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User Guide
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First published September 2007
AVEVA Solutions Ltd, and its subsidiaries 2007
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Contents
Page
PLOT
About this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1
Who the Manual is Meant For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1
How the Manual is Set Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1
Conventions Used in the Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1
3:3
3:3
3:3
3:3
3:4
3:5
3:6
3:7
3:7
12.0
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:5
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:8
HOUSTON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:10
LASERJET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:10
LIST
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:11
PDMS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:12
PENMAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:13
PNG
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:13
POSTSCRIPT or PS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:14
SCREEN
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:21
XDUMP
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:24
ii
12.0
iii
12.0
iv
12.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
1:1
12.0
COMMandword
Command arguments are shown in lowercase italic type, for example argument.
Examples of interactive input and output sequences are shown in a special typeface,
thus
1:2
12.0
Introducing PLOT
2.1
2.2
2:1
12.0
DXF
This is the AutoCAD representation of a drawing in their DXF (drawing interchange) file
format. It is an ASCII file format, widely used to exchange drawing file data. The file does
not define the units that its values are held in, so explicit scaling is needed when these
values are not in millimetres.
Data from all sections of the DXF file is interpreted. This includes the LTYPE and LAYER
tables, and the contents of the Blocks section for expansion of INSERT entities.
GPGP (or GP2)
This gives an ASCII format file that can define fully the viewing parameters, line graphics,
text and symbols for engineering drawings in device-independent terms.
2.3
Description
BENSON
Pen plotter
CALCOMP
Pen plotter
DXF
HOUSTON
Pen plotter
HP
Pen plotter
HPGL
Pen plotter
HPGL2
LASERJET
LIST
PDMS
PENMAN
Turtle plotter
PNG
POSTSCRIPT
PS
SCREEN
XDUMP
2:2
12.0
These generic plot drivers determine the general format of the output plot file only. The
output generated is compatible with specific hardware devices, as detailed in Device
Drivers, but you may need to customise the drivers to suit a particular plotter or printer.
PLOTs soft driver facility allows you to do this.
You will notice that four of the output drivers (HPGL, HPGL2, PDMS and DXF) match input
file formats. This means that you may use PLOT to translate plot files between these
formats in either direction; for example, to translate from PDMS format to HPGL format, and
vice versa.
Note: The HPGL format can exist in slightly different dialects. If you wish to input an HPGL
file obtained from an outside source, you must ensure that it is fully compatible with
the HPGL format that is generated by PLOT. If it is not, you may need to carry out
some preprocessing on the file before using PLOT to convert it to a PDMS plot file.
2:3
12.0
2:4
12.0
3.1
3.2
Running PLOT
The basic information that PLOT needs in order to process a plot file is as follows:
The type of processing which is required; that is, the device driver that is to be used for
the file translation process.
3:1
12.0
Note: The driver-specific options must be enclosed between quotation marks and if there is
more than one option, they must be separated by commas.
Some Command Line Examples:
3.3
3:2
12.0
3.3.1
3.3.2
3.3.3
3.3.4
3:3
12.0
3.3.5
PENS NO,ATTR 1 3
This causes all output to be plotted using pen 3, regardless of any pen settings defined in
the input file. Line styles and line widths are passed unchanged from the input file to the
output file.
'Pens Attr' Mode
The option:
PEns Attr
This passes only the pen numbers from the input file to the output file. All line style and line
width settings in the input file are ignored, the settings for these in the output file being
determined by the attributes set for the corresponding pen number.
To specify the line style and width corresponding to any output pen, and to redirect pens if
required, use the option:
ATTR integer1 integer2 linestyle linetype width
3:4
12.0
This substitutes output pen integer2 for input pen integer1 and sets its line style to linestyle
and its line width to linetype with optional width value.
Possible settings for linestyle are SOlid, DOt, DAsh, CHain or DChain. The default, if
linestyle is omitted, is SOLID.
Possible settings for linetype are Normal or Thick. The default, if linetype is omitted, is
NORMAL. THICK is optionally followed by the width value, expressed in millimetres. If width
is omitted the default line thickness is set by the driver.
For example, the options:
3.3.6
Dekink Filter
The Dekink filter can streamline your plot files in a number of ways.
Plot files that are produced by some programs can contain instances where the same line is
drawn over a number of times (for example, where an original wireline 3D model was
involved). This extra information can increase the size of the file unnecessarily. The
coincidence removal function of the Dekink filter corrects this problem, and so can reduce
the size of output files by a considerable amount.
