; for example:
SWITCH SeedFileName '%PDMSEXE%\dgndata\pdmsSeed2d.dgn'
A file name can include internal spaces without problems, but spaces at the start or end
of the file name require additional quotes; for example:
SWITCH SeedFileName 'C:\Program Files\MicroStation\fromPDMS.dgn'
SWITCH SeedFileName '| seed with leading spaces.dgn|'
OutputFileName
Specifies the output DGN file name produced when exporting DGN file information. For
example:
SWITCH OutputFileName '%PDMSUSER%\DGN_file_name.dgn'
SeedFileName
Specifies the DGN seed file name to be used to create the output DGN file. If no seed file
name is provided, an internal default seed will be used. The seed file must be a valid
MicroStation 2D seed file, and must not contain any inconsistent element data. Any tag-

Version 11.6SP1
set definitions in the seed must not conflict with those created by Draft_DGN_LI. For
example:
SWITCH SeedFileName '%PDMSEXE%\dgndata\pdmsSeed2d.dgn'
SWITCH SeedFileName 'mySeedFile.dgn'
The use of a seed file is optional.
A sample seedfile pdmsSeed2d.dgn is supplied with Draft_DGN_LI. This contains a
colour table that maps the default PDMS colours 1-16 into Microstation colours.
Note: In configurations that use the supplied seedfile, the MapColour switch should
be set to ‘1-256:0-255’
Units
MicroStation uses three levels of working units: Master Units, Sub-Units and Positional
Units (or Units of Resolution).
The seed file contains the size ratios of these three units, and may contain descriptions
(max. two characters) of the master and sub-units, but there is no universal set of
descriptions in use. The Units switch may be used to override the settings in the seed
file, and must contain the size of a master unit in millimetres (MASTMM):
Master Units Description MASTNAME, size in millimetres MASTMM
Sub-Units Description SUBNAME, ratio per master unit SU
Positional Units Ratio per sub-unit PU
These keywords are not case-sensitive, but the values of MASTNAME and SUBNAME
are case-sensitive. The most common scenarios will be:
• The working units are set up in the seed file. In this case, the Units switch just
contains the size of a master unit in mm. For example, with an imperial seed file,
with master units inches, the Units switch should be:
SWITCH Units 'MASTMM:25.4'
• The working units in the configuration override those in the seed file: all Units
options are needed. (A minor exception is that if the MASTNAME setting is
recognised as a common value, MASTMM may be omitted.) For example, to set both
the master and sub-unit names to millimetres, with one sub-unit per master unit,
and 1270 positional units per sub-unit, the Units switch should be:
SWITCH Units 'MASTNAME:mm,SUBNAME:mm,SU:1,PU:1270,MASTMM:1.0'
The MASTNAME and SUBNAME values cannot be quoted strings, but can include
characters such as " (inches) and ' (feet). Only the first two characters of these values are
significant, and it is not possible to include a space or comma in them. (If you wish to
use a space or comma in MASTNAME and SUBNAME values, you must set up the
working units in the seed file, as in the first scenario.)
Some more examples of Units settings, respectively for Master units in feet accurate to
1/64th inch; and metres accurate to 0.01mm:
SWITCH Units |MASTNAME:',SUBNAME:",SU:12,PU:64,MASTMM:304.8|

Version 11.6SP1
SWITCH Units 'MASTNAME:m,SUBNAME:mm,SU:1000,PU:100,MASTMM:1000.0'
ScaleFactor
A Scale Factor is applied to the entire DGN file to enable full-scale Design units to be
output in the DGN file. The default value is 1.0.
ShiftX
A horizontal shift is applied to everything written to the DGN file to position the
drawing at any required place on the Design Plane. The shift is measured in
MicroStation Master Units, and the default value is 0.0.
ShiftY
A vertical shift is applied to everything written to the DGN file to position the drawing
at any required place on the Design Plane. The shift is measured in MicroStation
Master Units, and the default value is 0.0.
ExcludeBack
If this switch is set to On (the default is Off), any Backing Layer of the DRAFT drawing
is not transferred to the DGN file.
ExcludeOlay
If this switch is set to On, (the default is Off), any Overlays on the DRAFT drawing are
not transferred to the DGN file.
ExcludeSheetFrame
If this switch is set to On, (the default is Off), the sheet frame on the DRAFT drawing is
not transferred to the DGN file.
ExcludeFill
If this switch is set to On, (the default is Off), no hatching (including solid fill) in the
DRAFT drawing is transferred to the DGN file. This may be useful for good performance
in MicroStation, since hatching is transferred as a set of lines.
ExcludeSolidFill
If this switch is set to On, (the default is Off), all solid fill is ignored and not transferred
to the DGN file. However, other Hatching is still transferred.
ExcludeArrowFill
If this switch is set to On, (the default is Off), any solid fill for terminators on dimension-
lines and label leader-lines is omitted from the transfer to the DGN file. Other solid fill
and hatching is transferred.

Version 11.6SP1
Note: More than one of these switches to Exclude Fill may apply to the same entity. If
any of these switches is true, then the entity will be excluded. For example,
either ExcludeSolidFill or ExcludeArrowFill could be used to exclude the fill for
dimension-line arrowheads. However, ExcludeArrowFill is more specific.
7.4.4 Pen Related Options

MapLineWeights
MicroStation has 32 line-weights (numbered 0-31); DRAFT has 11 line thicknesses
(numbered 1-11). The links between them are controlled by the MapLineWeights option,
for example:
SWITCH MapLineWeights '1:0,2:1,3:5,4-11:31'
SWITCH MapLineWeights '1-11:0-10'
The second example is the default.
MapLineStyle
MicroStation has seven numbered line-styles, and can also have named custom line-
styles. MicroStation documentation recommends using named styles, but some drawing
standards specify numbered ones. DRAFT also uses a mixture of named and numbered
line-patterns. The MapLineStyle option maps the DRAFT line-pattern to a MicroStation
line-style, ignoring line picture and glyphs. (See Section 0 for how to map line-styles
involving line pictures or glyphs.)
A resource file pdms_lsty.rsc supplied with PDMS contains custom line-styles
equivalent to the default named PDMS line-patterns.
• Any ScaleFactor (see Section 0) is applied to custom line-styles used in the DGN file.
• Any unmapped line-styles map to Solid lines.
The following example maps DRAFT’s named line-styles to their nearest equivalents in
MicroStation’s numbered styles. This is the default:
SWITCH MapLineStyle 'SOLID:0,DASHED:2,DOTTED:1,CHAINED:4,
LDASHED:3,DDOTTED:6'
The next example maps DRAFT named line-styles to some custom line-styles provided
as a MicroStation resource file:
SWITCH MapLineStyle'CHAINED:pdmsChained,DASHED:pdmsDashed,
DDOTTED:pdmsDdotted,DOTTED:pdmsDotted,LDASHED:pdmsDashed,
SOLID:0,TCHAINED:pdmsTChained'
Custom line-style names can include spaces and punctuation; for example, the default
MicroStation/J installation includes styles { -E- } and { Cable / Tele }. See Section 0 for
details of when you must quote the style-names. As this mapping can get long, (the
preceding example is a single line mapping), you may need to use the continuation
facilities described in Section 0.

Version 11.6SP1
MapLineStyleByPen
More complex DRAFT line-styles can be set up by the combination of line-pattern, line
picture, line thickness and glyph. To map these combinations onto MicroStation line-
styles, you must map them by Pen Number. (Note that this is the pen number as stored
in the database, which is not the same as the pen number in the DRAFT Administrator
User Defined Pen Settings form.)
For example, you might have DRAFT pen numbers 217 and 222 set up as:
setpen 217 colour 4 solid lthick 2 lpic 4 glyph 1
lpicture 22 mode 3 size 2 repeat 12 gap 4
setpen 222 colour 6 solid lthick 1 lpic 22 glyph 12
and wish to map these to the MicroStation custom line-styles Pneumatic and ‘Data link’
respectively. For this you could use the switch setting:
SWITCH MapLineStyleByPen '217:Pneumatic,222:|Data link|'
Custom line-style names can include spaces and punctuation; for example, the default
MicroStation/J installation includes styles { -E- } and { Cable / Tele }. See Section 0 for
details of when you must quote the style-names. As this mapping can get long, you may
need to use the continuation facilities described in Section 0.
MapColour
Both DRAFT and MicroStation use colour numbers, and the mapping between them is
controlled by the MapColour switch. The interpretation of these colours by MicroStation
depends on the colour-table loaded (this can be included in the seed file). For example:
SWITCH MapColour '1:11,2:1,3:6,4:2,5:3,6:4,7:5,8:37,9:33,10:0, 15:254'
SWITCH MapColour '1:96,2:51,3:22,4:52,5:50,6:15,7:49,8:64,9:51,
10:0,11:96,12:13,13:63,14:197,15:25416:37'
The second example gives a fairly close fit in MicroStation to the PDMS colours used if
no seed-file is specified. This is the default mapping. Any unmapped colours are mapped
to MicroStation colour 0.
The sample seed-file pdmsSeed2d.dgn contains this mapping. The following mapping
should be used with this seed-file:
SWITCH MapColour ‘1-256:0-255’
The default mapping is 1-256:0-255. Any unmapped colours are mapped to MicroStation
colour 0. This mapping should be used when the supplied seedfile is used.
MarkerSize
This option sets the size of a DRAFT marker in millimetres (at scale 1). The size of a
marker in the DGN file will be the product of this size, the scale of the relevant DRAFT
pen, and the overall ScaleFactor switch setting (see Section 0). The default is 1.0.

Version 11.6SP1
7.4.5 Font Related Options

In addition to the font switches below, further work is required to import DRAFT text
correctly into MicroStation. This is covered more fully in Appendix D Guidelines for
Importing DGN Files from DRAFT into MicroStation. The following summarises the
requirements:
• PDMS DRAFT fonts must be set up in MicroStation using a fonts resource file. The
contents of this file are project-specific. A pdmsSamFont.rsc file is provided, based on
the fonts used in the SAM project supplied with PDMS.
• In order for the geometric data required to be exported to MicroStation, it is also
necessary to use font geometry files during the transfer to the DGN file. Such files
fontnnn.dgn, where nnn is the Microstation font number, may be set up using
MicroStation. These files are provided in the dgndata directory below
%PDMSEXE%. In order to use these files, it is necessary to set up an environment
variable %OPENDGN_FONT_DIR% which points to this directory.
MapFont
This option maps from DRAFT's font numbers (11-16, 21-26, 31-36, 41-46) and the
special SYMBOL to MicroStation font numbers. DRAFT font numbers 1 and 10 are
treated as equivalent to 11, 2 and 20 as equivalent to 21, 3 and 30 as equivalent to 31, 4
and 40 as equivalent to 41. For example:
SWITCH MapFont '11-16:133,21-23:6,24-26:134,31-33:172, 34-
36:177,41-43:173,44-46:181,SYMBOL:186'
It is possible to modify the MicroStation font size and position by fractions of the
original size; for example:
SWITCH MapFont '11-16:133w0.8h1.2u0.2'
This scales the font by a factor of 0.8 horizontally and a factor of 1.2 vertically, and
shifts it up by 0.2 of a character height. The control codes include:
w Width Factor
h Height Factor
u Offset Up
r Offset Right
s Slope (in degrees)
l Underline Separation
p Adjustments for a PDMS font (this includes scaling of w1.25h1.25)
m Adjustments for a MicroStation native font (default).
For example:
SWITCH MapFont ‘11-13:133p,14-16:105m,21-23:6p,24-26:134p,31-
33:172p,34-36:177p,41-43:173p,44-46:181p,SYMBOL:186p’
This font mapping maps PDMS fonts with a best fit for adjustment factors. For PDMS
Font family 1, the bold font is mapped to a MicroStation native font.
The default is:
SWITCH MapFont '11-46:105,SYMBOL:105'

Version 11.6SP1
Note that using the SYMBOL font will only produce good results if it is mapped to a font
containing suitable symbol-characters in the correct character positions. The SYMBOL
font is included in the MicroStation resource file pdmsSamFont.rsc supplied with
PDMS. When using the supplied resource file, the following font mapping should be
used:
SWITCH MapFont ‘11-16:201p,21-23:202p,24-26:203p,31-33:204p,34-
36:205p,41-43:206p,44-46:207p,SYMBOL:255p’
A.1.1.1 FontSlopes
This option controls whether DRAFT font slopes are translated into MicroStation text
slants (default On) or are ignored (Off).
7.4.6 Level-Related Options

MicroStation/J supports a maximum of 63 levels (numbered 1–63). Each DGN graphical
element is on one and only one level. MicroStation also offers names for levels, but
Draft_DGN_LI always refers to levels by number.
LevelDefault
This switch sets the default level: i.e. the level that will be used if no other switches or
rules apply. The default value is 1. For example:
SWITCH LevelDefault '63'
LevelPen
This switch can set a mapping to DGN levels associated with DRAFT pen numbers. This
allows fine control of which levels are used for which parts of the DRAFT drawing. (Note
that this is the pen-number as stored in the database, which is not the same as the pen
number in the DRAFT Administrator User Defined Pen Settings form.)
For example:
SWITCH LevelPen '10-20:30-40,100-200:63'
This puts lines and text drawn with pen 10 onto level 30, pen 11 onto level 31 and so on,
up to pen 20 onto level 40. DRAFT pens 100 to 200 are put onto level 63. Any other pens
have no specific levels, and the default level is used.
Note that levels set by LevelBack (see Section 0) or Level Rules (see Section 0) take
priority over this switch.
LevelBack
This switch can set the level number for the backing sheet and everything contained
within it. The default is Off. If this option is switched On, then no other level switches or
rules will apply to items within the backing sheet. For example:
SWITCH LevelBack '63'
This uses level 63 for the backing sheet and everything within it.

