Creating Labels and Label Text

The example Label shown in Figure 13:2 in Labels and Labelling could be created simply by typing the following (starting at LAYE) level:

NEW GLAB

create new General Label (or NEW SLAB to create a Special Label)

DDNM ID @

position Label attachment point using cursor

The above two commands are all that is needed to create a Label with the features shown in Global tab; the text which appears in the Label frame is by default the name of the Design element at the Label attachment point, all other attributes having default settings cascaded down from the owning Layer.

The Label attachment point will be at the origin of the element specified by the Label’s Design Data Name (DDNM) attribute.

For elements that have p-points or p-lines the attachment point can be varied by setting the NPPT or PKEY attributes to the specified p-point number/p-line name respectively.

Example

NPPT 2

- set NPPT to (p-point) 2

PKEY TOS

- set PKEY to p-line TOS (top of steel)

PKEY MEML

- set PKEY to member line

For elements with p-lines the attachment can be further varied by setting the PKDI p-line distance) attribute. See P-line Attributes for further information.

The ON command allows the DDNM and NPPT or PKEY/PKDI attributes to be set simultaneously.

Example

ON ID@
ON /PUMP1-1/NOZZ1

ON IDP @
ON P2 OF NOZZ4 OF EQUI /1101
ON PHEAD OF /BRAN2-1
ON PLEAVE OF /VALVE3

ON IDPLINE @
ON PPLINE BOS OF /SCTN.PN1_PN5
ON IDPDISTANCE @
ON PPLIN TOS OF /SCTN5 PROP 0.8

With the ON command it is also possible to specify an absolute distance along a p-line, although the value given will be converted to a proportional value for storage in the database:

ON PPLIN TOS OF /SCTN4 2500 FROM START

ON PPLIN BOS OF /SCTN5 1000 FROM END

If the FROM keyword is omitted then FROM START is assumed.

When using the ON command if values for NPPT, PKEY and PKDI are not specified then the defaults will be used - any existing values may be overwritten.

The Label attachment point can be offset from the DDNM using the APOF (Attachment Point Offset) attribute. This defines an offset position (in VIEW coordinates) measured from the p-point/p-line distance referenced by the Label. The leader line will be attached to this point (although if the clearance attribute (LLCL) is set the leader line will overshoot or stop short of it). This means that the leader line and its terminator can be moved away from the p-point to any desired position. By default APOF will be (0,0) - that means, no offset. APOF may be set directly, for example:

APOF 15 0

or in terms of Sheet coordinates by:

LEAD ATTA X455 Y677

LEAD ATTA @

The offset may be removed by:

LEAD ATTA DELETE  (or   APOF 0 0   or   APOF UNSET)

The Body Text (BTEX) attribute is by default set to the ‘intelligent text’ string #NAME, which translates to the name of the Design element at the attachment point when the Label is created. If the Design element at the attachment point is unnamed, an ‘error-text’ string will appear in the Label frame. This string is customizable and defined by the LAYE’s NTEXT attribute. See Customizing Error Text for further details.

BTEX ’NOZZLE 2’

or can be set using a combination of explicit and intelligent text. For example, the command

BTEX ’NOZZLE 2#/#NAME’

would produce the Label shown in Figure 13:3 below. Note how the size of the Label frame automatically adjusts to accommodate the specified text.

Figure 13:3. Label Text

Note the special hash-code ‘#/’ that generates a new line. See Intelligent Text for a full description of Drafts Intelligent Text System.

The extent of the text defined by the BTEX setting can be queried by

Q EXTENT BTEX

See Text Strings for further information.

Label text can be edited through use of the EDTEXT command. For example, if the target string is ‘NOZZLE 2’:

EDTEXT ’NOZZLE 2’ ’NOZZ 1-2’  -change Label text to ‘NOZZ 1-2’

Note: When editing intelligent text the intelligent text code itself must be specified, not the resultant text. See Editing Text for full details of the EDTEXT command.