The filter can employ either a travel or a connect method to re-order the graphics. The
travel method minimises the total pen travel distance, whereas the connect method
maximises the connection between vectors.
3:5
12.0
The filter travel method reduces the total distance that the pen needs to travel, and the
number of times that the pen is raised and lowered. This can speed up the operation of pen
plotters.
The filter connect method maximises the connection of vectors while retaining all existing
connectivity, including directions.
Note: For speed of processing, the filter makes most of its changes to the plot file where
items concerned are close to each other in the file. Note that it may not remove all
coincident lines when they are far apart in the file.
The Dekink filter is selected by the option:
DEKInk resol coinc travel tabmin tabmax
The arguments are as follows and omitted parameters take their default values:
resol
coinc
travel
This selects whether the travel method is active. Otherwise the connect
method is used. Y = travel method; N = connect method.
Default: Y
tabmin
This is the minimum size of the working table used by the filter. Must be
an even number in the range 10-600. The default value is suitable for
most purposes.
Default: 50
tabmax
This is the maximum size of the working table used by the filter. Must be
an even number in the range 10-600. The default value is suitable for
most purposes.
Default: 200
After the input file has been processed, a report is produced on the effect of the Dekink filter.
This gives the change in the total distance that the pen needs to travel, and the change in
the number of lines in the output file (both as percentages). For example:
3.3.7
3:6
12.0
3.3.8
3.3.9
numend
pen
penwidth
offset
The distance that the plot is shifted away from the edge of
the paper (in millimetres).
macross
malong
msep
3:7
12.0
Example
Paper Edge
Drwg No
Paper Edge
Figure 3:1.
Cutmarks Example
Figure 3:1.: Cutmarks Example shows six start marks and one end mark. This could be
produced by:
3.4
3.4.1
Soft Drivers
PLOT provides a soft driver facility that lets you define your own named device drivers,
each based on a combination of a standard driver and a set of command options
appropriate to that standard driver.
To define a soft driver, use the following command syntax:
soft_driver|standard_driver|option1, option2, ...
Here, soft_driver is the name to be allocated to your new driver, standard_driver is one of
the driver names listed in Output Formats That PLOT Can Generate and Running PLOT,
and option1, option2, etc. are any command line options applicable to standard_driver.
The three parts of the command are separated by | (vertical bar) characters. The options
(and any associated values) in the third part are separated by commas. If the command line
becomes too long, a \ (backslash) character may be used to allow continuation of the
command on the next line. Spaces at the start of continuation lines are ignored.
The name soft_driver must not be the same as that of any of the standard device drivers.
Names are not case sensitive; that is, upper and lower case characters are treated equally.
All soft driver definitions are held in the file PLOTDRIVERS. PLOT looks for this file firstly in
the directory defined by the CADC_PLOT_DIR environment variable, then in the current
directory and finally in the same directory as the Plot Utility Program itself.
3:8
12.0
3.4.2
PSRGB|POSTSCRIPT|BANNER Y,RGB,\
PTYPE 'statusdict begin 2 setpapertray end'
This defines a soft driver named PSRGB that uses the POSTSCRIPT driver with options to
switch on the banner page, select colour output and set page type to select paper tray 2.
The PTYPE string used here is a fragment of PostScript that is specific to a particular model
of printer. For further details of the POSTSCRIPT driver options see POSTSCRIPT or PS.
The following command uses the soft driver definition:
3.4.3
3:9
12.0
The SCREEN and PNG drivers now have PDMS colours set as default using this
mechanism and the standard PLOTDRIVERS file. The previous colours can be restored by
deleting or commenting-out the screen|screen| and png|png| definitions in that file.
3.5
3.5.1
----- beginning of plot ----When the file interpretation has finished it displays the message
----- end of plot ----(See Modifying PLOTs Message File for details of how you can change these messages.)
3.5.2
3:10
12.0
This message confirms that the ADJUST option has automatically rescaled the output plot
to suit its destination device or file. No action is needed.
3.5.3
3.6
3.6.1
PLOT Utility
usage: plot driver file output [options...]
Drivers are: benson calcomp dxf houston hp hpgl hpgl2
interleaf laserjet list pdms penman png postscript ps
screen xdump
File is a PDMS, DXF, HPGL or other pseudo-code plot file.
Output is a file name or the command window.
e.g. plot postscript drwg3.plt plotout.ps
plot screen drwg3.plt -0
The SCALE=value option provides general plot scaling.
