DataCAD How-To's





HOW TO USE MULTI-SCALE PLOTTING

(For a Word 6-format version of this How-to,
click here to download)

OVERVIEW

The basic premise of MSP is to allow users to continue to draw all of their plans and details in real dimensions, then arranging them on a drawing sheet at whatever scale is required. MSP allows you to change the plotted scale of each detail on the fly simply by using the PgUp & PgDn keys.

Note: There have been numerous recent additions (version 10) to the Multi-Scale Plotting interface to allow snapping, and to provide other tools for easier and better alignment of your details.  This FAQ page does not cover them; in the name of simplicity it only covers the basics.

HOW IT WORKS

If you use and understand GotoViews you will easily grasp how MSP works. Just keep in mind that GotoViews are not directly related to MSP and are not required to be used -- they just make it easier.

As an example, if you turn layers 1, 2, 3 & 4 ON, then go to MSP, DCad uses the X & Y extents of the ON layers to define the boundaries of the "detail." So a "detail" is defined by DCad as, "which layers are turned ON, and what are the X & Y extents of their outermost entities," -- very much like GotoViews. When you go into MSP and choose LAYOUT you will get a bounding box which is the X & Y extents of the "detail". If you later add or subtract entities which thereby increase or decrease your extents, you must do a ReCalc (outside of MSP) before the bounding box will show the NEW extents of the detail. If you don’t do a ReCalc all the entities will still show up in MSP, but the bounding box will not be correct.

These Q&A’s will help illustrate the point. Notice the similarities with GotoViews.

Q: So what happens when you add/delete entities?

A: As long as they are on the same layers as originally defined when you placed your detail, they will show up properly in MSP.

Q: What happens if you physically delete layers from your detail?

A: Since the layers do not exist in the drawing file any more then DCad can obviously not display them. However, one of MSP’s bugs is that DCad can sometimes lock up on you if you delete an entire layer and then go into MSP (I haven’t been able to ascertain exactly when it will and when it won’t). I make it a habit to do very frequent forced saves (Shift-F) just in case.

Q: What happens if you add new layers to your detail?

A: They will NOT show up in MSP. You must delete the detail in MSP, go back to your drawing, ReCalc with the new layer(s) turned on, then place the detail again in MSP. A bit of a pain to do, but it’s still better than the alternative of no MSP.

 
Q: What happens if you turn layers OFF in your detail?

A: MSP will still show the OFF layers. Just as you must "Update" a 3D GotoView before the layers in the view will be updated, you must update the MSP detail if you want to turn off any layers in the detail. To do this you use the Update option in the MltLyout menu. MSP displays the detail based on which layers were ON when you placed the detail.
 

HOW TO USE IT

Let’s say we have a border/title-block set up for a 24"x36" drawing sheet on Layer 1, and a floor plan that uses layers called 2, 3, 4 & 5.

1. Turn on only layer 1 and do a ReCalc.

2. Go to the Plotter menu and make your settings just as you would for any other plot. Be sure to set your sheet size. In order to avoid the annoying problem of DCad leaving an unprintable border region around the drawing I recommend you use the Custom setting for sheet size, and type in (in this case) 36" by 24".

3. Go to MSP via Plotter/MltLyout/Layout. By default you will be on Sheet1.  You will see 4 dashed lines which define the edges of your 24x36 sheet, and 2 more dashed lines crossing in the center of your sheet -- these are Layout Division lines and can be modified via the LyoutSet/LyoutDiv option. This allows you to define how many dashed lines will be displayed horizontally and vertically on the sheet. They are simply guidelines to help you lay out your details. They do not plot and can not be snapped to.  Use the Rename button to name any of the sheets.  You are limited to 8 characters.

4. Move your cursor into the drawing area. You will see a bounding box which defines the extents of the entities that make up Layer 1 (your border). Look at the bottom of your screen and you will see, "Scale for this detail is now xx," where xx is a scale such as 1/4", 3", etc. This is the scale which the detail will be plotted at.

5. To change the scale simply use the Page Up or Page Down keys. The new scale will display at the bottom of the screen. Paging Down brings you "closer" to the detail, thereby increasing the scale (so a 1/8" scale will change to 1/4" scale when you PgDn).

6. Locate the border detail where you want to place it, then click on the left mouse button or hit Enter. A cheap trick from Evan Shu: MSP uses the current snap grid, so prior to entering MSP you can change your snap grid, making sure Snap Grid is toggled ON. This will help you in aligning details with one another.

7. You will be prompted to give your detail an appropriate name. You must name it. If you do not name it before right clicking or leaving MSP the detail will not be saved -- it will appear that it has been, but when you re-enter MSP the detail will not be there.