Version 11.6SP1
Level Rules
Standard PDMS selection syntax is used to define Level Rules. These specify how PDMS
design elements are to be organised onto DGN Levels. For example:
LEVEL ALL STRU, 'ON 36'
LEVEL ALL BRAN WITH ( HBOR GE 100 OR TBOR GE 100 ) , 'ON 40'
LEVEL ALL EQUI WITH :purpose EQ HVAC, 'ON 44'
LEVEL ( /C1101 ) , 'ON 55'
LEVEL ALL LAYE WITH ( PURP EQ 'ADCA' ) , 'ON 21'
LEVEL ALL LAYE WITH ( PURP EQ 'ADEA' ) , 'ON 22'
LEVEL ALL LAYE WITH ( PURP EQ 'MATB' ) , 'ON 23'
LEVEL ALL LAYE , 'ON 24'
Rules are applied in order; therefore, if a rule has already been applied for a given
element, a later rule will not affect it. Using the order specified in the above examples, a
LAYE with PURP ‘ADCA’ will be placed on level 21 not on level 24. However a LAYE
with PURP ‘XXXX’ would still be placed on level 24 even if there was a later rule which
apparently placed it elsewhere.
Design elements which can have level rules include: SITE, ZONE, STRU, SUBS,
FRMW, SBFR, EQUI, SUBE, PIPE, BRAN, HVAC, REST, GRDM, PTRA, BOUN,
DRAWI (when owned by a SITE or ZONE) and all Piping Components.
DRAFT elements which can have level rules include: LAYE, NOTE, OLAY, VNOT,
GLAB, SLAB, ADIM, LDIM, PDIM and RDIM.
These rules can operate with a level pool. This consists of one or more levels, which are
allocated as required. For example, a DRAFT Sheet may have several overlays, and you
may want each overlay on a separate DGN Level within the range 50 to 59 (the levels
assigned for overlays in your drawing standards).
A level pool consists of one or more integers or integer ranges, separated by commas,
with the optional characters ‘R’, meaning repeat the pool if necessary, and 'D integer' to
specify a default value when the pool is exhausted (see Section 0).
For example, to use levels 3, 5, 6, and 7 for the first four sites, and then put any other
sites on level 9, specify the switch setting:
LEVEL ALL SITE ,'POOL 3,5-7D9'
To use levels 6–10 for all sites, reusing them in turn as necessary, specify:
LEVEL ALL SITE ,'POOL 6-10R '
To use levels 6–10 for the first four sites, then put any other sites on levels specified by
whatever other switches apply, do not use either a ‘D’ or an ‘R, thus:
LEVEL ALL SITE ,'POOL 6-10'
(Note that only the first rule that matches an element is ever considered.)
7.4.7 Group Related Options

MicroStation groups are also known as anonymous or orphan cells. They have a limited
capacity. If a group reaches this limit, that group will be closed and a new group opened

Version 11.6SP1
(a message will be written to the log-file, if any, each time this occurs). Any tags
associated with the group will be associated with the first group created.
Note that the groups produced are never nested.
GroupSymb
The default for this switch is Off. If it is switched On, a single group is created for each
instanced DRAFT symbol if no other group is active.
GroupFill
DRAFT hatch/fill pattern if no other group is active.
GroupFrame
DRAFT view frame if no other group is active. This option puts the line representing the
frame itself, not the contents of the frame, into the group.
Group Rules
Standard PDMS selection syntax is used to define Group Rules. These specify how
PDMS design elements are to be organised into MicroStation groups. If PDMS
attributes are included in group definitions, they will be attached to the groups as
MicroStation tags. For example:
GROUP ALL STRU, INCLUDE NAME
GROUP ALL BRAN WITH ( HBOR GE 100 ) , INCLUDE NAME SPREF
Design elements which can have group rules include: SITE, ZONE, STRU, SUBS,
FRMW, SBFR, EQUI, SUBE, PIPE, BRAN, HVAC, REST, GRDM, PTRA, BOUN,
DRAWI (when owned by a SITE or ZONE) and all Piping Components.
DRAFT elements which can have group rules include: LAYE, NOTE, OLAY, VNOT,
GLAB, SLAB, ADIM, LDIM, PDIM and RDIM.
Only the first Group rule that matches an element is ever considered. The order of the
rules is therefore important.
Note that elements may be both grouped and levelled. Group rules specify that one
group will be created for each occurrence of an element that fits a given rule. Level rules
specify that all elements, which fit a given rule, will be placed on the same level or range
of levels. For example:
GROUP ALL GLAB places each GLAB in a separate group
LEVEL ALL GLAB, ‘ON 25’ places the group for each GLAB on Level 25

Version 11.6SP1
7.4.8 Product Support Options

LogFileName
This switch sets the name used for the log file. The default value is
‘%PDMSUSER%\Draft_DGN_LI_log.txt’. For example:
SWITCH LogFileName '%PDMSUSER%\example27.txt'
7.4.9 Validation feature and options

It is important to be able to syntax-check switches and rules. The Validate feature
checks the syntax of all switches in a supplied configuration. For example:
LIEXEC /Draft_DGN_LI 'VALIDATE' MapColour 1-256:0-255'
It also has extra switches, CheckLevelRule and CheckGroupRule, which check that
values are valid as the text string for a Level or Group rule, respectively. For example:
LIEXEC /Draft_DGN_LI 'VALIDATE' CHECKLEVELRULE 'POOL 3,5,8-10R'
LIEXEC /Draft_DGN_LI 'VALIDATE' CHECKGROUPRULE 'INCLUDE NAME'
It is expected that the Validate feature will be used mainly by applicationware and
macro writers.

Version 11.6SP1
7.4.10 Summary of Switches and Rules to Control DGN Export

Option name Value [default] Description
OutPutFileName [‘output.dgn’] Pathname for DGN export file.
SeedFileName [internal default Pathname for seed file used to create
seed file] DGN export file.
Units Ratios of Master Units to Sub-Units and
of Units of Resolution (Positional Units)
to Sub-Units. Can also specify
descriptions (max. two characters) for
Master Units and Sub-Units.
ScaleFactor [1.0] Scaling factor applied to entire DGN file.
ShiftX [0.0] Horizontal shift in Master Units applied
to the entire DGN file.
ShiftY [0.0] Vertical shift in Master Units applied to
the entire DGN file.
ExcludeBack On Suppresses transfer of DRAFT Backing
Layer to DGN file.
[Off] DRAFT Backing Layer transferred to
DGN file.
ExcludeOlay On Suppresses transfer of DRAFT Overlays
to DGN file.
[Off] DRAFT Overlays transferred to DGN file.
ExcludeSheetFrame On Suppresses transfer of DRAFT Sheet
Frame to DGN file.
[Off] DRAFT Sheet Frames transferred to
DGN file.
ExcludeFill On Suppresses transfer of Hatching (
including solid fill) to the DGN file
[Off] Hatching and solid fill transferred to
DGN file.
ExcludeSolidFill On Suppresses transfer to the DGN file of
Solid fill
[Off] Solid fill transferred to DGN file.
ExcludeArrowFill On Suppresses transfer to the DGN file of fill
for Dimension-line and Leader-line
terminators

Version 11.6SP1

[Off] Fill for Terminators transferred to DGN
file.
MapLineWeights [1–11:0–10] MicroStation has 32 line weights (0–31);
DRAFT has 11 line weights (1–11).
MapLineStyle [Solid:0, Maps DRAFT's line patterns to nearest
Dashed:2, equivalent MicroStation line style,
Dotted:1, ignoring line pictures and glyphs. Any
Chained:4, unmapped line styles default to Solid
LDashed:3 lines.
DDotted:6]
MapLineStyleByPen Maps DRAFT's pen numbers, which can
define combinations of line pattern, line
thickness and glyphs, to MicroStation
line styles.
MapColour Maps DRAFT colour numbers to
MicroStation colour numbers.
MarkerSize [1.0] Sets size of a DRAFT marker in mm (at
scale = 1).
MapFont [11–46:105, Maps DRAFT font numbers (11–16, 21–
SYMBOL:105] 26, 31–36, 41–46, SYMBOL) to
MicroStation font numbers.
FontSlopes [On] Translates DRAFT font slopes to
MicroStation text slants.
Off Ignores DRAFT font slopes.
LevelDefault [1] Sets default level to be used by
MicroStation if no other switches or rules
apply.
LevelPen Map items associated with specific
DRAFT pen numbers to MicroStation
levels.
LevelBack Sets MicroStation level to be used for
backing sheet (and items within it).
Level Rules A set of rules that assign specified PDMS
element types to MicroStation levels. Can
use R (repeat) and D (default) syntax to
set up level pools.
GroupSymb On Creates single MicroStation group for
each DRAFT symbol if no other group is
active.

Version 11.6SP1

[Off] Does not automatically create group for
DRAFT symbols.
GroupFill On Creates single MicroStation group for
each DRAFT hatch/fill pattern if no other
group is active.
DRAFT hatch/fill patterns.
GroupFrame On Creates single MicroStation group for
each DRAFT view frame if no other
group is active. (Group will contain frame
line, but not frame content.)
DRAFT view frame.
Group Rules A set of rules that assign specified PDMS
element types to MicroStation groups.
Any PDMS attributes included in group
definitions will be attached to groups as
MicroStation tags.
LogFile On Creates log file to record error messages
generated during creation of DGN file.
[Off] Log file is not created.
LogFileName [%PDMSUSER% Pathname for log file (if LogFile is set to
\DRAFT_DGN_ On).
LI_log.txt]
7.4.11 Limitations
The following limitations apply:
• DRAFT's intelligent blanking primitives are not exported to the DGN file.
• User-defined glyphs and line pictures (see Sections 8.3.4 and 8.3.5) are ignored.
However, it is possible to specify a MicroStation custom line-style for a given
DRAFT pen number.
• Differentially scaled symbols are not supported.
• Hatching (fill) is exported as a set of poly-lines.
• Dimensions are not exported as MicroStation dimensions. However, they may be
grouped.
• Multi-byte fonts are not supported with MicroStation/J.

Version 11.6SP1
8 Pens and Linestyles
8.1 Introduction
Every graphics primitive in DRAFT is drawn in a specific line pen. Each pen has a pen
number in the range 1-255.
Each numbered pen can be defined to have some or all of the following attributes:
• A colour.
• A line representation. This applies to all drawn lines. Each representation itself
has the following attributes:
• A thickness - 11 widths.
• A pattern - solid, dashed, dotted etc; a choice of 10 predefined patterns is
available; you can also define your own.
• A glyph (optional) - a symbol used in the definition of a line picture (see
below). A choice of 20 glyphs is available; you can also define your own.
• A line picture (optional) - defining the size of the glyphs, their spacing and
the length of gap (if any) made for them in the line path. A choice of 20
predefined line pictures is available; you can also define your own.
• A marker type. A choice of five marker types (drawn at a user-definable scale) is
available.
• A hatch pattern (used only for closed polyline graphics primitives, e.g. circles
(CIRC), rectangles (RECT) etc). A choice of 20 predefined line pictures is available;
you can also define your own.
Each of the above attributes is discussed in detail in sections 8.2 - 8.5. How to set up a
(numbered) pen with the above attributes is defined in section 8.6. Having set up a pen,
the pen number can then be assigned to a number of pen attributes possessed by various
DRAFT elements. These elements and their relevant attributes are referred to
throughout this manual, but a few general rules are given in section 8.7.
The term linestyle is used here and elsewhere in this document to describe the overall
appearance of a line in terms of its thickness, pattern and picture.