An options string is available for most drivers.
e.g. plot hpgl2 drwg3.plt drwg3.h2 scale=0.5
3.6.2
3.6.3
3:11
12.0
plot -drivers
This displays the driver quick reference information for PLOT that can also found in Driver
Quick Reference of this manual.
3.7
3.8
Running on Windows
PLOT has functionality to use standard Windows facilities and services.
The SCREEN driver has the facility to use the Windows printing service, including network
printing. PLOT can be launched directly from a shortcut on the desktop so that it can be
used independently of other products.
3.8.1
3.8.2
3:12
12.0
EMF output provides a method of inserting or pasting graphics into a variety of document
types.
3.8.3
Start in:
C:\temp
Name:
Plot
Target
defines the command line to run Plot with the screen driver. Note that
the full pathname of the plot program is used and that the input file is
replaced by "*".
Start in
Name
When this command is run from the shortcut a Multiple-File Open dialog and a Console
window are created. Select one or more plot files and plot will view them all in the order
specified. At each stage the file can be viewed and printed. Close the graphics window or
press Q to move on to the next file. After all files have been viewed Plot returns to the
multiple-file open dialog. Click Cancel to finish.
Other drivers can be used with the input file set to "*". For example the list driver can be
used to display summary information about the graphical contents of the files.
Alternatively, the shortcut on the desktop can be used to drag and drop plot files as well as
browsing for them if the shortcut target is a small batch file DragDropPlot.bat, containing
lines such as the following:
set file=%1
if "%file%" == "" set file="*"
start /b C:\AVEVA\pdms\plot\plot.exe plot screen %file% -0 "AUTO"
3:13
12.0
3:14
12.0
Device Drivers
This is a reference chapter that describes each of the available PLOT device drivers. The
information in each section is organised under the following headings:
Models
This lists the supported plotters or defines the translation done by PLOT.
For plotters, the list gives the definitive models for which the driver was originally written,
and any other plotters on which the driver has been tested. The list also gives other models,
from the same or another manufacturer, if they are known to be fully compatible with the
driver.
Description
This describes, in broad terms, the plotter device code or the translation.
Output
This describes the file format output by the driver.
Options
This describes any additional options or controls for the driver, for example scaling or paper
layout.
Note that such options must be enclosed between quotation marks in the command line and
if more than one option is used they must be separated by commas.
Example
This shows the minimum command syntax applicable to the driver, using the default settings
for all user-configurable options.
If applicable, a further example shows the use of some of the more commonly used options.
Note: The LIST driver differs in principle from the drivers described in this chapter in that it
does not translate input plot file data into a different format, but instead provides
summarised information about the overall content of the file. The functions of the
LIST driver are explained in LIST.
4:1
12.0
4.1
BENSON
Models
This driver supports the Benson 1302 Plotter with intelligence level I0. This is a drum plotter
with a roll paper feed mechanism. The code-compatible Benson 1322 plotter is also
supported.
Description
The device code for these plotters is based on the relative positioning and drawing
commands of the symbolic Benson format.
Output
The output from this driver is device code that is sent directly to the Benson plotter. This
code is easy to read and the vectors are expressed entirely as relative movements.
4.2
CALCOMP
Models
This driver produces code for the Calcomp 1040 series plotters using 906/907 plotter code.
This data format is acceptable to most Calcomp plotters.
The Calcomp 1040 series plotters are drum plotters with either cut sheet or roll feed options,
which can take media up to A0 size.
Description
The Calcomp device code produced by the driver is based on the use of simple positioning,
drawing, and pen selection commands. It can select from up to eight pens.
Output
The output from this driver is device code that is sent directly to the Calcomp plotter. The
data is encoded and is unintelligible. The device protocol means that the code is organised
to include synchronising sequences and checksums. Transmission is synchronised by
waiting for a plotter response after each message.
The coded format for each data record is as follows:
4:2
12.0
( Preamble)
Sync
Bia s
Data
(Checksum)
Checksum character
End-of-message
(Postamble)
Newline
(Response Request)
Files output by this driver are ASCII coded and record structured. Their content comprises
all the data shown above, except for the request for plotter response and its reply.
Options
The CALCOMP driver allows you to use options to control all low-level detail of the plotter
code format (as shown in the preceding table). You can specify these options either directly,
as PLOT command line arguments (see Running PLOT), or indirectly, as parameters in a
soft driver definition.
