Print to hpgl file? 1

[billmac1958]

Is it possible to print a drawing to a HPGL/HPGL2 file using Catia alone?

Pardon my ignorance but I am not an engineer or versed in Catia - I work in the Information Systems department.

 

[looslib]

My guess it should be, since hpgl and hpgl/2 are the most widely supported plotter formats in the world. Every CAD system I have used has supported HPGL.
Ben Loosli
CAD/CAM System Analyst
Ingersoll-Rand

 

[rickyt]

Yes you can,
I am assuming your talking V4 catia.

just tried it a few days ago.
not at work now, so here is what I remember.
im not a computer sys person here, but try my best to figure this stuff out.

you will need to set up another plotter config file.
then once in catia you select this new plotter and it
will send it to the specified file.

The plotter config files are text files.

I believe that your plotter config files are in your home/catadm/adm/pltcfg. there may be several different locations for these plotter config files due to multiple
environments.

I took our plotter config file for our normal plotter, made a new copy of this file and edited it slightly.
such lines as
*name HPGL2
*EXPORT HPGL2 (HPGL didn't work for me)

then looked at the tif plotter file configuration and copied someof that near the bottom where it outputs to a file, instead of sending it to the plotter.
changed the catout.tif to catout.hpgl2

delete or comment out the line where it would send it to the plotter. this would be a lpr line of somesort.


the info for the tif is posted in this forum.
thread560-31352

 

[rickyt]

I will copy and paste my config file Monday, if I don't forget.

Or list your email, and I can email it to you.

 

[rickyt]

/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------
/ HEADER BLOCK DEFINITION
/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------
*BEGIN_HEADER
/ ------------------------------------------ 10 CHARACTERS PLOTTER NAME
*NAME HPGL
/ -------------------------------- 45 CHARACTERS PLOTTING PANEL COMMENT
*COM PLOTTER
/ ------------------------------ 2 TYPES : PEN_PLOTTER OR ELECTROSTATIC
*TYP ELECTROSTATIC
*END_HEADER
/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------
/ PARAMETERS BLOCK DEFINITION
/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------
*BEGIN_PARAM
/ --------------PLOTTING KEYWORDS (REFER TO CATIA PLOT REFERENCE MANUAL)
*EXPORT HPGL2
*SCD 1.
*NBP 255
*NPI 400
*DIM -1. 890
*RAN 257 512
*PIX NO
*END_PARAM
/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------
/ EXECUTION BLOCK DEFINITION
/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------
/ --------------------------- Plotter connected on the lp0 printer queue
*BEGIN_EXEC
if [ -s $CATOUT ]
then
# qprt -P lp0 $CATOUT
cat $CATOUT > $HOME/toprint
else
echo " the file $CATOUT doesn't exist , check your traces"
fi
*END_EXEC
/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------
/ RUN-TIME BLOCK DEFINITION
/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------
*BEGIN_RTIME
CATOUT=$HOME/catout.hpgl
export CATOUT
*END_RTIME

 

[billmac1958]

Thanks rickyt that should do the trick!