TPC writes DXF files from the Export dialog box. You can use all of the graphics options to draw your survey and then write a copy of it to a DXF file.
Congratulations! You just wrote a DXF file.
In other CAD programs, text size is a factor of the drawing height. This means that as you scale the drawing, the text size changes. Often times, you then have to rescale individual text because it got too big or too small.
TPC eliminates this problem by factoring the text size for you when it writes the file. The file will be written so that when plotted in CAD at the same scale selected in Drawing View, the text size will be the same as it was in Drawing View.
CAD programs use a 'Line Type Scale' variable to determine how often a line patter repeats. By default, TPC sets the Line Type Scale to a fourth of the drawing scale. If your drawing scale is 100, the Line Type Scale will be set to 25. Use the 'LTSCALE' command in your CAD program to change this value.
In some versions of AutoCAD, you may need to active the Display lineweight option. Choose Format, Lineweight... to display the Lineweight Settings dialog. Then turn on the Display lineweight toggle.
Along with the automatic scaling of text size, you need the flexibility to establish layers as efficiently as possible. TPC allows you to name your layers by traverses or entity type or a combination of both. Let’s take a look at the options, and then talk about how they can simplify your CAD work.
TPC allows layer names up to 32 characters long. You can use any combination of numbers, letters, dash or underscore. Some CAD programs allow only layer numbers. If so, just enter numbers for the layer names.
Let’s say that you have the following traverses in your survey and that you want to put all the data for the lots onto a layer called “Lots” and all the as-built data onto a layer called “AsBuilts”.
Note: To see which layer name each traverse is using, include the letter L in the Traverses Manager format.
You can also group data by entity types. For instance, you can put all of the point symbols on a layer, all of the lines on a layer, all of the point descriptions on a layer, etc.
This is the method you would use to draft a site survey. You might have one drawing with the point descriptions turned on to help identify where the improvements are located. Then you might want to turn off all of the descriptions and just show the location of the buildings to the lot lines. Setting up layering based on entities can be a real help.
The entity layer names are set in the DXF Settings dialog.
You can combine the traverse layer name with the entity layers by including an asterisk “*” in the traverse layer name and turning on [X] Use Traverse Layers in the DXF Settings dialog. The * is replaced by the entity layer name to form a new layer.
For example, if a traverse's layer name is “UTILITY*” and the entity layer name for point symbols is “PTS”, the combined name would be “UTILITYPTS”. Here are some more examples:
Traverse layer name Entity layer name Combined layer name
LOTS* PTS LOTSPTS
*-LOTS PTS PTS-LOTS
LOTS* (none) LOTS
(none) PTS PTS
Notice that if the entity layer name is blank, the traverse layer name is used by itself. If the traverse layer name is blank, the entity layer name is used by itself.
TPC can insert blocks for each of the point symbols or actually draw the symbol in the DXF file. The default is to insert the point block.
Inserting blocks is the preferred method for the following reasons:
It produces smaller DXF files.
It allows you to select the point symbol in CAD by picking any part of the symbol.
You can also move, rotate and scale the symbol as one entity.
The insert point of the symbol is the survey point itself.
Some programs, like Microsoft Word 6.0 do not look for blocks in DXF files. If you insert blocks and read the DXF file into a program like this, you will not get any point symbols. In these situations, you must turn off the [ ] Write symbol blocks options and let TPC draw each symbol with the individual line, circle and arc entities that make up the block.
When you insert point symbol blocks, the blocks for the symbols that are used in the drawing are written to the BLOCKS section of the DXF file. If you try to read this DXF file into an existing drawing, you will get an error message, “Not a new drawing, only entities will be read.” This means that the block definitions included in the DXF file will not be loaded into the drawing and you will not get what you expect.
In order to read these blocks into your CAD program; you must start with a new drawing, not the prototype. In AutoCAD, for instance, each new drawing you start uses a prototype drawing like ACAD.DWG to setup the drawing. Any new drawing you start with a prototype will give the error listed above. The solution is to start a new file without using a prototype.
To start a new drawing without a prototype in AutoCAD R11:
You may need to reload your menu with the MENU command.
To start a new drawing without a prototype in AutoCAD R12:
With AutoCAD R13 and newer versions, you do not need to turn on [X] No Prototype. The blocks come in automatically and no errors are reported.
Another way to import a DXF file with blocks into your CAD program is to pre-load the blocks into the prototype file.
Now when you start a new file, use the prototype with the blocks inserted. When you enter a new filename in AutoCAD, enter it as FILENAME=PROTOTYPE, where FILENAME is the name of the new file and PROTOTYPE is the name of the prototype file with the blocks in it.
All of the blocks used by TPC are available both in AutoCAD DWG and DXF file formats in the DXF sub-directory of the program. For instance, if you have installed TPC in C:\TPC, the block files will be in C:\TPC\DXF.
TPC can write colors by layer or by entity. The default is by entity.
If you think that you will be modifying colors to better view all of the utility points or center lines, etc, turn on the [X] Color by Layer option in the DXF Settings dialog.
If you would like to set the color for each entity individually, turn this option off.
Entity line types work much like entity colors. TPC can write the line type for each line or allow line type to be controlled by the layer settings. The default is by entity.
To write line types by layer, turn on the [X] Linetype by Layer option in the DXF Settings dialog.
TPC does not store line types by layer (it stores them by drawing, traverse or entity). As a result, if you turn on the 'Linetype by Layer' option, you will need to edit the layer linetypes after you import the DXF file into your CAD program.
TPC stores much of its DXF header information in the DXF subdirectory. You can edit these files to change the type of DXF file TPC writes.
Note: You should modify these DXF files only if you are experienced with the DXF file format.
Several files are used to write the DXF header file information. These files are:
HEADER.DXF - contains drawing setup information
LTYPE.DXF - contains line type table
TABLES.DXF - contains other tables including fonts (fonts are not included in V4.02 and above).
The symbols that are inserted into the drawing are also stored here. Files with the DXF extension are block definitions that get inserted into the DXF header section.
In V4.02 and above, TPC writes the True Type fonts used in the drawing to a font table. TPC replaces the spaces in the font name with "_" to create the font name written to the DXF file. For example, Times New Roman becomes Times_New_Roman. TPC also includes the pathname of the true type font file in the font table. If a font used in the drawing is not available on the computer writing the DXF file, TPC writes the font name (i.e. Times_New_Roman) instead of the pathname. When the DXF file is read, the user is prompted to select a font file for the font name.
AutoCAD R12 and R13 do not support True Type fonts properly. When writing a DXF file in these formats, you can choose to omit the text styles in the settings dialog. This forces AutoCAD to use the STANDARD font for all text entities when it opens the DWG file.
Using DXF
Using DWG
Layers
Working with Drawing Objects
Converting Drawing Objects to Survey Points
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