The syntax for using each option is as follows (individual options must be separated by
commas):
[Key:
BUffer int
CHecksum Y/N
HEader Y/N
LIne int
Sets the line length of the output data field to int characters
(int must be in the range 80-125). Default: LI 119
NL Y/N
PAd int
RAdix int
4:3
12.0
[Key:
RESponse Y/N
SCale int
Sets the plotter scaling factor to int. You can use this option
with STEPS to compress and expand the data to reduce the
size (and accuracy) of the device code. Default: SC 1
STeps val
WAit Y/N
WIndon val
The defaults specified in the standard CALCOMP driver are equivalent to the following
options string:
calcompx|calcomp|PA 0,RE N
The new soft driver can then be used with the command:
4:4
12.0
4.3
DXF
This driver outputs a plot as an AutoCAD drawing in DXF (drawing interchange) file format.
4.3.1
Header. This is preceded by a number of comment lines (as suggested in the NEDC
recommendations). This includes the units employed in the drawing, and the date the
file was formed. The Header section itself includes the $LIMMIN, $LIMMAX, $EXTMIN
and $EXTMAX variables to specify the limits of the drawing and its extents.
Tables. This section contains an LTYPE line types table defining the definition of the
line patterns available to the Entities section. It also contains a LAYER and a style
table.
Entities. This contains all of the graphical elements of the drawing and their attributes.
The entity types are LINE, CIRCLE, ARC, TEXT, POLYLINE and VERTEX.
Note: Sometimes the first three sections are omitted, depending on the type of data and
the purpose for which it is to be used.
4.3.2
DXF Options
Several options are available that allow you to control the output from this driver. These can
be specified as command line arguments, or as parameters in a soft driver definition.
The syntax of each option is as follows (NOTE: individual options are separated by
commas):
HEader filename
POlylines Y/N
UNits value
ZAxis value
4:5
12.0
Example:
4.4
The HP driver uses only vectors and absolute positioning, and uses straight-line chords
to simulate arcs and circles. Each draw and move operation is output on a separate
line of the file. This makes this form of the code easier to interpret.
The HPGL driver uses vectors and relative positioning, and uses true arcs and circles.
Draw and move commands are merged together, and as many commands as possible
are put into each line of the file. These features make this the more compact code of
the two
The drivers derive the plotter model number by interrogating the device, so that they allow
for use with the HP7475 with its limited functionality. They similarly determine the paper
handling capabilities if used with an HP7586 plotter, to allow it to be used with cut-sheet as
well as roll-fed paper. They make special provision for producing long plots on roll feed
versions of the latter plotter.
Output
The output from this driver is device code which is sent directly to the HP plotter.
These drivers do not mix the two types of HP-GL command, namely graphical commands
and communication commands, within a line of output.
Files output by this driver are ASCII coded and record structured. They can be used as input
to other conversion programs to produce device code for otherwise unsupported devices.
Options
Several options are available which allow you to control the output from these drivers. You
can specify these options either directly, as PLOT command line arguments (see Running
PLOT), or indirectly, as parameters in a soft driver definition (see Creating your Own Device
Drivers).
4:6
12.0
The syntax for using each option is as follows (individual options must be separated by
commas):
[Key:
CEntre Y/N
High
MAp
MAp x y
STeps val
WAit Y/N/P
The defaults specified in the standard HP driver are equivalent to the following options
string:
4:7
12.0
Example
plot hp view.pl -1
(output direct to plotter)
4.5
HPGL2
This driver supports HP-GL/2, which is the standardised version of the Hewlett-Packard
Graphical language. This attempts to provide a consistent functionality between plotters and
caters for pen, monochrome and colour electrostatic and other devices. The code is
compact, especially for vectors that have a special encoding scheme. HP-GL/2 is a binary
format.
Although HPGL and HP-GL/2 are related, HP-GL/2 is not a strict superset of HPGL. It is
best for most purposes to regard them as being entirely different.
HP-GL/2 is often available in Dual-Context plotters that also have Hewlett-Packard's PCL.
The HP-GL/2 behaves differently under these conditions and a driver option for PCL is
necessary to ensure correct behaviour.
Options
These options enable you to control the output of this driver. You can specify these options
either directly, as PLOT command line arguments (see Running PLOT), or indirectly, as
parameters in soft driver definition (see Creating your Own Device Drivers).
The syntax for using each option is as follows (individual options must be separated by
commas):
4:8
12.0
[Key: Y/N = Yes or No; x y etc. coordinates in mm and other values; n and pen are
integers.]
