Plot Draw Areas
Generally a drawing area is drawn some distance in from the edge of the plotting sheet, usually inside the containing border, to create a presentation quality map. When processing a map you may choose a drawing area definition that will create such a presentation effect on the final map. The PLOT DRAWING AREAS function opens the Plot Sheet Setup window so you can work with drawing areas.
Function Name:
Because drawing area definitions are defined in terms of distances in from each sheet boundary only a few drawing area definitions are required to permit maps to be drawn on the majority of the map sheet for all sheet sizes. This is because a drawing area definition can be used equally well on any size sheet, especially when the drawing area defines an area almost equal to the size of the sheet (by only being inside the sheet extent and border by a few millimetres).
A special feature of the Plotting module is the ability to plot multiple maps in different drawing areas on the same map sheet. This requires drawing areas that define a region of a map sheet for this purpose. Since these drawing areas define a small subset of the map sheet, they are often only useful for the sheet size for which they have been defined. For example, the drawing areas of VA1L, VA1M and VA1R supplied with new installations are only suitable for the left, middle and right areas of an A1 sheet as the offsets from the sheet edges are specifically suited to an A1 size sheet.
All drawing areas are defined in the SSI_PLOTTING:drwareas.ssi file. The PLOT DRAWING AREAS function provides an interactive graphics viewing and editing environment to create, modify and delete drawing area definitions. Each drawing area that is created, or selected for modification is displayed in a graphics viewport. Changes may be made to the drawing area definition either by viewing the drawing area properties in a dialog form or by editing the drawing area location using mouse interactions.
While working in this environment you may choose to display, create, modify and delete other sheet setup features such as drawing areas, grids and title blocks by choosing the menu for the appropriate feature.
The draw area is within the border. The following image is provided to show the relative positions of the border and the draw area. In the following image, the border is set to 'no border'.
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= border
= draw areaWhile working in this environment you may choose to display, create, modify and delete other sheet setup features such as drawing areas, grids and title blocks by choosing the menu for the appropriate feature.
You can use the following commands relating to drawing areas.
| Menu item | Description |
|---|---|
| Grids | Displays the menu for managing grid definitions |
| Borders | Displays the menu for managing borders |
| New | Allows you to create a new drawing area definition |
| Select | Allows you to select one or more drawing areas and display them in a new graphics viewport |
| Copy | Allows you to create a new drawing area definition by copying an existing drawing area and displaying it in either an existing viewport with other drawing areas or in a new viewport |
| Delete | Allows you to delete a drawing area definition |
| Save | Allows you to save all drawing area definitions to the SSI_PLOTTING:drwareas.ssi file |
| Properties | Allows you to display the properties of borders, drawing areas, grids or title blocks in a dialogue form for viewing or editing purposes |
| Move | Allows you to modify the drawing area dimensions by using the mouse to select and drag any of the four drawing area edges in or out from the sheet boundaries |
| Snap Grid | Allows you to display or modify the snap grid properties |
| Snap On | Displays a snap grid in the active viewport to aid in border definition |
| Snap Off | Erases a snap grid from the active viewport |
| Pan | Allows you to move the image of the drawing area around by using the mouse to define the amount of displacement |
| Window In | Allows you to enlarge a portion of the displayed drawing area by using the mouse to define the region of interest |
| Window Out | Undoes the effect of the most recent Window In operation |
| Zoom In | Allows you to enlarge the displayed part of the drawing area by a factor of 2 |
| Zoom Out | Allows you to reduce the size of the displayed part of the drawing area by a factor of 2 |
| Zoom All | Displays the entire drawing area definition in the active viewport. |
| EXIT | Allows you to exit from the Plotting Sheet Setup module without saving any changes |
| EXIT & SAVE | Allows you to exit from the Plotting Sheet Setup module and ensures that any changes are saved. |
Helpful Hints
When using the Drawing Area management functions for the first time you will find it easiest to select an existing drawing area and examine its properties. You can then move the drawing area extents to see how easy it is to modify a drawing area definition.
New drawing areas are easily created and can also be modified using the Properties or Move functions.
For most maps where the drawing area occupies the majority of the sheet, a single drawing area can be used for all sheet sizes. The drawing area installed with a new system, DRAW, is ideally suited to this purpose. You may find that additional drawing areas are required to plot maps in different parts of various sheet sizes. A number of drawing areas are supplied with new systems to satisfy this requirement.
You must use the functions provided here to create other drawing areas to suit your needs.
Select
This function permits you to select an existing drawing area definition and display it in a graphics viewport.
To run this function: In the Plot Sheet Setup window, choose Drawing areas > Select, or...
- With the Plot Sheet Setup window open, in the Function Chooser, type PLOT SELECT DRAW AREA, and press ENTER.
You may choose to display the drawing area in a viewport that contains other drawing areas or in a new viewport by itself. A border is also displayed with the drawing area so that you see it in the same context as when it is presented on a hardcopy map.
After displaying the drawing area in the viewport you may examine or alter its properties by using a dialogue form or you may move the drawing area extents by using the mouse to select a border extent and drag it to a new location.