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
Figure 8-1 shows some of the possibilities.
Figure 8-1 Miscellaneous Line Patterns/Thicknesses, Fill Patterns

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
8.2 Colours
You may define colour numbers 1 to 128. The COLOUR command is used to define the
Red-Green-Blue mix for a colour number or to assign a predefined colour mix by name.
For example:
COLOUR 3 GREEN
COL 4 WHITESMOKE
COL 128 MIX RED 80 GREEN 50 BLUE 50
COL 100 MIX RED 50 GRE 50 BLU 0
Note: When colours are mixed in their Red, Green, and Blue constituents the
command line must contain values for all three constituents in the correct
order. The numbers entered for the relative proportions of the basic colours
must each be in the range 0-100, but they are not percentages of the overall
colour and so do not need to add up to 100.
Colour numbers 1 to 16 are assigned by default to the following predefined colours:

Colour 1 GREY Colour 9 BROWN
Colour 2 RED Colour 10 WHITE
Colour 3 ORANGE Colour 11 PINK
Colour 4 YELLOW Colour 12 MAUVE
Colour 5 GREEN Colour 13 TURQUOISE
Colour 6 CYAN Colour 14 INDIGO
Colour 7 BLUE Colour 15 BLACK
Colour 8 VIOLET Colour 16 MAGENTA
The complete set of (50) predefined colours, which you may specify by name, is:
COLOUR MIXTURE
Red Green Blue
black 0 0 0
white 100 100 100
whitesmoke 96 96 96
ivory 93 93 88
grey 66 66 66
lightgrey 75 75 75
darkgrey 32 55 55
darkslate 18 31 31
red 80 0 0
brightred 100 0 0
coralred 80 36 27
tomato 100 39 28
plum 55 40 55
deeppink 93 7 54
(continued)

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
COLOUR MIXTURE
Red Green Blue
pink 80 57 62
salmon 98 50 44
orange 93 60 0
brightorange 100 65 0
orangered 100 50 0
maroon 6 14 42
yellow 80 80 0
gold 93 79 20
lightyellow 93 93 82
lightgold 93 91 67
yellowgreen 60 80 20
springgreen 0 100 50
green 0 80 0
forestgreen 14 56 14
darkgreen 18 31 18
cyan 0 93 93
turquoise 0 75 80
aquamarine 46 93 78
blue 0 0 80
royalblue 28 46 100
navyblue 0 0 50
powderblue 69 88 90
midnight 18 18 31
steelblue 28 51 71
indigo 20 0 40
mauve 40 0 60
violet 93 51 93
magenta 87 0 87
beige 96 96 86
wheat 96 87 70
tan 86 58 44
sandybrown 96 65 37
brown 80 17 17
khaki 62 62 37
chocolate 93 46 13
darkbrown 55 27 8
How to assign a colour to a pen number is described in Section 8.6.
8.3 Line Representations
Lines may have some or all of the representation attributes listed in Section 8.1.
Examples of the available options are illustrated in the following sections.

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
8.3.1 Line Thicknesses

Line Pen can be defined as having a thickness index in the range 1 to 11, defined
using the LTHICKNESS keyword. Increasing the thickness index by 1 will increase the
line thickness by approx 0.2mm.
LTHICK 1 gives the thinnest line (single stroke)
LTHICK 11 gives the thickest (approx 2mm)
Predefined settings are THIN and THICK.
THIN corresponds to LTHICK 1
THICK corresponds to LTHICK 3
See section 8.6.2 for examples of using the SETPEN command to set line thickness to a
pen number.
8.3.2 Line Patterns

A choice of 10 predefined line patterns is available (see Figure 8-2); you may also define
your own.
SOLID DDASHED
DASHED DDOTTED
DOTTED FDOTTED
CHAINED DCHAINED
LDASHED TCHAINED
Figure 8-2 Line Patterns

Line Pattern is defined in terms of two parameters:
Pattern description: a sequence of dashes and gaps each with an integer
specifying their relative lengths.
Pattern repeat distance: the approximate distance at which the pattern is repeated
and to which the sum of the lengths of all the dashes and
gaps are scaled. If not specified a repeat distance of 25mm
(1in) is assumed.

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
The two parameters are defined by the LPATTERN command, which takes the general
form:
LPATTERN int [TEMplate [int |name] | REPeat distance ]
[ [ REPeat distance ] pattern_description ]
The pattern_description is specified by a series of DASH and GAP keywords and relative
lengths (given in integers). For example, a chained pattern description could be given as:
DASH 20 GAP 5 DASH 5 GAP 5
A pattern description must start with a dash and it is recommended that it should end
with one as well so that lines do not end with a gap but are drawn to their full length. It
would therefore be better if the previous example was defined as:
DASH 10 GAP 5 DASH 5 GAP 5 DASH 10
If the TEMPLATE option is used then DRAFT will take the Line Pattern specified by the
template name or number as the starting point for the definition of the new Line
Pattern. In order to change the repeat distance of an existing user-defined Line Pattern
it should be specified as the template. It is not possible to change the definition of the 10
predefined Line Patterns. The LPATTERN and TEMPLATE numbers must be in the
range 1 - 100.
The definitions of the 10 predefined Line Patterns are:
Pattern Name REPEAT DASH GAP DASH GAP DASH GAP DASH
distance
SOLID - - - - - - - -
DASHED 12 4 4 4 - - - -
DOTTED 6 8 44 8 - - - -
CHAINED 24 80 32 16 32 80 - -
LDASHED 18 72 36 72 - - - -
DDASHED 22 25 25 50 24 2 24 25
DDOTTED 16 25 24 2 24 2 24 25
FDOTTED 3 1 23 1 - - - -
DCHAINED 30 60 25 25 25 25 25 60
TCHAINED 45 100 25 25 25 25 25 25
25 100
The Repeat distances are in millimetres, the DASH and GAP values are relative sizes.
See section 8.6.2 for examples of using the SETPEN command to set line pattern to a
pen number.
Note that the appearance of a pattern on a screen will not be identical to that obtained
in plotfiles and DXF files. In particular, the size of the marks and spaces will not be
affected by zooming in or out.

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
8.3.3 Glyphs
A choice of 20 predefined line glyphs is available, see Figure 8-3, and you can also define
your own, see Section 8.3.4. The actual size and spacing of the glyph will depend upon
the line picture with which it is used.

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
Glyph 1 Double slash
Glyph 2 L
Glyph 3 Cross
Glyph 4 Zigzag 1
Glyph 5 Zigzag 2
Glyph 6 Break symbol
Glyph 7 Transverse bar
Glyph 8 Arrowhead, forward pointing, unfilled
Glyph 9 Arrowhead, backward pointing, unfilled
Glyph 10 Open arrowhead, forward pointing
Glyph 11 Open arrowhead, backward pointing
Glyph 12 Circle, unfilled
Glyph 13 Square, unfilled
Glyph 14 Hexagon, unfilled
Glyph 15 Diamond, unfilled
Glyph 16 Arrowhead, forward pointing, filled
Glyph 17 Arrowhead, backward pointing, filled
Glyph 18 Circle, filled
Glyph 19 Star
Glyph 20 Thick bar
Figure 8-3 Predefined Glyphs 1 to 20

Version 11.6SP1
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8.3.4 User-defined Glyphs

User-defined glyphs are created by defining a series of spans, which can be straight lines
or circular arcs. The ends of the spans are defined by pairs of coordinates. Arc
definitions must specify the subtended angle, which must lie between –180 and +180. A
positive angle defines a counter-clockwise arc, a negative angle a clockwise one. A
Polyline may have up to 49 spans and a Polyarc up to 19.
Glyphs can include breaks and solid-filled areas, and new glyphs can be created from
existing ones by inverting or adding spans to them.
The actual size of a glyph is not defined until it is used in conjunction with a Line-
Picture. The size is then determined by mapping the EXTENT value of the glyph onto
the SIZE attribute of the Line-Picture. Thus if a glyph with EXTENT 2000 consisting of a
circle of diameter 1000 is used in conjunction with a Line-Picture with SIZE 6mm and
REPEAT 20mm the final line will have 3mm circles drawn every 20mm. Except for very
simple glyph designs it is recommended that an EXTENT of 2000 is used.
Each glyph must have a number in the range 1 - 100. The predefined glyphs supplied in
DRAFT are numbered 1 to 20.
The general forms of the command are:
LGLYPH glyph_no STArt EXTent value polyspan polyspan . . .
Defines a glyph starting from an empty glyph
LGLYPH glyph_no ADD polyspan
Adds additional polyspans to the definition of an existing glyph
LGLYPH glyph_no TEMplate glyph_no . . . options. . . ADD polyspan
Defines a glyph starting from the current definition of another glyph. The
initial definition may be filled, or inverted about the X or Y axis (or both)
before optional polyspans are added to it. Note that in this case an EXTENT
of 2000 will be assumed.
The FILL option specifies that the following lines and arcs are to be considered as
outlines bounding a solidly-filled area. Each succeeding BREAK causes the preceding
outline to be closed by a straight line span. The NOFILL option causes the area bounded
by the outlines since the last fill to be treated as the multiple boundary of an area that is
solidly filled. Further lines or arcs are no longer treated as outlines until the next FILL.
FILL and NOFILL both imply BREAK. Outlines may be either outer boundaries or holes:
by convention, outlines are specified in a sense that keeps the filled area on the left –
counter-clockwise around outer boundaries, clockwise around holes – but this is not
mandatory.
A straight line will be automatically generated between consecutive PLINEs and PARCs
unless a BREAK, FILL, or NOFILL option is specified.

Version 11.6SP1
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Examples
The following examples define the standard glyphs supplied, which are illustrated in
Figure 8-3.
Glyph 1: Double slash
LGLYPH 1 START EXTENT 20 PLINE 5 10 -15 -10 BREAK PLI -5 -10 15 10
Glyph 2: L Symbol
LGLYPH 2 STA EXT 20 PLI 0 10 0 -10 10 -10
Glyph 3: Cross
LGLYPH 3 STA EXT 20 PLI -10 -10 10 10 BRE PLI -10 10 10 -10
Glyph 4: Zigzag 1
LGLYPH 4 STA EXT 20 PLI -10 0 -10 10 10 -10 10 0
Glyph 5: Zigzag 2
LGLYPH 5 STA EXT 20 PLI -20 0 -10 10 10 -10 20 0
Glyph 6: Line-break symbol:

LGLYPH 6 STA EXT 34 PLI -17 0 10 34 -10 -34 17 0
Glyph 7: Transverse bar:

LGLYPH 7 STA EXT 20 PLI 0 10 0 -10
Glyph 8: Arrow head (in path direction):

LGLYPH 8 STA EXT 20 PLI 10 0 -10 5 -10 -5 10 0
Glyph 9: Arrow head (in anti-path direction):

LGLYPH 9 TEMPLATE 8 XINVERT
Glyph 10: Open Arrow head (in path direction):

LGLYPH 10 STA EXT 20 PLI 0 10 10 0 0 -10
Glyph 11: Open Arrow head (in anti-path direction):

LGLYPH 11 TEM 10 XIN
Glyph 12: Circle:

LGLYPH 12 STA EXT 20 PARC 10 0 180 -10 0 180 10 0
Glyph 13: Square:

LGLYPH 13 STA EXT 20 PLI 10 10 -10 10 -10 -10 10 -10 10 10

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
Glyph 14: Hexagon:

LGLYPH 14 STA EXT 2000 PLI 1000 0 500 866 -500 866
LGLYPH 14 ADD PLI -1000 0 -500 -866 500 -866 1000 0
Glyph 15: Diamond:

LGLYPH 15 STA EXT 20 PLI -10 0 0 10 10 0 0 -10 -10 0
Glyph 16: Filled Arrow head (in path direction):

LGLYPH 16 TEM 8 FILL
Glyph 17: Filled Arrow head (in anti-path direction):

LGLYPH 17 TEM 16 XIN
Glyph 18: Filled circle:

LGLYPH 18 TEM 12 FILL
Glyph 19: Star:

LGLYPH 19 STA EXT 2000 PLI 924 383 -924 -383 BRE PLI 383 924 -383 -924
LGLYPH 19 ADD BRE PLI -383 924 383 -924 BRE PLI -924 383 924 -383
Glyph 20: Thick bar:

LGLYPH 20 STA EXT 20 FIL PLI -20 -1 0 -1 PARC 0 –1 180 0 1 PLI -20 1 -20 -1
8.3.5 Line Pictures

A predefined set of line pictures is provided; it is also possible for you to define your own.
Line Picture is defined in terms of four parameters:
Mode: A code number (1 - 6) to signify how the glyphs are to be
distributed. If a value is not specified, 3 is assumed.
The MODE number is interpreted as follows:
Mode Meaning
Number
1-3 Glyphs spaced along the line. Mode = 3 is

recommended to give the best overall results.
Mode = 1 or 2 may give untidy effects at the
ends of spans.
4 One glyph at end of line.
5 One glyph at beginning of line, with axes reversed.
6 A glyph at each end of line, the first having axes
reversed.