COpies n
FF Y/N
ECutter Y/N
HIgh
MAp
MAp x y w h
Defines the position and size of the plot on the paper. The
default is to use the plot given in the plot file. Default: MAP
PCL Y/N
PWidth w1 [w2]
Specifies the widths of the thin and thick lines in mm. The
thinnest line width possible is selected by specifying it as
zero. Default: PWIDTH 0.0 0.35
QUality n
RGb pen r g b
ROtate n
Rotate the plot by 0, 90, 180, 270 degrees counterclockwise about the plotter coordinate system origin.
Default: ROTATE 0
The defaults specified in the standard HP-GL/2 driver are equivalent to the following options
string:
4:9
12.0
4.6
HOUSTON
Models
This driver supports the Houston Hiplot DMP-40 and DMP-42 pen plotters. These are drum
plotters with media movement and registration controlled by knurled gripping areas of the
drum; they take A3 and A1 media sizes, respectively.
These plotters use Houston DM/PL III firmware, which is upwardly compatible with DM/PL
and DM/PL+.
Description
The DM/PL device code produced by the driver for these plotters is based on simple
absolute positioning and drawing commands and assumes that there is a single pen.
Output
Files output by this driver are not record structured, but contain ASCII codes. They are used
only for maintenance purposes.
Options
None.
Example:
4.7
LASERJET
Models
This driver produces output suitable for any printer that can interpret Hewlett-Packards PCL
page description language, such as the Laserjet Series II devices.
Laserjet printers have a maximum resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi), but can also work at
150, 100 or 75 dpi
Description
Laserjet and compatible printers may be used to produce black and white hard copy from
graphical plot files. The PCL language has no facilities for expressing graphical elements
such as vectors; it provides instead a group of raster graphics commands.
Output
The output from this driver is in device code that may be sent directly to any PCL-compatible
laser printer. Where the output is to a file, it contains the complete PCL code needed to
reproduce the printable document defined by the pseudo-code plot file. This comprises a
mixture of PCL command escape sequences and 8-bit data that is not formatted and not
easy to inspect.
4:10
12.0
DPi integer
Example:
4.8
LIST
The LIST driver differs from the others in that it does not translate input plot file data into a
different format, but instead provides summarised information about the overall content of
the file.
The information derived from the file includes:
The pseudo-code format in which the file is written (PDMS, HPGL, HP-GL/2, DXF or
GPGP)
The drawing number, with its identifying number in brackets if it is a GPGP file
4:11
12.0
The numbers of block definitions, block references (or inserts), and the maximum
depth of block reference nesting. The DXF input file format can contain blocks.
The full list of symbol names. Symbols are shown with a prefix character to indicate
how often they are referenced:
Prefix
References
none
unreferenced
once
The information may be sent to an ASCII file, or it may be listed at your command prompt
window (by specifying output to line 0).
For example, the command:
Interpreter: PDMS
File Header: piper 18/07/04 12.25
Drawing: 1
Size 841 by 594 MM
Vectors 3403
Pens 1 2
The list driver does not use any options but will display any that are specified on the
command line or from a soft driver as a combined options string.
4.9
PDMS
Models
This driver generates output in PDMS plot file format (i.e. PDMS pseudo-code).
Description
This file format (which is also one of PLOTs valid input formats) is intended primarily for
transferring graphical data between the modules of PDMS. PLOTs PDMS output driver also
allows you to transfer data to PDMS from other sources that generate HPGL or GPGP
formatted graphics.
Output
Files output by the PDMS driver are in binary format and comprise a textual header block
followed by the graphical data.
The header block contains:
4:12
12.0
A user identifier - up to 6 characters - derived from the login user name (truncated if
longer than 6 characters).
The graphical data is a sequence of coded items, including pen moving and drawing
commands, pen changes, and paper size definitions. The code is made more efficient by
the provision of special codes for short line drawing and moving operations, and for drawing
horizontal or vertical lines.
Options
None.
Example:
4.10
PENMAN
Models
This driver outputs directly to the Penman Turtle Plotter.
Description
The Turtle plotter has a pen with an up/down mechanism mounted on a wheeled carriage
that is connected for power and control via a flying cable. It uses a home marker that it can
detect optically to register its origin.
Output
The output from this driver is device code that is sent directly to the Turtle plotter. The device
code uses simple absolute positioning and drawing commands. Periodic returns to the
origin, to re-establish a datum point, limit the build up of positional errors during plotting.
Files output by this driver are ASCII coded and record structured. They are used only for
maintenance purposes.
Options
None.
