Place Text - ZX1,ZX2,ZX3,ZR1.ZR2,ZR3,ZR4,ZR5

Link to Place Text Tutorial

Place Text is a program that will allow you to place any text you like into a Visual CADD drawing while having control over the Size, Justification, Rotation, X and Y Positions and the Text Strings to be placed. This tool was greatly improved in version 2.2 of Scalz to allow you to place not only text, but also Symbols as well as starting lines of text on predetermined points, ready for you to type in the contents. This program is especially useful for filling out Title Blocks and Material Lists on drawing sets with the same or similar text to be placed on each drawing.

The text lines inserted by Place Text are placed using the Text Height set in your current drawing, and the position of that text is based on the current "Scale" of your drawing. "Scalz" sets your Text Height according to the "Scale" you select to keep your text, dimensions and related entities the same size and looking consistent no matter what scale you are drawing in. Your "Drawing Scale" is calculated by dividing the current Text Height by the "TextHeight" setting in your "Scalz.ini" file which sets the height you want your text to appear in all of your drawings.

Place Text works by reading ".cfg" files found in you Visual CADD "System" folder and ".txt" files found in the same folder as your current drawing.

A standard line in a ".cfg" file looks like this...

2,R,90,3.125,4.125

The "2" represents the "Text Height Multiplier". The "Text Height Multiplier" is just that, "Place Text" will multiply the current text height by (in this case 2) the "Text Height Multiplier" before placing your line of text. This value can be set to any positive number. After the text is placed, your Text Height will be set back to it's original setting.

The "R" represents the "Justification" of the text to be placed. You have the option of "L" for "Left", "C" for "Center" and "R" for "Right" justification. Your current justification will be reset after running the program.

The "90" represents the "Rotation" of the text. This can be any number accepted by Visual CADD. Your current Rotation will be reset after running the program.
 
The "3.125" and "4.125" are the "X" and "Y" coordinates for your Text to be placed.

A standard line in a ".txt" file looks like this...

Visual CADD

The "Visual CADD" represents the Text you want to have placed by "Place Text"

Some might wonder why there are 2 files, a ".cfg" and a ".txt"? This method allows you to have any number of ".txt" files that use (or read) the ".cfg" files for knowing where to place each line of text. This allows you to have individual text files filled with information associated with each different job or project you work on. This information will probably be different for each project, but allows you to place the text in the same position on your drawings on every job keeping your drawings uniform. This also gives you a record of that file for later reference.

The ".cfg" and ".txt" files work together in a very similar way to you "CMDEXT.def" file in Visual CADD. Each line in the file instructs "Place Text" on what how and where to place the text you desire.

So, the lines will place the text "Visual CADD" at the coordinates "3.125,4.125" (multiplied by the current Drawing Scale (see Above)) in the current drawing in Visual CADD, with the text height being "2" times the size of the current text height, with a rotation of "90" degrees and the text being "R" ( Right) justified.

One of my ".cfg files looks like this...

1,L,0,30.0000,05.8750
2,C,0,31.3750,06.3750
1,L,0,30.0000,05.1250
1,L,0,30.0000,04.3750
1,L,0,30.0625,04.0000
4,L,0,32.0000,00.1250
1,C,0,34.5000,8.1250
1,L,0,28.8750,12.8750
1,L,0,28.8750,12.6875
1,L,0,28.8750,12.5000
1,L,0,28.8750,12.3125
1,L,0,28.8750,12.1250
1,L,0,28.8750,11.9375
1,L,0,28.8750,11.7500
1,L,0,28.8750,11.5625
1,L,0,28.8750,11.3750
1,L,0,28.8750,11.1875
1,L,0,32.5000,8.1250

And one of my ".txt" files looks like this...

IMSI
VISUAL CADD
618-
DrawingScale
Date
DrawingName
ScalzSymbol Rev1
WD-1 = 3/4" OAK PLYWOOD STM APPROVED SAMPLE
WD-2 = SOLID OAK HARDWOOD STM APPROVED SAMPLE
WD-3 = WOOD BLOCKING-MILL OPTION
WD-4 = PAINT GRADE POPLAR
WD-5 = STAIN GRADE POPLAR
HD-1 = BLUM 110 DEGREE HINGES
HD-2 = MAGNETIC CATCHES
GL-1 = 1/4" CLEAR TEMPERED GLASS
GL-2 = 1/2" CLEAR PLATE GLASS
MT-1 = 16 GA. STAINLESS STEEL
StopText

Place Text gives you the ability to place some "System" information on your drawing by using Keywords. Those Keywords are...

DrawingScale:
If your text line is "DrawingScale" as in the 4th line above, Place Text will calculate the printed drawing scale, based on the current scale and your default 1 to 1 text scale (from "Scalz.ini") and place that scale on your drawing. There are a few options you need to set for your scale to look the way you want it. If your settings looked like this...

[Place Text]
Style=Imperial
Suffix== 1' - 0"
Prefix=Scale =
UpperCase=1

...and your printed scale was 1:48, then the scale placed on your drawing would look like this...
SCALE = 1/4" = 1' - 0"

If your settings looked like this....

[Place Text]
Style=Metric
Suffix=mm
Prefix=Scale = 1
UpperCase=0

...and your scale was 1:30 then the scale placed on your drawing would look like this...

Scale = 1 : 30mm

PrintScale:
Works just like "DrawingScale" but uses the Scale found in the Print Dialog for the Scale. Keyword "PrintScale"

HeaderPrintScale:
Works just like "DrawingScale" and "PrintScale" but uses the Scale you have saved in the header of the current drawing. Keyword "HeaderPrintScale"

Date:
If your text line is "Date" as in the 5th line above, Place Text will read your current "System Date" and place the date on your drawing.

DrawingName:
If your text line is "DrawingName" as in the 6th line above, Place Text will read the current drawing name and place that name on your drawing.

ScalzSymbol:
If your text line is "ScalzSymbol" as in the 7th line above, Place Text place a copy of that symbol using the current "Scale" at the coordinates specified.

StopText:
If your text line is "StopText" as in the last line above, Place Text starts to place a text line in Visual CADD and opens the "Text Line Edit Box" for you to type in the text you want. "StopText" must be the last line in a ".txt" file, as no other lines of text will be placed after a "StopText" command.

Once you have a set of these files made, it is very easy to edit the ".txt" files and simply change the text you need to per project.

Place Text checks to see if a line of text already exists in the position you are trying to place each line of text. If a line of text already exists, Place Text compares the new line to the old line and will only replace a line of text if it is different. This allows you to run Place Text as many times as you like on the same drawing and not get duplicate lines of text on top of each other and keeps you from having to erase all the text you already have placed if you have made a change in your ".txt" files.

We have added the following commands to the custom.mnu file for you to run these tools...

SEPARATOR
POPUP TitleBlock Commands
  Fill in Entire TitleBlock,PlaceAll
  Fill in Material Reference Only,MatRefOnly
  Submittal Date,SubDate
  Revision 1,Revision1
  Revision 2,Revision2
  Revision 3,Revision3
  Revision 4,Revision4
  Revision 5,Revision5
POPUPEND

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