<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  Report Generator > Forms > DXF forms > Create a new DXF form

A general description of DXF forms is found in the previous topic.

 

In this topic, you will find an example of how a form is created. Bear in mind that the description only covers one of several possible ways to do it.

 

Follow the steps below to create a DXF form.

 

1.In the Project Module, locate the System group and open the Drawing frames project (short name GRUND).

 

2.Open the Drawing Manager. Press Collect and then Reorganise in the toolbar, to be sure that all drawing frames are correctly presented.

 

3.Locate the drawing frame that you want to use for your new DXF form. Select it and click the Copy button in the toolbar.

 

4.Activate the Project Module. Also in the System group, open the DXF forms project (short name 0FORM).

 

5.Open the Drawing Manager. Press Collect and then Reorganise in the toolbar, to be sure that all DXF forms are correctly presented.

 

6.Click the Paste button in the toolbar and then Ok in the dialogue box that appears. Click Reorganise to physically execute the copy operation.

 

7.Select the newly created form and adjust the filename, so that it is easy to identify and easy to find. It is recommended to use a name that indicates the future function of the form that you are creating. All standard forms have names beginning with a zero. Therefore, it is recommended to give your own forms names beginning with other characters to easily distinguish between them and to avoid mistakes related to updates. Please note that only letters A-Z, digits 1-9 and underscores are allowed in the filenames. Click Reorganise to execute the physical renaming of the form.

 

8.Open the form, for example by using the Open button.

 

9.Add the columns needed using the Line command. Place the lines in a non-electrical layer, like DEKOR25 or DEKOR35, depending on how thick you want the line to be when printed. (DEKOR35 will for example be printed with 0.35 mm line thickness on an A3, and 0.25 mm on an A4).

 

10.Add a title at the top of each column using ordinary text. Please note that the text height and text font that you are using will be reflected in the final reports.

 

11.Add a horizontal line beneath the titles.

 

12.Create another horizontal line a bit further down. The distance between the previous line and this one should correspond to the desired distance between the rows of the report.

 

13.Add report variables to the first row. They should be selected from an appropriate TARGET database corresponding to the list in the Report variables topic. The report variables should be created using ordinary AutoCAD text. The variable names always begin with exclamation mark. Only capital letters (upper case) A-Z, digits 0-9 and underscore are used. Use the text size, text justification, text font, and similar according to how you want the texts in the finished report to be. It is utterly important that all report variables in this row are at the same y coordinate. This is easily achieved by activating the “snap” function. (All report variables will be sorted according to their coordinates. The sorting will not be correctly done if the report variables are located at even slightly different y coordinates, with the result that the form will be erroneous).

 

14. Add a hash sign (“#”) with ordinary text after the last report variable in the row. This indicates the end of the row. Please remember to place the hash sign at the same y coordinate as the rest of the report variables in the same row.

 

15. Measure the height from the upper edge of the recently created row to the title field below, where the last row must end. This is done using the Dist command found under Drawing aids.

 

16.Use the Dist command once again, now to measure the height of the row.

 

17. Calculate the number of rows by dividing the first distance with the other. (You may for example use the Windows Calculator).

 

18. Use the Array command found in the Draw tab of the ribbon menu to make copies of all report variables, the hash sign, and the horizontal line beneath. Make as many copies as there are rows. The number of columns should be set to 1. The distance between the copies may be set by pointing at the upper edge of the first row, and then at the lower edge of the same row. The rows are copied, and now the drawing sheet is beginning to look like the form it will become.

 

19.The next thing to take care of, is the title field. Mainly, you may use three types of report variables when creating it:

 

•You may use the same kind of report variables as the ones previously added to the form. They are suitable to use if you for example wish that information regarding plant and location shall be added automatically. These report variables fetch information from the TARGET database chosen in the report definition.

 

•You may also use variables that fetches information from the project parameters. There are report variables defined for almost all project parameters. These types of variables are useful for signatures, project descriptions, document numbers, and other project related data. Please note in this context that user defined project parameters can be used and that they are supported by the Report Generator.

 

•Finally, there are several system variables that you may use. These are useful when adding information as date, sheet numbers, and similar.

 

20. Report variables in the title field should normally not be texts. Instead, enter the names of desired report variables as values of the attributes in the title field block(s). Use the conventional DDATTE/ATTEDIT command to do this, for example by simply double-clicking the title field.

 

21. Save the form using the SaveDXF command.

 

22. Finally, the form must be prepared. This means that all objects corresponding to report variables must be sorted for the form to be correctly filled in, in the correct sequence. How this is done is described in the Preparing DXF form topic below.