Example:
4.11
PNG
Models
This driver generates output in PNG file format.
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12.0
Description
The PNG (Portable Network Graphics) format is a patent-free replacement for GIF and can
also replace many common uses of TIFF. It provides a means for the lossless, portable
storage of well-compressed raster images.
PNG is designed to work well in online viewing applications, such as the World Wide Web,
and for user interface and general usage.
Note that the standard PLOTDRIVERS file changes the default for this driver to use PDMS
colours. To find out how to restore the colours to their previous state and other details about
modifying the default options of the built-in drivers see the section on creating your own
device drivers.
Output
Files output by the PNG driver are in binary format.
Options
The syntax for each option is as follows (individual options must be separated by commas):
BItmap width height
LAyout type
RGb pen r g b
TRan
Example:
4.12
"BITMAP 32 32"
POSTSCRIPT or PS
(The POSTSCRIPT and PS drivers are identical.)
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12.0
Models
These drivers produce output suitable for any printer that can interpret the Postscript page
description language.
The driver default options give output suitable for immediate use with the commonest laser
printers, which take A4 paper and which produce monochrome and grey-scale output at a
resolution of 300 dots per inch (for example, the QMS-810 printer).
The drivers provide a very wide range of options that may be used with PLOTs soft driver
facility to create drivers for other forms of Postscript output (see Creating your Own Device
Drivers). For example, printers with different paper sizes or with paper tray selection.
Description
Postscript is a widely used page description language that efficiently describes the
appearance of text, images and drawings on the printed page.
Output
The output from these drivers is an ASCII record structured file that conforms to the
standard structuring conventions for Postscript multiple page documents. It contains the
complete Postscript program needed to print the document defined by the input pseudo
code file.
The output is in device code that may be sent directly to the laser printer or may be included
in another document as an illustration. The laser printer is treated as a plotter with a single
pen, grey-scale pens or colour pens, which can draw vectors in all line styles for both normal
and thick lines.
The drawing is scaled to form an image that fills the specified paper size, with options to set
margin widths, page orientation, and so on. Other options allow you to control features such
as a summarising banner page, page headers and footers, and page layout.
It may be useful to override the parameters of this driver in the PLOTDRIVERS file, for
example to use PDMS colours by default. See the description of this file for further details.
Options
The POSTSCRIPT/PS drivers provide many options. You can specify these either directly,
as PLOT command line arguments (see Running PLOT), or indirectly, as parameters in a
soft driver definition (see Creating your Own Device Drivers).
For convenience, the descriptions of the driver options are split into two functional groups:
General options, which control the banner page and the detailed graphics plotting
(including monochrome/grey-scale/colour, scaling, resolution, etc.).
The syntax for using each option is as follows (individual options must be separated by
commas):
[Key: int = an integer; string = a text string]
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12.0
Layout Options
LAyout type
Drawing -
Landscape -
Portrait -
Whole -
Margin -
Figure -
Include -
The LAYOUT MARGIN and LAYOUT FIGURE settings provide locations for three header
texts and three footer texts at the left, centre and right of the page, in the top and bottom
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12.0
TC string
TR string
BL string
BC string
BR string
Note: If a header or footer text is to include spaces, string must be enclosed between
single quotes.
You may include the following special characters within header and footer texts:
is replaced in the printed output by the current page number (with pages being
numbered automatically, starting from a number which you may define).
is replaced in the current date (in the format day, month, year).
PAge int
Defines an initial page number for the translation of the # character when
using automatic page numbering. The default is PAGE 1.
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General Options
BAnner Y/N
EOt Y/N
IGraphics Y/N
PType string
STeps val
Sets the printer steps per inch (i.e. the printer resolution) to
val. Default: ST 300
GRay
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12.0
BAnner Y/N
RGb pen r g b
Number
Colour
Red
Green
Blue
White
Black
Orange
0.5
Green
Red
Blue
0.78
Magenta
0.78
Yellow
Sand
0.78
Yellow
10
Cyan
11
Indig
12
Violet
0.5
0.5
13
Light Grey
0.75
0.75
0.75
14
Mid Grey
0.5
0.5
0.5
15
Dark Grey
0.25
0.25
0.25
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FOntname string
FLush
HIgh
The graphical plots have their origins moved 5 mm in each direction from the page
origin and the plot sizes are reduced to 250 mm wide by 175 mm high (landscape
format).
The colour for logical pen number 9 is redefined as the colour mix (0 red)/(1 green)/(0.5
blue).