Fields on the Select plotting draw areas form
Existing viewport
Multiple drawing areas may be displayed simultaneously in the same viewport. This is so that the map sheet can be suitably partitioned for multiple drawing areas.
If you need to display the new drawing area with other drawing areas that have already been drawn in a viewport, choose the name of the viewport that contains the drawing areas of interest. The viewports have a simple numerical identifier beginning with the number 1. The leading zeros are not significant in the viewport name and may be disregarded.
If this field is left empty, the drawing area will be displayed in a new viewport.
Existing border
To place the drawing area in context, and to ensure that the drawing area is completely contained inside the preferred border, you must choose a border that will be used later when processing a map.
Draw Area ID's to be displayed
One or more drawing areas may be displayed simultaneously in the same viewport. This is useful when attempting to configure multiple drawing areas on a map sheet. Choose each of the drawing areas that are to be displayed in the graphics viewport.
Result
The drawing areas that you have chosen are displayed in a graphics viewport with the requested border.
New drawing area
This function allows you to create a new drawing area definition.
To run this function: In the Plot Sheet Setup window, choose Drawing areas > New, or...
- With the Plot Sheet Setup window open, in the Function Chooser, type PLOT NEW DRAW AREA, and press ENTER.
Fields on the New draw area properties form
Existing viewport
Multiple drawing areas may be displayed simultaneously in the same viewport. This is so that the map sheet can be suitably partitioned for multiple drawing areas.
You may need therefore, to create a new drawing area and draw it into an existing viewport that contains other drawing areas.
If you need to display the new drawing area with other drawing areas that have already been drawn in a viewport, choose the name of the viewport that contains the drawing areas of interest. The viewports have a simple numerical identifier beginning with the number 1. The leading zeros are not significant in the viewport name and may be disregarded.
If this field is left empty, the drawing area will be displayed in a new viewport.
Existing border
To place the drawing area in context, and to ensure that the drawing area is completely contained inside the preferred border, you must choose a border that will be used later when processing a map.
Left, Right, Bottom, Top
These are the offsets from the edges of the map sheet to the extent of the chosen border, in centimetre units. These values are displayed as a guide to help you choose the most appropriate offsets for the drawing area extents. These values cannot be altered on this form.
Draw Area ID
The name of the new drawing area must be entered here. You may use any characters in the name excluding the comma (,) character. The drawing area name must be unique as it is used later to select the drawing area by name from the list of known drawing areas.
Drawing area names are case sensitive.
Description
The drawing areas description is optional and is used to give a more verbose description of the purpose for which the drawing area is used.
Preferred sheet
Drawing areas may be suitable for use on all sheet sizes, if they are only just inside the sheet extents or, they may be specifically suited to particular sheet size. It is for this reason that you need to choose the preferred sheet size for displaying the drawing area.
Even though you may choose a particular sheet size here as the preferred sheet, this has no impact on the sheet size that this drawing area may be drawn on when using the Process Map function.
Viewport dimensions from sheet boundaries (cm)
Left, Right, Bottom, Top
Drawing areas are defined in terms of the distance in from each edge of the map sheet to each edge of the drawing area. Distances of ZERO from each edge will ensure that the drawing area is exactly the same size as the sheet. Commonly though, the drawing area as at least 0.1cm inside the border. For this reason the border offsets are also displayed on the form as described above.
On many plotters, having the drawing area exactly the same size as the sheet is impractical as the feed rollers of the plotter prevent any drawing within a centimetre or two of the sheet boundary. You may need to adjust the viewport dimensions so that they are suitable for your plotter.
The plotting module will create the plotting instructions to draw a map to the extent of the plotting sheet and Plot Preview will correctly preview such plot files but the plotter may not be able to draw all the way to the sheet boundary.
These dimensions must be expressed in centimetre units.
Draw lines around draw area
The viewport dimensions described define an area on the map sheet encompassed by the drawing area. Generally this area has a line drawn around it to delineate the drawing area. Enter Y to have these lines drawn. If you don't want lines drawn around the drawing area extents enter N.
Pen number
Each line that is drawn on a map is drawn with a specified pen number. Each pen is associated with a colour through a pen file that can be easily modified to suit your requirements.
Line priority
Each item, line, text, symbol, etc. that is drawn on a map has a priority that is used to determine how items that clash should be drawn, or omitted. Since the drawing area of the map should never clash with any other features of the map it is uncommon to use a priority other than the maximum of 125 for the priority of the drawing area lines.
Complete the NEW DRAW AREA PROPERTIES form and choose Apply to present the new drawing area definition in a graphics viewport.
Move
This function allows you to modify a drawing area definition that is displayed in the active viewport by using the mouse with a click and drag action to adjust the locations of the drawing area boundaries.
To run this function: In the Plot Sheet Setup window, choose Drawing areas > Move, or...
- With the Plot Sheet Setup window open, in the Function Chooser, type PLOT MOVE DRAW AREA, and press ENTER.