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Glyph size: The SIZE to which the glyph reference size is scaled. This
value must be specified.
Glyph repeat distance: The approximate frequency of the glyphs. The first glyph
has its origin at half the REPEAT distance from the start of
the line. With Mode = 2 or 3 DRAFT will adjust the specified
repeat distance so as to give an integer number of repeats.
For Mode = 4, 5 or 6 the glyphs will be placed with their
origins at half the repeat distance from the appropriate
ends. With Mode = 4, 5 or 6 the repeat distance may be 0 or
unspecified, otherwise it must be specified and be greater
than 0.
All DRAFT’s predefined glyphs (except numbers 10, 11, and
20) have their origins at their centres and thus a repeat
distance of 0 with Mode = 4, 5 or 6 will cause them to be
centred upon the end(s) of the primitive. This is generally
satisfactory for balloons, dots, etc but with arrowheads it
will cause the primitive to appear longer than specified. To
avoid this, the repeat distance should be equal to the SIZE
value. This will cause the origin of each glyph to be
positioned at half the repeat distance from the end.
Gap length: The length of each GAP in the path. This may be 0 if no gaps
are required. If it exceeds the repeat distance then the path
itself is completely omitted - only the glyphs will be drawn.
If not specified then 0 is assumed.
In addition, the template option, if used, causes DRAFT to take the Line Picture
specified by the template number as the starting point for the definition of the new Line
Picture. In order to change the definition of an existing Line Picture it should be
specified as the template. The TEMPLATE number must be in the range 1-100.
Predefined Line Pictures
The line is drawn in the current thickness and pattern (i.e. dashed, chained etc). There
are 400 possible line picture/glyph combinations. Figure 8-4 shows the 20 line pictures
combined with one glyph (glyph 15).
Line pictures 1-9 produce small glyphs, which will generally fit neatly in a 2mm gap in
the line. Line pictures 10-14 produce glyphs that are twice as big, and so most will fit
into a 4mm gap.

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
Actual definitions are:

Line Picture TEMPLATE MODE SIZE REPEAT distance GAP
1 3 2 12 2
2 1 2 25 2
3 1 2 50 2
4 3 2 12 0
5 4 2 25 0
6 4 2 50 0
7 3 2 12 50000
8 7 2 25 50000
9 7 2 50 50000
10 3 4 25 4
11 10 4 50 4
12 10 4 75 4
13 3 4 50 50000
14 13 4 75 50000
Where gaps are marked ‘50000’ the line itself is omitted, i.e. only the glyphs are drawn.
This style could be used, for example, to draw a series of arrowheads to denote flow
direction in pipework without drawing the centreline of the pipework. It is for this
reason that the set of glyphs includes backward-pointing arrowheads.
Line pictures 15-20 put the glyph at the end(s) of the line. Line pictures 15 and 16
produce small (2mm) glyphs, line-pictures 17 and 18 are larger (4mm), and 19 and 20
are much larger (generally equivalent to 12mm diameter). Actual definitions are:
Line Picture TEMPLATE MODE SIZE REPEAT distance GAP

15 4 2 0 0
16 15 6 2 0
17 4 4 4 0
18 17 6 4 0
19 4 12 0 12
20 19 6 12 12
All distances quoted (i.e. SIZE, REP, and GAP values) are in millimetres.

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
When a glyph is omitted from the definition of a pen, the line picture will be drawn with
any gaps that the line picture defines. When a line picture is omitted from the
definition, any glyph assigned to the pen will be ignored. Glyphs and line pictures may
be removed from the definition of a pen by the GLYPH OFF and LPICTURE OFF syntax,
see section 8.6.
LPIC 1
LPIC 2
LPIC 3
LPIC 4
LPIC 5
LPIC 6
LPIC 7
LPIC 8
LPIC 9
LPIC 10
LPIC 11
LPIC 12
LPIC 13
LPIC 14
LPIC 15
LPIC 16
LPIC 17
LPIC 18
LPIC 19
LPIC 20
Figure 8-4 Predefined Line Pictures

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
User-Defined Line Pictures

The four parameters are defined by the LPICTURE command, which takes the general
form:
LPICTURE int [TEMplate int] | MODE int | SIZE distance | REPeat distance |GAP distance
For example
LPICTURE 22 MODE 3 SIZE 4 REP 25 GAP 10
If the TEMPLATE option is used then DRAFT will take the Line Picture specified by the
template number as the starting point for the definition of the new Line Picture. In
order to change the definition of an existing Line Picture it should be specified as the
template. The LPICTURE and TEMPLATE numbers must be in the range 1-100.
Users should note that line picture parameters are affected by scale. This means, for
instance, that if a Symbol Template is defined using a pen with line picture assigned,
then when that template is instanced to define a Symbol the size and frequency of the
glyphs will be affected by the scale of the Symbol.
This also means that if a pen with Line Picture assigned is used to draw 3D design
graphics then the size and frequency of the glyphs will be reduced by the view scale.
8.4 Marker Types
The marker type attribute is used to define the symbol to be used to represent p-points
and MRKP primitives. A choice of five marker types (drawn at a user-definable scale) is
available.
. (STOP)
x (CROSS)
+ (PLUS)
* (STAR)
o (RING)
Figure 8-5 P-Point Marker Types

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
8.5 Hatch Patterns
A predefined set of hatch patterns is provided; it is also possible for you to define your
own. Hatch Pattern is defined in terms of three parameters:
Angle: the slope of the hatch lines in degrees measured in a
counter-clockwise direction from the horizontal. The value
specified must lie in the range -360 to 360. If not specified a
value of 30 will be assumed.
Separation: the spacing between the hatch lines. If 0 then a solid fill is
achieved. The specified value will always be used in plot
files; on terminals the spacing will be device-dependent but
it will be related to the specified value. If no value is given, 4
mm will be assumed.
Offset: this is the offset of the hatch-pattern from the bottom left-
hand corner of the picture. It is only of real use when two
hatch-patterns with the same angle and separation are
combined together in a single pen. If they have different
offsets double-line hatching can be achieved. If no value is
given 0 is assumed.
In addition, the template option, if used, causes DRAFT to take the Hatch Pattern
specified by the template number as the starting point for the definition of the new
Hatch Pattern. In order to change the definition of an existing Hatch Pattern it should
be specified as the template. The TEMPLATE number must be in the range 1-100.
Predefined Hatch Patterns
Twenty predefined hatch patterns plus a solid-fill capability are provided. Hatch
patterns 1-10 are shown (within square RECT primitives) in Figure 8-6. These provide
two separations (2mm and 4mm) and six angles (30, -30, 45, -45, 0, 90). The offset value
for all of these settings is 0mm. Patterns 11-20 are similar except that they have a
different offset value. The offset for the 4mm separated patterns is 0.5mm and that for
the 2mm separated patterns is 1mm.
For all hatch patterns, the (optional) solid-fill colour will be that of the pen to which the
hatch pattern number is assigned. (See section 8.6.2 for an example command.)
It is possible to assign two hatch patterns to a single pen. This enables you to create
more complicated hatching styles. By combining two 4mm-separated patterns that differ
only in offset value (e.g. patterns 4 and 14), you can obtain a double-hatching style.
Combining two 2mm-gapped patterns that differ only in offset value (e.g. patterns 8 and
18) will produce hatching with a 1mm gap. These combination patterns are shown in
Figure 8-7. Other combinations will generally produce cross-hatching; examples of
possible permutations are shown in Figure 8-8.
Actual definitions are:
Hatch TEMPLATE ANGLE SEPARATION OFFSET

Pattern

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
Hatch TEMPLATE ANGLE SEPARATION OFFSET

Pattern
1 30 4 0
2 1 -30 4 0
3 1 45 4 0
4 1 -45 4 0
5 1 0 2 0
6 1 90 2 0
7 1 30 2 0
8 2 -30 2 0
9 3 45 2 0
10 4 -45 2 0
11 1 30 4 0.5
12 2 -30 4 0.5
13 3 45 4 0.5
14 4 -45 4 0.5
15 5 0 2 1
16 6 90 2 1
17 7 30 2 1
18 8 -30 2 1
19 9 45 2 1
20 10 -45 2 1
All distances quoted (SEPARATION and OFFSET) are in millimetres.

User-Defined Hatch Patterns
The four parameters are defined by the HPATTERN command, which takes the general
form:
HPATTERN int [[TEMplate int] | ANGLe int | SEParation distance | OFFset distance]
For example:
HPATTERN 22 TEM 3 SEP 6
If the TEMPLATE option is used then DRAFT will take the Hatch Pattern specified by
the template number as the starting point for the definition of the new Hatch Pattern.
In order to change the definition of an existing Hatch Pattern it should be specified as
the template. The HPATTERN and TEMPLATE numbers must be in the range 1-100.

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
HPATTERN 1 HPATTERN 6
Angle 30° Angle 90°
Gap 4mm Gap 2mm
Angle -30° Angle 30°
Gap 4mm Gap 2mm
Angle 45° Angle -30°
Gap 4mm Gap 2mm
Angle -45° Angle 45°
Gap 4mm Gap 2mm
Angle 0° Angle -45°
Gap 2mm Gap 2mm
Figure 8-6 Hatch Patterns 1-10

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
HPATTERN 1 + HPATTERN 6 +
Figure 8-7 Combined Hatch Patterns (Parallel)

Version 11.6SP1
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Figure 8-8 Combined Hatch Patterns (Cross-Hatching)

Version 11.6SP1
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8.6 Defining Pen Settings
8.6.1 Defaults
By default, pens 1-120 are predefined as follows:
Pen Colour Line Line Hatch Pattern Marker Marker

Number Number Pattern Thickness Number Type Scale
1 1 SOLID THIN 1 STOP 1
2 1 DASH THIN 2 PLUS 1
3 1 DOT THIN 3 STAR 1
4 1 CHAIN THIN 4 RING 1
5 1 LDASH THIN 5 CROSS 1
6 1 SOLID THICK 6 STOP 4
7 1 DASH THICK 7 PLUS 4
8 1 DOT THICK 8 STAR 4
9 1 CHAIN THICK 9 RING 4
10 1 LDASH THICK 10 CROSS 4
: : : : : : :
: Increments Repeats Alternates Repeats Repeats Alternates
: by 1 every every every every every every
: 10 pens 5 pens 5 pens 10 pens 5 pens 5 pens
: : : : : : :
Notes: Hatch patterns 11 to 20 and solid fill are not assigned to pens by default.
Glyphs and line pictures are not assigned to pens by default, but a macro
(linestyles.mac) is supplied which, when run, will define pens 201 to 220 to
have the line picture/glyph combinations shown in Figure 8-9.