The overall default settings for all POSTSCRIPT/PS driver options (both layout and general
options) are equivalent to:
4:20
12.0
4.13
SCREEN
Models
The SCREEN driver displays plot files on a workstation graphics screen.
Description
This driver provides a convenient plot file viewing facility, allowing you to preview your plot
files before plotting or printing hard copies.
Output
This driver always creates a new graphics window to view the input plot file. There is no
output file and -0 takes its place on the command line. If the output drawing comprises more
than one page, the display pauses at each page until you press a key or button.
User Interaction
The SCREEN driver is an interactive plot viewer with zoom and pan actions under mouse
control with appropriate cursors and 'rubber-banding'. To use the viewer:
To pan the view by a specified distance, press and hold down the left mouse button
while you move the mouse. Release the button to pan the view by a specified distance.
A cursor 'rubber-band' shows you the move while you are holding the button.
As an alternative to scroll bars press and release the left mouse button without
moving the mouse to 'snap' the current point under the cursor to the centre of the
screen.
To select a new view, press and hold down the middle button of your mouse while you
move it between the opposite corners of its boundary.
To snap the current point to the centre of the screen and then zoom in by a fixed
amount, press and then release the middle mouse button (without moving the mouse).
Snap the current point to the centre of the screen and then zoom out by a fixed
amount, press and release the right mouse button without moving the mouse.
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Command Summary
Key/button
Description
Home
Shift-Home
Arrow keys
Control-Arrow
Shift-Arrow
H or ?
N or Space
Q or Return
Quit viewer
0 to 9
Mouse 1
Mouse 2
Mouse 3
Note: For a 2-button mouse the effect of the middle button can be achieved by pressing
both buttons together.
Options
Note that the standard PLOTDRIVERS file changes the default for this driver to use PDMS
colours. To find out how to restore the colours to their previous state and other details about
modifying the default options of built-in drivers see the section on creating your own device
drivers.
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The syntax for using each option is as follows (individual options must be separated by
commas):
MAp x y val1 val2
CUrsor n
Sets the long cursor pen number and must be in the range
1-15. The default value is 4.
RGb pen r g b
Number
Colour
Red
Green
Blue
Black
White
Orange
0.5
Green
Red
Blue
0.78
Magenta
0.78
Yellow
Sand
0.78
Yellow
10
Cyan
11
Indigo
12
Violet
0.5
0.5
13
Light Grey
0.75
0.75
0.75
14
Mid Grey
0.5
0.5
0.5
15
Dark Grey
0.25
0.25
0.25
Example:
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12.0
4.14
XDUMP
This driver outputs the plot to a specially formatted bitmap image file, such as that produced
by the X-Windows utility, xwd and displayed by xwud.
Description
This driver produces a bitmap image file. This is always a single plane image that
represents the plot in monochrome, with the graphics from all pens drawn in the foreground
colour.
This form of output file can be used to compare whether two plots look the same, regardless
of overdrawing and the order in which the graphical elements are drawn.
Output
Files output by this driver are in binary format and consist of a header and data sections.
See the X-Windows and xwd utility for references to its format definition.
The drawing is scaled to a size that fills the bitmap. It is automatically rotated by 90 degrees
if this makes better use of the available area.
Options
The syntax for each option is as follows (individual options must be separated by commas):
BItmap width height
Example:
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12.0
description
ADJUST
ARCSIZE n
BORDER [n]
CUTMARK ...
DEKINK ...
PENS [s]
SPLIT w h
The drivers are listed below in alphabetic order. The driver specific options can be
abbreviated to 2 or more characters, except where specified otherwise.
BENSON Driver
No options
CALCOMP Driver
Default
BU 16,CH Y,EO 3,HE Y,LI 119,NL Y,PA 10,PE Y,RA 95, RES Y,SC 1,ST 80,SY 1 2,WA Y,WI
20
option
description
BUFFER n
CHECKSUM [Y|N]
Checksum enabled
EOM n
5:1
12.0
option
description
HEADER [Y|N]
LINE n
Line length
NL [Y|N]
PAD n
RADIX n
RESPONSE [Y|N]
SCALE n
STEPS v
SYNC n n
WAIT [Y|N]
WINDON v
CALCOMP64 Driver
This is equivalent to the CALCOMP driver with the options
BU 2,CH Y,EO 13,HE n,LI 125,NL Y,PA 0,PE N,RA 64,RES N,SC 0, ST 40,SY 2 22,WA
N,WI 20
DXF Driver
Default
POLY Y,UNITS MM
option
description
AUTOSIZE
HEADER [s]
POLYLINES [Y|N]
UNITS [s]
ZAXIS v
HOUSTON Driver
No options
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12.0
HP Driver
Default
CEN N,MAP,STEPS 40,WAIT Y
option
description
AUTOSIZE
CENTRE [Y|N]
HIGH
MAP x0 y0 [w h]
STEPS v
WAIT [Y|N|P]
HP7580B Driver
This is an alternative name for the HP driver.
