Specifying Format to be Applied

When the shapes meet the rule criteria are found during the executing rule, the format properties defined by this rule are applied to them. The format to be applied to the matching shape can be defined on the Format to be assigned tab:

Defining format to be applied by rule

The tab page contains a list of all format properties possible to assign using the rule. If the associated value is not set (blank) it means that the property is not going to be set.

The following properties can be assigned:

Line colour

If the value for the property is set, then the line colour of the shapes meeting the rule criteria will be set appropriately. This will override the Defined, Released To 3D and Associated With 3D colours. The value can be defined in the dialog presented after clicking the button in the field:

Define line color

Line pattern

The Line pattern can be defined by selecting the desired value from the drop down in the corresponding field. The value can also be keyed in. It determines which line pattern can be assigned to shapes matching the rule. If a selected pattern is defined, it should be added to the drawing before applying the rule. Otherwise there will be no visible effect (only the formula will be set appropriately).

Selecting line pattern

Line weight

The line weight can be selected from the list or be put into the corresponding field as a text. If the value is keyed in without a unit string, then when the rule is being applied, the default page unit will be used.

Selecting line weight

Line cap

The Line cap can be selected from a list or keyed in, in the same way as line pattern.

Line transparency

The Line transparency can be selected from a list or keyed in to the appropriate field. It is a numeric value presented as % of.

Specifying transparency

Fill colour

The Fill colour can be set in the same way as line colour.

Fill pattern

The Fill pattern can be selected from a list or keyed in, in the same way as line pattern.

Fill pattern colour

The Fill pattern colour is defined in the same way as line colour.

Fill transparency

The Fill transparency can be selected from a list or keyed in to the appropriate field. It is a numeric value presented as % of.

Layer

The Layer can be selected from the list containing layers present on the current drawing or keyed into the appropriate field. If it is set, then all shapes matching the rule will be added to the layer and removed from the layers they belonged to before. If a layer with a name does not exist it will be created.

Selecting a layer

If <No layer> is selected from the list, then after the rule is executed, all shapes meeting its criteria will belong to no layer. If the <Auto> option is chosen, then shapes will be put into layers depending on their catalogue reference – for each spec a corresponding layer will be created and all shapes having reference to the spec will be added to the layer.

Text font

The Text font defines the font to be used in the text of shapes matching the rule. It can be selected from the following list:

Selecting text font

Text size

The Text size can be selected from a list of typical font sizes or keyed in:

Selecting text size

Text colour

The Text colour can be set in the same way as other colours.

Text style

Specifies if text in shapes fulfilling the rule criteria should be bold, italic, . An appropriate value can be selected from the following list:

Selecting text style

Text transparency

The Text transparency can be selected from a list or keyed in to the appropriate field. It is a numeric value presented as % of.

Sometimes there is a need to clear previous formatting before applying the new one. In such a case, the Clear auto formatting option placed on the Format tab below the table can be used.

If the check box is ticked then previous formatting done by the rules will be cleared for all shapes fulfilling current rule criteria. Also, in such a case the formatting table will be disabled for editing.