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
PEN 201
glyph 15 lpic 1
PEN 202
glyph 4 lpic 2
PEN 203
glyph 8 lpic 3
PEN 204
glyph 5 lpic 4
PEN 205
glyph 1 lpic 5
PEN 206
glyph 19 lpic 7
PEN 207
glyph 16 lpic 9
PEN 208
glyph 8 lpic 10
PEN 209
glyph 6 lpic 11
PEN 210
glyph 16 lpic 13
PEN 211
glyph 18 lpic 15
PEN 212
glyph 10 lpic 16
PEN 213
glyph 16 lpic 16
PEN 214
glyph 10 lpic 17
PEN 215
glyph 16 lpic 18
PEN 216
glyph 12 lpic 19
PEN 217
glyph 16 lpic 19
PEN 218
glyph 14 lpic 19
PEN 219
glyph 20 lpic 20
PEN 220
glyph 19 lpic 20
Figure 8-9 Line-Pattern/Glyph Combinations Assigned (by macro) to Pens 201-220

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
8.6.2 User-Definable Pens

All pen settings can be changed from those set by default by the SETPEN command,
which (using its full functionality) takes the form:
SETPEN [int[int]:ALL] | COLOUR [int:col_name] | line_width | LTHICK int | line_pattern | LPATT
int | LPIC [int:OFF] | GLYPH [int:OFF] | HPATT [int[int]] | FILL | marker_type | SCALE int
Where: int = integer;
col_name = predefined colour name as listed in Section 8.2;
line_width = THICK or THIN;
line_pattern = predefined pattern name as listed in Section 8.3.2;
marker_type = predefined marker name as listed in Section 8.4.
Any or all of the eight pen attributes may be set (in any order). For example:
SETPEN 23 THICK DASHED COLOUR 7
SETPEN 99 THIN DCHAINED COL STEELBLUE
SETPEN 207 COL 1 LTHICK 6 SOLID LPIC 9 GLYPH 16 HPATT 7 17
SETPEN 50 THICK LPATTERN 14 COL 7 SCA 4 PLUS GLY OFF LPI
OFF
The syntax allows a range of pens to be defined with one command. For example:
SETP 1 TO 100 LTHI 4
assigns Lthickness 4 to pens 1-100 (the 'TO' is
optional)
SETPEN 42 44 HPATT FILL COL 6
assigns solid fill, in colour 6, to pens 42, 43, and 44
SETP ALL SOLID
assigns linestyle SOLID to all pens ( 1-255)
SETPEN DEF
sets pens 1-255 to their default settings
The SETPEN command sets both the display pen and the plotter pen. These can be set
independently by the DEVPEN and PLOTPEN commands (respectively), which take the
same syntax. For example:
PLOTPEN ALL THIN
set all plotter pens as THIN
DEVPEN 11 20 COL 2 THIN
sets display device pens 11-20 as colour 2 and THIN
Pen settings for marker types are defined by commands such as:
SETP 24 RING SCALE 4
redefines pen 24 on both device and plotfile
DEVP 11 15 SCA 8 CROSS
redefines pens 11-15 on device only
PLOTP ALL SCA 5
redefines scale value only on all plotfile pens

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
Colour number must be an integer in the range 1-128 (except when used with the
PLOTPEN command, see below); marker scale must be an integer in the range 1-8. The
integer used to define line picture, glyph and hatch pattern(s) must be in the range
1-100. OFF is another option for the first two of these, for example:
SETP 99 LPIC OFF GLY OFF
removes line picture/glyph definition from pen 99
When using the PLOTPEN command to define the plotter pen the colour number can be
in the range 1-255. This number is written to PDMS plotfiles as the pen number or as
the layer number (as GT_n) in standard DXF format files. If the SETPEN command is
used with a colour number in the range 129-255, only the plotter colour number is
changed.
Note that if a colour name is specified rather than a number when using the SETPEN
syntax the colour number, written to the plotfile as the pen number or the layer number
in DXF files, will be defined by PDMS and will be in the range 206-255. Thus:
SETP 100 COL 2 THIN DASHED
will cause 2D graphical primitives (drawn in DRAFT pen 100) to be assigned
pen 2 in PDMS plotfiles and to layer GT_2 in DXF files.
However:
SETP 100 COL RED THIN DASHED
will cause 2D graphical primitives (drawn in DRAFT pen 100) to be assigned
pen 214 in PDMS plotfiles and to layer GT_214 in DXF files. (As 214 is the
PDMS system colour for RED.)
8.6.3 Graphical Feedback

The cursor size/resize commands (e.g. VREGION, DEFINE, DIAMETER etc) incorporate a
‘rubber banding’ feature - keeping the left-hand mouse button held down enables an
appropriate shape to be dragged out to the required extent.
The colour of this ‘graphical feedback’ feature is magenta by default, but can be changed
by the SETFEEDBACK command. For example:
SETFEED COL 15
Set rubber banding colour to colour 15.
SETFEED COL BRIGHTORANGE
SETFEED COL DEF
Set rubber banding colour to magenta
The SETFEEDBACK command also controls the appearance of displayed p-points. By
default, when p-points are displayed (see Section 6) they appear as ‘star’ markers, scale
2, in the current feedback colour. The marker type and scale can be changed by:
SETFEEDBACK PPOINTS marker_type [SCALE int]
For example,
SETFEED PPO PLUS
Set p-point symbol to ‘+’

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
SETFEED PPO RING SCALE 3

Set p-point symbol to ‘o’, scale 3
8.6.4 Querying Pen Settings

The colour, line representation, marker style and hatch pattern of a pen may be queried
by commands such as:
Q SETPEN 25 LINE
Query line representation assigned to pen 25
Q SETPEN 64 FILL
Query hatch pattern assigned to pen 64
Q SETPEN 5
Query all attribute settings of pen 5
DEVPEN and PLOTPEN may be queried separately in the same way.
Q SETFEED PPO
Query setting of p-points pen
8.7 DRAFT Element Pen Attributes
Having set up a pen definition, an element will be drawn in that style by assigning the
pen number to the appropriate element attribute. For example (at a 2D drafting
primitive):
SETPEN 33 COL 4
Assign colour 4 to pen 33
NLPN 33
Set the element’s NLPN (note line pen) attribute to pen 33. The element will
be drawn in colour 4.
NLPN (note line pen) is an attribute of all 2D drafting primitives (STRA, RECT, CIRC
etc, see Section 14). Note that NLPN may be set to OFF, which enables filled 2D
primitives with no ‘edge’ to be drawn.
The DRAFT element pen attributes are too numerous to list here, but a general rule is
that they all end in ‘PEN’ or ‘PN’. Most are used to draw lines, and as such may have
any or all of the representation attributes (except hatch pattern and marker type/scale)
detailed in this Section assigned to them. Exceptions to this rule are:
• FPEN (fill pen), an attribute of closed polyline 2D drafting primitives. Only colour
and hatch pattern definition are relevant to this attribute.
For example:
SETPEN 200 COL 7 HPATT 6
FPEN 200
Primitive will be filled with hatch pattern 6 in colour 7

Version 11.6SP1
Pens and Linestyles
SETPEN 200 HPATT FILL

FPEN 200
Primitive will be solid-filled with colour 7
• TPEN (text pen), DTPN (dimension text pen) and PTPN (projection text pen).
These are text pens and as such only colour is relevant.

Version 11.6SP1
9 Reports, Circulation Lists and Revisions
This Section describes how to create the drawing office administrative elements of
reports and circulation lists, and how DRAFT handles revision numbers.
9.1 The Report
The Report (REPO) element may be used to contain brief textual information relating
to a full report (which would exist outside PDMS) on the owning drawing registry. The
relevant part of the DRAFT database is shown in Figure 9-1.
REGI
REPO
TEXT
Figure 9-1 Report Database Hierarchy
A Report has the attributes:

• Circulation List Reference (CLRF). A reference to a circulation list element.
See Section 9.2.
• Date. The report creation date
• Source. The name of the macro which generated the report
• Originator (ORNA. Text to describe the originator of the report
• Filename (FLEN). The name of the file containing the report, as a text string
• Title (TITL). A description of the report
• Revision (RVSN). The revision number of the report

Version 11.6SP1
Reports, Circulation Lists and Revisions
A typical creation sequence for a REPO might be:

NEW REPO
TITL ’REPORT ON VALVES IN ZONE 2’
FLEN ’/REP-A-V’
CLRF /PURCHASING
9.2 The Circulation List
DRAFT gives you the ability to store Drawing Circulation Lists. The relevant part of the
DRAFT database is shown in Figure 9-2.
Library DRWG REPO
CLRF CLRF
CLLB
CIRL
CIRL RECI
RECI
Figure 9-2 Circulation List Database Hierarchy

The Circulation List Library (CLLB) is an administrative element used to group
together Circulation Lists (CIRL), each of which is referred to from the CLRF
(Circulation List Reference) attribute of a Drawing (or Report) element. Each CIRL may
contain other CIRL elements and/or Recipient (RECI) elements. A RECI has the
attributes:
• Recipient Name (RNAM)
• Location (LOCA)
• Number of Copies (COPI)

Version 11.6SP1
An example of setting up a Circulation List hierarchy might be:

NEW CLLB
Create Circulation List Library (at Library level)
NEW CIRL /CL1
Create Circulation List
NEW RECI /RC1
Create Recipients
RNAM ’Tom’
LOCA ’Room F21’
NEW RECI /RC2
RNAM ’Dick’
LOCA ’Room G24’
COPI 2
/DRWG DR1
Set Circulation List Reference
CLRF /CL1
9.3 Drawing Revisions
The Revision (REVI) element enables you to store drawing revision data. A REVI may
be a member of a Drawing element or of a Sheet element, see Figure 9-3.
DRWG
SHEE REVI CIRL
REVI
CLRF
Figure 9-3 The Revision Element

Version 11.6SP1
A REVI has the attributes:

• Approver (APPR)
• Date of Approval (APDT)
• Revision (RVSN)
• Revision text (STEXT)
• Date of Revision (RVDT)
• Revision Author (RVAU)
• Circulation List Reference (CLRF)
RVSN, RVDT and RVAU are all automatically set on REVI creation, but they can then
be edited. The format of the date assigned to RVDT is controlled by the value of the
DATEFOrmat attribute of the relevant DEPT.
Pseudo reference array attributes SREVAY and DREVAY are available to return a list
of the reference of all the REVI elements owned by a Sheet or Drawing. The maximum
array size is 50. The attributes are valid at any element of or below a Sheet or Drawing
respectively. They have been created primarily for use with hash codewords to generate
revision data on drawings, see Section 5.4, Part 2, Drawing Annotation.

Version 11.6SP1
Summary of Commands
At Circulation List . . .
RNAM text - set name of recipient
LOCA text - set location of recipient
COPI integer - set number of copies
At Revision . . .
APPR text - set name of approver
APDT text - set approval date
RVSN [text] - revision letter. Automatically set, but may be overridden
RVAU [text] - revision author. Automatically set, but may be overridden
CLRF name - set Circulation List (CIRL) reference

Version 11.6SP1

Version 11.6SP1
10 Change Highlighting
Change Rules control how Design and Annotation elements that have been changed
are drawn on a DRAFT View and are similar to Representation Rules. Each Change
Rule can be specific to a given type or types of element, or named elements. Change
Rules refer to Change Styles, either Design Change Styles or Annotation Change
Styles, depending on whether the changed element is a Design element or an
Annotation element. The attributes of the Change Styles define the way in which
changed elements will be drawn. Generally this will be by altering the pen(s) used.
Pieces of text may also have their font changed, be underlined, or be enclosed within a
specified style of parentheses. For more information about pens see Chapter 8. For
information about Representation Rules see Section 4.
In order to determine whether Design and Annotation elements have changed, it is
necessary to compare the relevant databases at two points in time. One of these two
points is always the current time. The other point used is a Comparison Date. The
concept of Comparison Dates is discussed in Section 10.5.
Design Change Rules (DCRULE) and Annotation Change Rules (ACRULE) are
stored in Change Rulesets (CRST), which in turn are owned by Representation
Libraries (RPLB).
RPLBs are also used to store Design Change Styles (DCSTYL) and Annotation
Change Styles (ACSTYL). The reference from a DCRULE to a DCSTYL is made by its
DCSTYF attribute, and the reference from an ACRULE to an ACSTYL is made by its
ACSTYF attribute. When a VIEW references a CRST, the reference is made by its CRSF
attribute.
RPLB RPLB
crsf
VIEW CRST DCSTYL ACSTYL
dcstyf
ACRULE DCRULE
acstyf
Figure 10-1 Change Rules Database Hierarchy

Version 11.6SP1
Change Highlighting
The hierarchy of database elements for Change Highlighting is similar to that for
Representation and Auto-hatching and allows company or project standards to be
imposed. However, unlike Representation and Hatching Rules, Change Rules cannot be
owned directly by a VIEW and there are therefore no local change rules.
Once the Rulesets and Styles have been set up, it is just a matter of setting the VIEW
attribute CRSF to point to the Ruleset that you wish to use, defining a Comparison
Date, and issuing an UPDATE command with the SHOW CHAnges option (see Section
10.6).
10.1 Design Change Styles
The Design Change Style (DCSTYL) defines the appearance of changed design
elements specified by a DCRULE that references it. Each DCSTYL defines eight pens
that will be used to draw changed design elements. These eight pens are equivalent to
the six pens of a Representation Style plus the two pens of a Hatching Style. All eight
pens may be set to; a pen number from 1 to 255, to OFF, or to UNCHANGED. If set to
UNCHANGED, the relevant Representation or Hatching Style pen value will be used.
Note that if any of the Representation or Hatching pens are set to OFF they will not be
overridden by the Design Change Style pen.
The DCSTYL attributes, with their defaults, are as follows:
Frontface Pen FFPN Pen 76
Backface Pen BFPN Pen 78
Obscured Line Pen OBPN Pen 80
Centreline Pen CLPN Pen 79
P-line Pen PLNP Pen 77
Member Line Pen MLNP Pen 79
Fill Pen FPEN Pen 71
Outline Pen OLPEN Pen 76
Note that DCSTYLs are not exact equivalents of Representation Styles, they do not have
Tubing Flag (TUBEF), Drawing Level (DLEV), etc. attributes. The values of these
attributes are determined from the relevant Representation Styles. The DCSTYL only
defines which, if any, of the standard pen values should be overridden in order that
changed Design elements are marked.
Design elements that have no DCSTYL assigned to them will not have any changes that
are made to them marked. Within a VIEW, it is therefore possible to mark changes
made to pipework, for example, but ignore changes made to steelwork.