8. It is sometimes difficult to re-locate your details in MSP, especially in small increments, so here is a cheap trick: Pick "Layout" and place the detail in MSP by left-clicking. Do NOT give it a name. If you don’t like where it’s located simply leave the image on the screen (remember, it has not been saved), right-click once to back up, then click on "Layout" again. Place the detail where you want, using the old image (which is still on the screen) as a guide. You can do this an infinite number of times until you get it where you want it. Once you do, give the detail a name and hit <enter>. Only the final location is saved -- not all the others (just like in #7.)

9. If you don’t like where you place the detail simply pick the detail name from the menu. The detail will disappear from the screen, and the bounding box will be re-attached to your cursor so you can place it.

     9 a.) A cheap trick to make this easier comes from Evan Shu. Instead of randomly re-picking an re-placing your detail, never quite sure if you are moving it to the correct location, try this. Once your detail is placed and named. Pick Layout again and place the detail, using the previous detail as a guide. You can now use the cheap trick in #8 to try new locations until you get it placed right. Once you do, give it a new name, then go back and delete the original detail.

10. Exit MSP. Turn Layer 1 OFF, and turn layers 2, 3, 4 & 5 ON. Do a ReCalc. Go to MSP, change the detail scale via PgUp/PgDn if required, then place your plan where you want it on the sheet.

11. Plot out this sheet via Plot or ToFile. That’s it!

12. (Note that you can toggle the Extents button ON in MSP to show all your details as only bounding boxes, thereby speeding up each screen refresh.)

One of the drawbacks to MSP if you share drawing files with non-DCad 7 users (earlier DCad versions, AutoCAD, etc.) is that the person receiving the drawing file will not see your sheet layout since it is only viewable in MSP. Of course you could get around this by creating a new drawing file and enlarging/shrinking your details and arranging them, just like in the "old" days.

USING CLIP CUBE

By using the 3D clip cube function you can further extend the usability and time-saving possibilities of MSP. It takes a little getting used to, a little more layer management, and a little more forethought, but once you get the hang of it it’s pretty slick and can save a lot of redrawing time and coordination mistakes.

Clip Cube (CC) allows you to define a specific viewing area, "clipping" everything outside the cube from your view; all the entities outside the cube are there, they are just obscured from view. MSP can then use the defined CC’s as details, showing only those entities visible inside the cube.

By using (CC) you can show an enlarged detail of your stair plan without having to use ClipIt or ClipBox to copy the detail for use at a larger scale, and you won’t have to go back and make changes to two separate details. Because the CC is just another view of something you have already drawn, any changes made to your 1/8" plan (for instance) are shown in the 1/2" scale CC detail.

The reason for using a 3D CC is because of DCad’s ability to do 2-1/2D extrusions. If the CC were 2D some of the entities would be cut off because they are not on your drawing plane -- they are above it (unless you squashed all your entities to a height of ZERO).

Let’s use CC on a stair example; where you draw the stair for display in a 1/8" scale floor plan, but then you want to also show a 1/2" scale enlarged detail of it.

1. Turn on ONLY the layers you want to show in your enlarged stair plan detail.

2. Go to CC (DCAD_3D/3DViews/ClipCube). Set the Z-Max to a height that will ensure all your entities are in the cube (like 20’ or something). Make sure your Z-Min also includes all your entities.

3. Now from the CC menu, pick NewCube. Define a new CC box by picking two opposite corners of a bounding box.

4. Turn CC on (ClipOn). You will see all the entities outside the CC disappear from view. They are still there, but not viewable, and they will not be part of your detail in MSP.

5. You do NOT need to do a ReCalc in CC. DCAD is smart enough to know that the extents of your CC are what should be placed in MSP. Doing a ReCalc won’t hurt anything, but it won’t help, either.

6. Before exiting the 3DViews menu, pick GotoView, then AddView. You will be prompted to enter a name. Give your view a descriptive name and hit <Enter>. This step is NOT a requirement for MSP at all, but it allows you to come back to this exact detail easily in the future if you need to modify or view it. These 3D GotoViews save all the information about which layers are on, what their extents are, and, very importantly, they save the Clip Cube, as well.

7. Now exit the 3D menu back to DCAD_2D. Go to MSP and pick Layout. You will see a bounding box which is the extents of your CC. Use PgUp/PgDn to change the scale of the stair detail.  In this example we want to show the stairs at 1/2" scale, so we press PgUp or PgDn until the scale at the bottom of the screen reads "1/2"". 

8. Give the enlarged stair detail a descriptive name (8 characters) and press <Enter>. You MUST give the detail a NAME or the detail will not actually be saved.  If you do not, it will look like it's been saved, but when you exit the MSP layout and then return, you will see that the detail is no longer there.

9. Now you have an enlarged stair detail with no extra drawing involved.  And perhaps best of all, since the 1/4" and 1/2" stairs are actually the same stair in DataCAD, making changes to the stair will cause both views of the stairs to be updated at both scales every time!

The fine points of using CC in this manner require a little forethought and good layer management.