HPGL Driver
This is equivalent to the HPGL with the following options
CEN NO,HIGH,MAP,STEPS 40,WAIT Y
HPGL2 Driver
Default
COP 1,ECUT N,FF Y,MAP,PCL Y,PWI 0.0 0.35,QUA 100,ROT 0
option
description
COPIES [n]
ECUTTER [Y|N]
Enable cutter
FF [Y|N]
HIGH
MAP x0 y0 [w h]
PCL [Y|N]
PWIDTH v [v]
QUALITY n
RGB n r g b
ROTATE n
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12.0
INTERLEAF Driver
Default
option
description
HEADER s
HIGH
LASERJET Driver
Default
COP 1,DPI 150
option
description
COPIES n
DPI n
LIST Driver
No options
PDMS Driver
No options
PEGS Driver
Default
LAYERS 11 20 11 20,POLY Y,TSCALE 1.0
option
description
FLAT
LAYERS n n [n n]
POLYLINES [Y|N]
TSCALE v
PENMAN Driver
No options
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12.0
PNG Driver
Default
BITMAP 600 400,LAY FIT
option
description
BITMAP w h
LAYOUT
[FIT|CENTRE|CORNER]
RGB n r g b
SIZE w h
TRANSPARENT
POSTSCRIPT Driver
Default
BA N,EOT Y,LAY L,MAP 0 0 283.6333 197.2733,MONO, IG N,PT,STEPS 300
option
description
BANNER [Y|N]
BC s
BL s
BR s
EOT [Y|N]
FONTNAME s
FLUSH
GRAY
HIGH
IGRAPHICS [Y|N]
LAYOUT
[L|P|W|M|F|I|E|D]
MAP x0 y0 [w h]
MONO
PAGE n
PTYPE [s]
RGB n r g b
5:5
12.0
option
description
STEPS v
TC s
TL s
TR s
PS Driver
This is an alternative name for POSTSCRIPT
SCREEN Driver
Default
DEV 13
option
description
CURSOR n
MAP x0 y0 [w h]
RGB n r g b
XDUMP Driver
Default
BITMAP 1000 800
option
description
BITMAP w h
SIZE w h
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12.0
Index
Numerics
1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:8
F
FLUSH command (POSTSCRIPT/PS drivers)
4:20
FONTNAME command (POSTSCRIPT/PS drivers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:20
H
HEADER command (CALCOMP driver) 4:3
Index page i
12.0
I
IGRAPHICS command (POSTSCRIPT/PS drivers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:18
L
LASERJET driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:10
LAYOUT command (POSTSCRIPT/PS drivers)
4:16
LINE command (CALCOMP driver) . . . . 4:3
Line styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:4
Line widths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:4
LIST driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:12, 4:11
M
MAP command (HP/HPGL drivers) . . . . 4:7
MAP command (HP-GL/2 drivers) . . . . . 4:9
MAP command (POSTSCRIPT/PS drivers)
4:18
MAP command (SCREEN driver) . . . . . 4:23
Messages, error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:10
Messages, modifying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:11
Messages, run-time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:10
MONO command (POSTSCRIPT/PS drivers)
4:18
Q
QUALITY command (HP-GL/2 drivers) 4:9, 4:14
R
RADIX command (CALCOMP driver) . . 4:3
Reducing file size:Dekink filter . . . . . . . . 3:5
RESPONSE command (CALCOMP driver) 4:4
RGB command (POSTSCRIPT/PS drivers)
4:18
RGB command (SCREEN driver) . . . . 4:23
ROTATE command (HP-GL/2 drivers) . . 4:9
P
PAD command (CALCOMP driver) . . . . . 4:3
Page numbers (in Postscript files) . . . . 4:17
Index page ii
12.0
U
UNITS command (DXF driver) . . . . . . . . 4:5
V
Version number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:11
W
WAIT command (CALCOMP driver) . . . . 4:4
WAIT command (HP/HPGL drivers) . . . . 4:7
WINDON command (CALCOMP driver) . 4:4
12.0