Version 11.6SP1
Change Highlighting
10.2 Annotation Change Styles
An Annotation Change Style (ACSTYL) defines the appearance of changed

annotation elements (Label, Dimension or 2D Primitives) specified by an ACRULE that
references it. Each ACSTYL defines three pens, a font, and two other attributes that will
be used to draw changed annotation elements. The three pens are used for drawing text,
linear graphics and hatched areas of annotations. All three pens may be set to; a pen
number from 1 to 255, or to UNCHANGED. The font attribute may be set to a standard
font number or to UNCHANGED. If any of these four attributes are set to
UNCHANGED, the relevant Label/Dimension/2D Primitives attribute will be used. The
two other attributes define whether changed text is to be underlined or enclosed in
brackets.
The ACSTYL attributes, with their defaults, are as follows:
Text Pen TPEN Pen 71
Line Pen NLPN Pen 71
Fill Pen FPEN Pen 71
Font Number FONT UNCHANGED
Brackets BRACKE NONE
Underline UNDERL OFF
Alternative values for BRACKE are; ROUnd, CURly, SQUare, ANGle.
10.3 Change Rules
The Change Ruleset (CRST) owns both Design Change Rules (DCRULEs) and
Annotation Change Rules (ACRULEs). Design Change Rules reference Design Change
Styles and Annotation Change Rules reference Annotation Change Styles.
10.3.1 Design Change Rules

Design Change Rules use Selection Criteria to define the changed design elements to
which the rule is to apply, in a similar manner to Representation and Hatching Rules.
The manner in which each changed design element is marked is defined by the
referenced Design Change Style. It is therefore possible to mark different types of
elements in different ways, or not at all.
The DCRULE attributes, with their defaults, are as follows:
Design Change Style DCSTYF unset
Reference
Selection Criterion CRIT unset

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For more information on using Selection Criteria refer to Section 2.3.11 of the
VANTAGE PDMS DESIGN Reference Manual, Part 1 General Commands.
For changes to be highlighted properly the Selection Criterion should use one of the
functions that make use of the current Comparison Date. These are; CREATED and
MODIFIED. For example:
CRIT ALL BRAN MEM WITH (MODIFIED (GEOM))
CRIT ALL SCTN WITH (MODIFIED (LENGTH))
CRIT ALL EQUI WITH (CREATED ())
CRIT ALL WITH (CREATED ())
For more information on the CREATED() and MODIFIED() functions and their use in
PDMS expressions refer to Section 2.3.11 of the VANTAGE PDMS DESIGN Reference
Manual, Part 1 General Commands.
Note that a third function associated with the Comparison Date, DELETED(), is not
relevant here, deleted design elements will not be shown on DRAFT drawings and hence
cannot be highlighted.
10.3.2 Annotation Change Rules

Changes to annotation graphics are treated in a simpler manner than changes to design
graphics. Annotation Change Rules have an attribute to determine whether they should
be applied to Changed Annotations, Added Annotations, or both.
For Changed Annotations, only changes in expanded text strings will be marked. For
example, a repositioned GLAB with BTEX '#NAME' that has moved because its
referenced design element has moved will not be marked as changed. However, if its
BTEX was '#NAME at #POS' then the text string would be marked as changed. The
whole expanded text string would be drawn in accordance with the referenced ACSTYL.
Associated leader lines, dimension lines, projection lines, or any other graphic elements,
would not be marked as changed.
For Added Annotations, all elements associated with the annotation will be marked,
that is, the expanded text string and all graphic elements.
The ACRULE attributes, with their defaults, are as follows:
Annotation Change Style ACSTYF unset
Reference
Annotation Code ASCODE Changed
Each CRST therefore only needs to reference one or two ACRULES, one applicable to
Changed Annotations, one applicable to Added Annotations. If more than one ACRULE
is referenced for a type of changed annotation, only the first, in database order, will be
applied.
The syntax for the Annotation Change Rule Application attribute is:
ASCODE ADDedanno, CHANgedanno, ADDed AND CHANged

Version 11.6SP1
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10.4 Attribute Setting
The attributes FFPN, BFPN, CLPN, OBPN, PLNP, MLNP, FPEN, OLPEN, TPEN,
NLPN and FONT all have the option of UNChanged. This is valid at DCSTYL and
ACSTYL elements only. Assigning UNChanged to these attributes at any other element
will generate the following error message:
64,275: UNCHANGED is not valid at <type> elements
The syntax for the Change Highlighting Referencing attributes is:
DCSTYF UNSET or any DCSTYL
ACSTYF UNSET or any ACSTYL
CRSF UNSET or any CRST
Change Rules can also be defined with the USE command. For example:
USE /anno-change-style-01 FOR CHANGEDANNO
USE /anno-change-style-04 FOR ADDEDANNO
USE /des-change-style-A FOR ALL EQUI WITH MODIFIED (GEOM HIER)
USE /des-change-style-B FOR ALL WITH MODIFIED()
For full details of using expressions in PDMS refer to Section 2.3.11 of the VANTAGE
PDMS DESIGN Reference Manual, Part 1 General Commands.
10.5 The Comparison Date
It is only by comparing a drawing at two states or sessions that it is possible to

determine what has changed. Using the current state of the drawing as one state we
must then reference an earlier state in order to make the comparison. We do this by
specifying a Comparison Date (COMPDATE), that is, the drawing state at a time that
we wish to use as a baseline or datum.
The Comparison Date can be set in one of two ways:
• By specifying an actual time and date.
• By referencing a Stamp.

Version 11.6SP1
Change Highlighting
For example:
SETCOMPDATE 31 March 2002
SETCOMPDATE STAMP /Prelim-Milestone
The current Comparison Date can be queried by:
Q COMPDATE DATE
Q COMPDATE STAMP
A Stamp is a way of referencing combinations of databases and sessions at specified
instances. Stamps are created by the PDMS Administrator. For more information on
Stamps and how they are created and used refer to the VANTAGE PDMS ADMIN
Command Reference Manual and the VANTAGE PDMS ADMIN User Guide.
The Comparison Date can be used in queries on any attributes, using the syntax OLD.
For example:
Q OLD XLEN
will output the value of attribute XLEN of the current element at the Comparison Date.
Q OLD REF OF /OLDPIPE
will output the reference of deleted element /OLDPIPE at the Comparison Date.
For more information on the Comparison Date functionality refer to the VANTAGE
PDMS ADMIN User Guide.
10.6 UPDATE Command, SHOW CHANGES Option and

Error Messages
The commands UPDATE DESIgn, UPDATE ANNOtation and UPDATE ALL have the
option SHOW CHAnges. In each case this option will update the picture to the latest
relevant data and VIEW attributes, including changes. This option is only valid at View
elements or above. If no changes are found on the View, a message will be output to
reassure the user that the SHOW CHAnges option has been properly evaluated.
The following error conditions may be encountered when using the SHOW CHAnges
option:
• If the SHOW CHAnges option is given below View level, updating will proceed and
the following error message will be displayed:
64,444: The SHOW CHANGES option will be ignored when issued

below a View
• If no Comparison Date or Stamp is specified, updating will be abandoned and the
following error message will be displayed:
64,446: No current Comparison Date or Stamp defined. UPDATE SHOW

CHANGES abandoned.

Version 11.6SP1
Change Highlighting
• If the View's CRSF attribute is unset, it is assumed that default Design and
Annotation Change Rules are to be applied. These are equivalent to the following:
USE /default-design-change-style FOR ALL WITH (MODIFIED())

USE /default-anno-change-style FOR ADDED AND CHANGED ANNO
where the defaults are equivalent to the following:
DEFAULT DESIGN DEFAULT ANNOTATION

CHANGE STYLE CHANGE STYLE
FFPN 76 TPEN 71
BFPN 78 NLPN 71
OBPN 80 FPEN 71
CLPN 79 FONT Unchanged
PLNP 77 BRACKETS None
MLNP 79 UNDERLINE Off
FPEN 71
OLPEN 76
• If the View's CRSF attribute is invalid, updating will be abandoned and the following
error message will be displayed:
64,64: <view-name>:CRSF attribute value is invalid
followed by the error message:
64,153: <view-name>:Generation of Design (or Annotation or All)
graphics abandoned
• If the CRSF references a CRST that contains no rules, updating will be abandoned and the
following error message will be displayed:
64,445: <CRST-name>: No DCRULEs (or ACRULEs or Change Rules)

defined
graphics abandoned
• If the CRSF references a CRST that contains no DCRULEs (with reference to an
UPDATE DESI command), or no ACRULEs (with reference to an UPDATE ANNO
command), updating will be abandoned and the following error message will be
displayed:
64,445: <CRST-name>: No DCRULEs (or ACRULEs) defined

graphics abandoned

Version 11.6SP1
Change Highlighting
In this case if the command was UPDATE ALL and the CRST contains ACRULES but
no DCRULEs (for example), then it is assumed that the user wants to produce a
drawing on which only annotation changes are marked.
• If the DCSTYF or ACSTYF attribute of a Change Rule is unset or invalid, updating
will be abandoned and one of the following error messages will be displayed:
64,64: <rule-name>:DCSTYF (or ACSTYF) attribute value is invalid
64,65: <rule-name>:DCSTYF (or ACSTYF) attribute value unset
graphics abandoned
• If the CRIT attribute of a DCRULE is unset (with reference to an UPDATE DESI and
an UPDATE ALL command), the following error message will be displayed:
64,296: Warning: <rule-name>: is invalid and will be ignored
10.7.1 Querying Change Rulesets and Design or Annotation Styles

The querying facilities are similar to those provided for RRULs. Thus, at a DCRULE or
an ACRULE:
Q DESCription
will output a description for that rule with the format:
USE desi-change-style FOR criteria
USE anno-change-style FOR ascode-value
At a CRST:
Q DESCription
will output an ordered list of descriptions – one for each of its DCRULEs and ACRULEs.
At a VIEW:
Q CRSF DESCription
will output an ordered list of rule descriptions , one for each owned by its referenced
CRST.
At a VIEW or CRST:
Q DCSTYF FOR design-id
will return the DCRULE that is relevant for the specified design item.

Version 11.6SP1
Change Highlighting

Version 11.6SP1
Change Highlighting
Summary of Commands
At Design Change Rule . . .

USE stylename FOR crit - Set drawing style for Design generic types.
CRITeria crit - Set the CRIT attribute for the current rule.
At Design Change Style . . .

FFPN integer
FFPN OFF
FFPN UNCHANGED - Set pen number for drawing front face edges.
BFPN integer
BFPN OFF
BFPN UNCHANGED - Set pen number for drawing rear face edges.
OBPN integer
OBPN OFF
OBPN UNCHANGED - Set pen number for drawing front-facing edges of

Items that would otherwise be obscured by other
objects.
CLPN integer
CLPN OFF
CLPN UNCHANGED - Set pen number for drawing centrelines.
PLNP integer
PLNP OFF
PLNP UNCHANGED - Set pen number for drawing p-lines.
MLNP integer
MLNP OFF
MLNP UNCHANGED - Set pen number for drawing member lines.
FPEN integer
FPEN OFF
FPEN UNCHANGED - Set pen number for hatching selected faces.

Version 11.6SP1
Change Highlighting
OLPEN integer
OLPEN OFF
OLPEN UNCHANGED - Set different pen number for drawing outline of

selected faces.
At Annotation Change Rule . . .

USE stylename FOR ADDED - Set drawing style for changed Annotations.
At Annotation Change Style . . .

TPEN integer
TPEN UNCHANGED - Set pen number for annotation text.
NLPN integer
NLPN UNCHANGED - Set pen number for drawing annotation linear graphics.
FPEN integer
FPEN UNCHANGED - Set pen number for drawing annotation hatched areas.
FONT integer
FONT UNCHANGED - Set annotation font.
BRACKE SQUARE
BRACKE NONE - Set bracket style for enclosing text.
UNDERL ON - Set Underline ON for annotation text.

