Associating a Plotfile with a Design Template

When a designer creates a design element by instancing a design template, the Create ... form incorporates a Plotfile button which can display an associated plotfile; typically a dimensioned plot of the parameterized item. If no plotfile exists, this button is greyed out. If there is such a plotfile, it can also be shown as part of the Modify Properties form (depending on the user’s Property Settings options).

Associate a plotfile with a template

1. Display the Define Template Properties form (see Step 4 of Building up a Design from Subsidiary Parts or select Modify > Property Definitions for an existing template).

2. Enter, for example, Description: Plotfile and Key: PLOT. Set Definition to Plotfile.

3. In the Data area, set Type to the plot format (Portrait or Landscape).

4. The default plotfile directory is as specified by the PDMSPLOTS environment variable. In the Sub-Dir field, enter the path from this default directory to the directory holding the plotfile; and in the field below this, enter the name of the plotfile (typically with a .plt suffix).

5. When you click Include, the validity of the path and filename will be checked before the property definition is accepted.