The following message is displayed.
Select and drag an item to a new location
Position the mouse near the edge of the drawing area that you want to adjust and then, with the mouse button held down, drag the edge to the desired location and release the mouse button.
This function remains active until a new function is invoked by selecting it from the menu or until you press a key on the keyboard.
You may fine tune the changes that you have made to the drawing area definition by selecting the drawing area properties.
Copy drawing area
This function permits you to create a new drawing area by copying an existing drawing area definition. You might choose to use this method if you wish to create a new drawing area definition that is only slightly different to an existing drawing area definition.
To run this function: In the Plot Sheet Setup window, choose Drawing areas > Copy, or...
- With the Plot Sheet Setup window open, in the Function Chooser, type PLOT COPY DRAW AREA, and press ENTER.
Fields on the Copy draw area properties form
Old Draw Area ID
Choose the name of the existing drawing area definition that you wish to copy when creating a new drawing area definition. After choosing the existing drawing area name and pressing the enter key, the properties of the exiting drawing area are displayed in the appropriate fields.
Existing viewport
Multiple drawing areas may be displayed simultaneously in the same viewport. This is so that the map sheet can be suitably partitioned for multiple drawing areas.
If you need to display the new drawing area with other drawing areas that have already been drawn in a viewport, choose the name of the viewport that contains the drawing areas of interest. The viewports have a simple numerical identifier beginning with the number 1. The leading zeros are not significant in the viewport name and may be disregarded.
If this field is left empty, the drawing area will be displayed in a new viewport.
Existing border
To place the drawing area in context, and to ensure that the drawing area is completely contained inside the preferred border, you must choose a border that will be used later when processing a map.
New Draw Area ID
The name of the new drawing area must be entered here. You may use any characters in the name excluding the comma (,) character. The drawing area name must be unique as it is used later to select the drawing area by name from the list of known drawing areas.
Drawing area names are case sensitive.
Description
The drawing area description is optional and is used to give a more verbose description of the purpose for which the drawing area is used.
Preferred sheet
Drawing areas may be suitable for use on all sheet sizes, if they are only just inside the sheet extents or, they may be specifically suited to particular sheet size. It is for this reason that you need to choose the preferred sheet size for displaying the drawing area.
Even though you may choose a particular sheet size here as the preferred sheet, this has no impact on the sheet size that this drawing area may be drawn on when using the Process Map function.
Viewport dimensions from sheet boundaries (cm)
Left, Right, Bottom, Top
Drawing areas are defined in terms of the distance in from each edge of the map sheet to each edge of the drawing area. Distances of ZERO from each edge will ensure that the drawing area is exactly the same size as the sheet. Commonly though, the drawing area as at least 0.1cm inside the border.
On many plotters, having the drawing area exactly the same size as the sheet is impractical as the feed rollers of the plotter prevent any drawing within a centimetre or two of the sheet boundary. You may need to adjust the viewport dimensions so that they are suitable for your plotter.
The plotting module will create the plotting instructions to draw a map to the extent of the plotting sheet and Plot Preview will correctly preview such plot files but the plotter may not be able to draw all the way to the sheet boundary.
These dimensions must be expressed in centimetre units.
Draw lines around the draw area
The viewport dimensions described define an area on the map sheet encompassed by the drawing area. Generally this area has a line drawn around it to delineate the drawing area. Enter Y to have these lines drawn. If you don't want lines drawn around the drawing area extents enter N.
Pen number
Each line that is drawn on a map is drawn with a specified pen number. Each pen is associated with a colour through a pen file that can be easily modified to suit your requirements.
Line priority
Each item, line, text, symbol, etc. that is drawn on a map has a priority that is used to determine how items that clash should be drawn, or omitted. Since the drawing area of the map should never clash with any other features of the map it is uncommon to use a priority other than the maximum of 125 for the priority of the drawing area lines.
Delete drawing area
This function allows you to delete existing drawing area definitions from the list of known drawing areas.
To run this function: In the Plot Sheet Setup window, choose Drawing areas > Delete, or...
- With the Plot Sheet Setup window open, in the Function Chooser, type PLOT DELETE DRAW AREA, and press ENTER.
Fields on the Delete plotting draw areas form
Draw Area ID
Choose the names of the existing drawing area definitions that you wish to delete. Since a scrolling region is available for choosing the drawing area names you may delete more than one drawing area at a time if required.
Choose Apply to delete the plotting drawing areas. If you make a mistake and delete incorrect drawing area definitions, you may choose EXIT to leave the Plotting Sheet Setup module without saving the changes that have been made.
If the drawing areas deleted are presently displayed in a viewport, even if it is in a viewport that contains a grid or title block, that viewport will be destroyed. The grid or title blocks ARE NOT destroyed though and they can be displayed again by choosing a different drawing area.
Save
This function allows you to save changes that you have made to the plotting drawing area definitions. The drawing area definitions are saved in the SSI_PLOTTING:drwareas.ssi file.
To run this function: In the Plot Sheet Setup window, choose Drawing areas > Save, or...