Version 11.6SP1
Change Highlighting

Version 11.6SP1
A. DRAFT Database Hierarchy
A.1 Basic Hierarchy
WORLD
LIBY DEPT
(see overleaf) REGI
REPO DRWG
TEXT LIBY
(see overleaf)
SHEE REVI
TEXT
OLAY NOTE REVI VIEW
:
(see overleaf)
LAYE RRUL HRUL VSEC
HRUL
ADIM LDIM PDIM RDIM VNOT GLAB SLAB TAGR
:
(see overleaf)
Note: Automatically created `system' elements are not shown.
VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide A-1

Version 11.6SP1
DRAFT Database Hierarchy
Note: Automatically created system elements are not shown.
A-2 VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

Version 11.6SP1
B. System Update Commands
B.1 Cross-Database Referencing
The functionality described in this appendix exists in order to minimise problems of

cross-database referencing when Design databases are deleted and rebuilt from macros.
All DRAFT elements with DDNM, IDLN, or IDNM reference attributes also have
‘system’ text attributes DDNX, IDLX, and IDNX respectively. These three attributes can
be queried but not set by the user.
DRAFT will always use the DDNM, IDLN and IDNM attributes; values in DDNX, IDLX
and IDNX will be ignored. Setting a DDNM, IDLN or IDNM attribute will also cause
the associated ‘system’ text attribute (i.e. DDNX, IDLX and IDNX respectively) to be set
to the name of the Design element referenced, so long as it is named.
The following UPDATE commands exist to aid updating of a DRAFT database following
rebuilding of an associated Design database:
UPDATE element_identifier REFS
UPDATE element_identifier NAMES
The first of these will change the DDNM, IDLN, and IDNM attributes of
element_identifier, and all elements below it in the DRAFT database hierarchy, to match
the values obtained from the associated text attributes. This means that if a Design
database is deleted and rebuilt then, so long as those elements referenced from DRAFT
databases are all named, references in DRAFT databases can easily be kept up to date.
The second command will change the DDNX, IDLX, and IDNX attributes to match the
values obtained from the associated reference attributes. This option has been included
primarily to allow a full set of these new text attributes to be generated for existing
DRAFT databases. In each case no change will occur if a value cannot be obtained
from the name/reference encoding/decoding process. The element_identifier can be
omitted, in which case the current element will be assumed.
During the updating process warning messages will be output whenever an attribute is
changed or when DRAFT attempts to change an attribute but is unable to generate the
required name or reference to do so. These messages will be of the form:
VSEC 2 of /VIEW2: IDLN attribute updated to /ZONE1.PIPES
GLAB 1 of /D1/S1/V1/LAYER1: unable to update DDNX attribute
VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide B-1

Version 11.6SP1
System Update Commands
B.2 Updating Symbol Instances
The command
UPDATE INSTANCES
(valid at SHEE, BACK, OVER, SYLB, LALB or above) scans the database hierarchy and
updates all those parts of picture files which use the graphics ‘instancing’ mechanism.
For example, a SYMB is an ‘instance’ of a SYTM. OLAY and BACK elements are in the
same category.
B-2 VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

Version 11.6SP1
C. Picture File Naming Conventions
Picture file names incorporate the database reference and version number (PVNO
attribute) of the picture element. Picture file names have the form:
M46-2107-20-13
where the first two numbers are the database reference of the picture element. The third
number is the value of the EXFI attribute (which is normally the database/extract file
number at the time the picture was saved). The final number is the picture version
number (PVNO attribute). This is incremented every time the picture is modified.
Only those picture elements that may include design graphics (that is SHEEs and
OVERs) have picture files. The graphics for other picture elements (LALBs, BACKs etc.)
are created when required.
The picture file name may be queried at the picture element (SHEE, OVER) using the
command:
Q PICFilename
This returns the picture directory and file name, for example:
%ABCPIC%/M46-2107-20-13
VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide C-1

Version 11.6SP1
Picture File Naming Conventions
C-2 VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

Version 11.6SP1
D Guidelines for Importing DGN files from
DRAFT into MicroStation
D.1 Introduction
DRAFT drawings can be passed into MicroStation as DGN files. Various switches and
rules are available in DRAFT to allow the DGN output to be configured as required.
These notes refer only to MicroStation/J and the DGN files produced from DRAFT.
A configuration can be defined which allows DRAFT DGN files to be imported into a
freshly installed version of MicroStation/J with correct geometry, colours and styles.
However, the fonts are not likely to be correct. These notes contain guidelines on how to
produce DGN drawings from DRAFT with the correct fonts, and how to improve other
aspects of the translation.
D.2 Exporting DRAFT drawings containing PDMS Fonts
PDMS is issued with a very large number of font files that have been assembled over a
long period from the public domain, in-house and the user community. They have all
been translated to the AutoCAD standard and take the form of pairs of source (.shp) and
compiled (.shx) files.
These notes discuss how to install these fonts into MicroStation in line with the original
DRAFT drawing. Experienced MicroStation users may know alternative ways of doing
this.
Two alternative approaches are:
• Use AVEVA’s Fontconverter utilities to create PDMS-compatible versions from
.shp versions of the fonts you wish to use in MicroStation
• Use MicroStation standard fonts similar to the PDMS fonts, and accept some
differences in text output.
If you use DRAFT’s alternative character set for characters such as ¥ © ¼ or Ω you will
need to install AVEVA’s symbol font.
It is not possible to install a 16 bit font (.SHX) file into Microstation/J or earlier.
The set of PDMS fonts required in MicroStation is project dependent. The supplied font
resource file pdmsSamFont.rsc uses the PDMS fonts associated with the SAM project.
Individual projects may have different fonts in use, so will require a different font
resource file. See section D.3.1 for instructions on how to create such resource files.
VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide D-1

Version 11.6SP1
Guidelines for Importing DGN Files from DRAFT into MicroStation
Font resource files should be installed alongside the corresponding MicroStation font
resource files, typically in
... \bentley\workspace\system\symb
pdmsSamFont.rsc uses particular MicroStation font numbers (201 to 207 for text fonts
and 255 for the symbol font). These are mapped to DRAFT fonts using the MapFont
switch in DRAFT. It is possible that these font numbers may clash with fonts in other
font resource files in use. If this happens, see section D.3.6 for instructions on how to
modify MicroStation font numbers.
When you install additional fonts into MicroStation DRAFT needs additional
information on the font geometry to export the drawing. This is supplied as a set of font
geometry files, fontNNN.dgn (where NNN is a MicroStation font number referred to in
the font resources file).
These fontNNN.dgn files must be in either the current directory, or a directory accessed
by the environment variable OPENDGN_FONT_DIR. This variable
OPENDGN_FONT_DIR should be set to %PDMSEXE%\dgndata or wherever the font
geometry files have been installed.
Font geometry files are supplied for the fonts used in the SAM project. These correspond
to pdmsSamFont.rsc and are supplied in the directory PDMSEXE%\dgndata. Section
D.3.7 contains instructions as to how to create further fontNNN.dgn files for other fonts.
Section D.4 discusses how PDMS font numbers are mapped onto font file names. All
AVEVA fonts are supplied in the %PDMSEXE%\autodraftfonts directory, in AutoCAD
format as .shx files.
D.3 Installing PDMS Fonts into MicroStation
To keep them separate the required fonts should be installed into a new font resource
library called, for example, myfont.rsc, which should be placed with the supplied font
resource libraries, typically in the directory:
MicroStation refers to fonts by a number not by the name. PDMS fonts are supplied as
AutoCAD .shx files as part of AutoDRAFT. These are supplied in the directory
%PDMSEXE%\autodraftfonts (or another location).
Once fonts have been installed, they may be checked using the element/text menu. The
newly installed fonts should be visible together with the font numbers assigned by
MicroStation to the new fonts. If necessary, font numbers may be modified (see section
D.3.6.).
The font installation should follow the step-by-step procedure:
D.3.1 Creating a new Font resource library

(This step may be skipped if using an existing resource library)
D-2 VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

Version 11.6SP1
Menu: Utilities>Install Fonts

Button: New (Rightmost window)
Navigate to the default font library area
Enter required library file name - e.g. myfont.rsc
Button: OK
D.3.2 Selecting .shx files to add to resource library

Button: Open (Leftmost window)
Set Type to .shx
Navigate to a AutoCAD .shx file area
Select the required .shx files
Button: Add
Button: Done
D.3.3 Selecting the library destination

Button: Open (Rightmost window)
Navigate to default font library area (typically
... \bentley\workspace\system\symb)
Select the required font resource library (.rsc file)
Button: OK
D.3.4 Copying the fonts into the library

In the leftmost window, select the required source files. Font details should
appear.
Button: Copy
Button: Done
D.3.5 Checking The Installation

Menu: Element>Text
Use drop down or View to locate the font name

Version 11.6SP1
The font number assigned by MicroStation is also visible

Select to use for text
D.3.6 Changing MicroStation font numbers

Menu: Utilities>Install Fonts
Button: Open (rightmost window)
Navigate to the default font library area
D.3.7 Select the required .rsc library

Button: OK
Select the font name in the rightmost window
Font details appear
The font number and the description may be edited here.
Font geometry files fontNNN.dgn must then be created to match the font
numbers in the resource file.
D.3.8 Creating a new Font Geometry File

Font geometry files (or “magic font-files”) are used by DRAFT to export font geometry
and alignment correctly to MicroStation. One of these files is required for each font
used. The MicroStation font number NNN is included in the name of these files. These
files contain a set of instructions and various other text data. These files should not be
modified other than as described below, since the data in these files is required for
DRAFT DGN output to work correctly.
In order to create a font geometry file for a new font, open an existing font geometry file
(a set of these is supplied in %PDMSEXE%\dgndata) and follow the instructions displayed
there. This involves using the MicroStation EDG utility to change the font used. (The
EDG utility is installed alongside MicroStation, for example in
…\Bentley\Program\Edg\edg.exe.) The instructions in the fontNNN.dgn files are
repeated here.
To create an external font do the following:

• Make sure you have made a copy of this design file.

Version 11.6SP1
• The new name must start with 'font' appended with the font number. (e.g.
font186.dgn for MicroStation font number 186)
• Open this file in EDG first and type 'modify font=<n> whole' where <n> is the
new font number.
• Open this file in MicroStation and type 'mdl load fixrange' (Use Keyin
option).
• Compress and close the design file. (Use Compress on File menu)
• Place the file in a directory where it can be found by the OpenDGN

kernel (which is used by DRAFT DGN output). Either this is either the current
directory or a directory accessed by means of an environment variable called
'OPENDGN_FONT_DIR'.
We recommended that these fonts are placed in %PDMSEXE%\dgndata. If you need

different font resource libraries for different projects we suggest that you create sub-
directories and point OPENDGN_FONT_DIR to the appropriate one for the project.
D.4 Mapping the Installed Fonts
PDMS fonts normally need the DRAFT export to use a font adjustment factor of 1.25,
and a special adjustment when aligning text to the top of the body. This may be
achieved by using the code p when mapping the fonts, e.g.
MAPFONT ‘11-16:201p’
For further details, see Section 7.4.
D.5 PDMS font file names
PDMS font file names follow a naming convention. This is described fully in AVEVA’s
font-building utilities, but is briefly summarised here.
PDMS font families are defined by their IR (International Registration) number and
Style number in the system database. Font file names are of the form marrrtswuu,
where m=0; a is the alphabet; rrr is the encoding; ts is the type and sub-type; w is the
weight; and uu is a serial number. PDMS fonts are exported to AutoCAD as either filled
(prefix f), or open (prefix of). All font-files have an 8-character equivalent short name:
Name IR Number Encoding Short code

(marrr)
Latin-1 1 01001 L1

Version 11.6SP1
Latin-2 2 01002 L2
UK 4 01004 LB
Latin-Cyrillic 5 09998 CL
US 6 08901 81
(or 01006) (or LA)
Greek 7 02018 GG
Cyrillic 8 03537 CR
SYMBOL - 09999 OP
Name PDMS Style Font type Bold Font type

number (tswuu) (tswuu)
Line 1 11901 -
Block 2 Outline 11203 Filled 11203
Serif 3 21191 21291
Italic 4 22191 22291
Script 5 31191 31291
Typewriter 6 21902 -
Uniform width 7 16901 -
Generally, PDMS uses the 8-bit Latin fonts (08901) instead of US fonts (01006), since
these include US characters. Thus IR number 6 Style number 1 is font of0890111901
(short name O8111901) ; IR number 4 Style number 3 is of0100421191 (short name
OLB21191), bold version of0100421291 (OLB21291).
The fonts available in DRAFT are organised into four font families. Each font family
uses up to two font files to set up a range of six font numbers. For example, font family 3
contains two font files to set up fonts 31-33 (normal, forward and back-slant) and the
equivalent bold font 34-36.
In addition, DRAFT uses a Symbol font for special characters (e.g. ~D gives the degrees
symbol). The AVEVA SYMBOL font is of0999911901.shx (shortname OOP11901). The
equivalent filled font is f0999911901.shx (shortname FOP11901).
To determine the font families used in a PDMS project, the following ADMIN command
should be used:
Q FONTFamily
In typical AVEVA projects, font family 1 is a line font; font family 2 is a block font; font
family 3 is a serifed font and font family 4 an italic or typewriter font. Different projects

Version 11.6SP1
will use different fonts. The following font files are used in the SAM project and are set
up in pdmsSamFont.rsc:
Font numbers MicroStation Shortname Longname Description

Font Number
in Project SAM
(FontNNN.dgn)
11-16 201 O8111901.shx of0890111901.shx US Line
21-23 202 OLB11203.shx of0100411203.shx UK Block
(Outline)
24-26 203 FLB11203.shx f0100411203.shx UK Block
(Filled)
31-33 204 OLB21191.shx of0100421191.shx UK Serif
34-36 205 OLB21291.shx of0100421291.shx UK Serif (Bold)
41-43 206 OLB22191.shx of0100422191.shx UK Hershey
Complex Italic
44-46 207 OLB22291.shx of0100422291.shx UK
HersheyTriplex
italic
SYMBOL 255 FOP11901.shx f0999911901.shx PDMS Symbols
D.6 Colours
We supply a MicroStation colour table pdms_col.tbl, which contains colour definitions

matching DRAFT’s default settings for Pens 1 to 16, and also for the other named
DRAFT colours. This may be installed in the MicroStation data directory alongside the
Bentley-supplied colour tables, typically at:
... \bentley\workspace\system\tables
You may, if you wish, attach this colour table to a seed file or design file and set a
suitable colour mapping, if you wish to match DRAFT colours as closely as possible.
D.7 Line Styles
AVEVA supplies a line style resource file containing definitions of MicroStation custom
line styles matching the proportions of DRAFT’s named line patterns. This may be
installed in the MicroStation font directory alongside Bentley-supplied font resource
files, typically at:
T

Version 11.6SP1
Index
3D view direction, 3-12 of View, 3-12
ACDISPLAY, 7-3 Display
ADD command, 3-4, 3-26 preserving
ADEG attribute, 3-10 recovering, 2-1, 2-16
ALARM command, 2-14, 2-16 DLLB (Id List Library) element, 3-4
ALPHA command, 2-14 DRAFT
Arc tolerance, 3-13 entering, 2-16
Arc tolerance (ATOL) attribute, 3-13 DRAFT command, 2-16
AUTOSCALE command, 3-3, 3-5, 3-10, 3- Drawing (DRWG) element, 3-1
13, 3-28 DTPN (Dimension Text Pen) attribute, 8-26
Background Process, 3-21 DXF output
BY command, 5-11, 5-14 scaling, 7-4
CHANGE ACTION command, 5-11, 5-13 Enclosed planes, 5-1
CLMO (Centreline Mode) attribute, 5-4 ERASE command, 5-12, 5-15
Colours, default, 8-3 Explicit mode
CRIT command, 4-12, 4-13, 10-10 multiwrite DBs, 2-5
Databases Extracts, 2-7
current status of, 2-2 master, 2-7
switching between, 3-20 Flat Plane (FPLA) element, 5-1, 5-7
DDNM attribute, 1 FPEN (fill pen) attribute, 8-25
DDNX system attribute, 1 FPLA element, 5-7
DELETE command, 3-7 FRPO (From Point) VIEW attribute, 3-12
DELETE NULL IDLI command, 3-7, 3-30 GETWORK command, 2-2, 2-16
DELETE STEP command, 5-11, 5-14 Global hidden line views, 3-17
DESADD command, 3-5, 3-26 Glyphs, 8-1, 8-7, 8-12
Design elements Grid
hatching, 4-7 snapping to, 6-4
DESREMOVE command, 3-5, 3-26 GTYP attribute, 5-8, 5-13
DEVPEN command, 8-23 Hatch pattern, 8-1, 8-16
DGN Output, 7-14 in automatic hatching, 4-10
DIR attribute, 3-12 Hatch Patterns
Direction
VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide Index-i

Version 11.6SP1
Index
predefined, 8-16 Linestyles, 8-1

user-defined, 8-17 LIST command, 2-3, 2-17
Hatching Local hidden lines, 3-16
automatic, 4-7 Local Rules, 4-7
Hatching Rules, 4-8 Looking direction, 3-12
Hidden lines, 3-14 controlling, 3-12
HIGHLIGHT command, 6-6 LTHICKNESS keyword, 8-5
HPATTERN command, 8-17 LVIS (Layer Visibility) attribute, 3-30
Id List Marker type, 8-1, 8-15
cleaning up, 3-7 Master database
querying, 3-7 of extract, 2-7
Id List Library (DLLB) element, 3-4 MDB command, 2-17
Id List Name (IDLN) attribute, 3-3, 5-3 MDB mode, 2-4
Id lists MLNP (Member line pen) attribute, 4-4
querying, 3-7 Modelled wireline view, 3-15
IDLI (Id List) elements, 3-4 Multiple database, 2-4
IDLN attribute, 1 NLPN (note line pen) attribute, 8-25
IDLX system attribute, 1 NORM attribute, 5-7, 5-11, 5-13
IDNM attribute, 1 Omitting, 4-5
IDNX system attribute, 1 ON command, 6-3
Implicit mode Orientation
multiwrite DBs, 2-5 view contents, 3-10
INSTALL SETUP command, 2-1, 2-16 Pen attributes
Interrupt key, 3-4 use of to define representation style, 4-2, 10-
2, 10-3, 10-4
LFRA attribute, 3-8
Pen numbers, 8-1
Limits
Pen settings
of view, 3-7
querying, 8-25
Line colour, 8-1
Perpendicular Flat Plane (PPLA) element,
Line pattern, 8-1, 8-5
5-1, 5-5
Line picture, 8-1
PERS attribute, 3-11
Line pictures
Perspective, 3-11
predefined, 8-12
controlling, 3-11
user-defined, 8-15
Picture files, 1
Line thickness, 8-1, 8-5
Plane editing, 5-11, 5-14
Index-ii VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

Version 11.6SP1
Index
Plane querying, 5-15 REMOVE command, 3-4, 3-26

Plane retained/discarded side Remove Entry (REME) element, 3-4
determining, 5-15 Report (REPO) element, 9-1
switching, 5-13 Representation Rules
Plane sketching, 5-12, 5-15 Querying, 4-11
Planes Library (PLLB) element, 5-3 Setting up, 4-5, 10-3
Planes, erasing, 5-12, 5-15 Representation Ruleset Reference (RRSF)
attribute, 3-13, 3-29, 4-7, 10-2
PLLB element, 5-3
Representation Style
PLMP (P-line pen) attribute, 4-4
assigning, 4-5, 10-3
PLOT command, 7-1
Representation Style (STYL) element, 4-2, 10-
Plotfiles
2
size, 7-2
Revision element, 9-3
PLOTPEN command, 8-23
Rubber banding, 8-24
PLRF (Plane Reference) attribute, 5-3, 5-11,
Rubber banding colour, 8-24
5-14
Rules
PMOD (Plane Mode) attribute, 5-3, 5-14
in defining IDLists, 3-6
POS attribute, 5-5, 5-7, 5-8, 5-11, 5-13
SAVEWORK command, 2-1, 2-16
Position
Scale, of view, 3-10
converting 2D/3D, 6-4
Selective styles, 4-6
PPLINE command, 6-3
SETFEEDBACK command, 8-24
PPOINTS command, 6-2
SETPEN command, 8-23
Project, current status of, 2-2
Sheet (SHEE) element, 3-1
PTPN (Projection Text Pen) attribute, 8-26
SIZE attribute, 3-8
Querying
SKETCH command, 5-12, 5-15
Id Lists, 3-7
SMOD (Section Mode) attribute, 5-4
spatial map, 3-7
SNAP command, 6-4
view contents, 3-19
Spatial map
view direction, 3-12
use of by ADD WITHIN command, 3-6
QUIT command, 2-16
SPLA element, 5-8
RCOD (rotation code) attribute, 3-11
STATUS command, 2-2, 2-17
Recipient (RECI) element, 9-2
STEP command, 5-9, 5-10, 5-13
Recipient name (RNAM) attribute, 9-2, 9-5
Stepped Plane (SPLA) element, 5-1, 5-8
RECREATE command, 2-1, 2-16
Styles, selective allocation, 4-6
Registry (REGI) element, 3-2
SWITCH command, 3-20
VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide Index-iii

Version 11.6SP1
Index
SYSTAT command, 2-2, 2-17 querying, 3-18

THPO (Through Point) VIEW attribute, 3-12 View contents orientation, 3-10
TPEN (Text Pen) attribute, 8-26 View direction, 3-12
TRACE command, 2-14 View frame, 3-8
Universal representation, 3-17 View Gap (VGAP) attribute, 3-13
UPDATE ALL command, 3-27 View gap length, 3-13
UPDATE ANNO command, 3-27 View limits, 3-7
UPDATE BSHEETS command, 3-27 View ratio, 3-10
UPDATE DESIGN command, 3-3, 3-12, 3-27 View scale, 3-10
UPDATE DESIGN IGNORE command, 3- View Section (VSEC) element, 5-3, 5-11
27 View size, 3-8
UPDATE DESIGN NOWAIT command, View type, 3-14
3-27
Views
UPDATE INSTANCES command, 2
querying, 3-19
UPDATE NAMES command, 1
VRAT attribute, 3-10
UPDATE PICTURE command, 3-27
VREGION command, 3-8, 3-28
UPDATE REFRESH command, 3-27
VSCALE attribute, 3-10
UPDATE REFS command, 1
VTYP (View type) attribute, 3-14
USE command, 4-6
Warning Messages, 2-14
Users
Wigwam, 7-3
current status of, 2-2
Wireline views, 3-14
VGRID command, 6-5
WPOS element, 5-8, 5-9, 5-11, 5-13
VIEW
XMLEXPORT, 7-3
orientation of on Sheet, 3-11
XYPS attribute, 3-9
View centre, 3-9
Z-coordinates
View contents
in DXF files, 7-4
Index-iv VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

Version 11.6SP1

DRAFT User Guide Part1

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pdms1161/DRAFT User Guide Part1

© Copyright 1991 through 2005 AVEVA Solutions Limited

Date Version Notes

Sept 2004 11.6 Background Processes included.

VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide Revision History-i

Revision History-ii VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

1 Introducing PDMS DRAFT ............................................................................ 1-1

VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide Contents-i

3.4.6 Querying Id Lists............................................................................................ 3-7

Contents-ii VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

5.3 Altering Planes...........................................................................................................5-11

VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide Contents-iii

8.6.1 Defaults ....................................................................................................... 8-21

Contents-iv VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

1.1 What does DRAFT do?

1.2 The DRAFT Database

VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide 1-1

1.3 Who Should Read this Manual

1.4 Organisation of the DRAFT User Guide

The DRAFT User Guide has two parts:

1.5 Organisation of this User Guide

1-2 VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide 1-3

1-4 VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

2.1.1 Saving and Restoring the Current Display Status

2.1.2 Saving Work

VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide 2-1

2.1.3 Seeing Changes Made by Other Users

2.2 Accessing Multiple Database Information

2.2.1 Finding the Current User Status

2.2.2 Finding the Current System Status

2-2 VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

2.2.3 Listing Multiple-Database Information

VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide 2-3

List of USERS for project DRA

2.2.4 Querying MDB Information

2.2.5 Changing Multiple Databases

2-4 VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

QUERY allows you to query:

2.3 Using Multiwrite Databases

2.3.1 User Claims

VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide 2-5

2.3.2 Notes on Standard Multiwrite DBs

2-6 VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

2.3.3 Extract Databases

VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide 2-7

EXTRACT FLUSH DB PIPE/PIPE

2-8 VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

2.3.4 How to Find Out What You Can Claim

Figure 2-1 Example database and users

VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide 2-9

USERX1 creates PIPE-100 USERX2:

Note that USERX2 must use

Figure 2-2 Example Q CLAIMLIST commands

2-10 VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide 2-11

2.4 Comparing and Listing Database Changes

2.4.1 Comparing Database States at Different Times

2.4.2 Listing Database Changes

2-12 VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide

The output is generated in three stages:

VANTAGE PDMS DRAFT User Guide 2-13