AutoCAD 2000 Plot Stamp Bonus Utilities Readme

June 1999
Copyright (C) 1999 by Autodesk, Inc. 
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software in object code form for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appears in all copies and that both that copyright notice and the limited warranty and restricted rights notice below appear in all supporting documentation.
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Trademarks
----------
AutoCAD and AutoCAD Run-time Extension (ARX) are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries.
All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
This document provides you with the information necessary to install and use the VIEWTOLAYOUT and PAGEIN/PAGEOUT bonus utilities. 
Contents of aclyutil.exe

This is a self-extracting file that contains the following files:
* acpltstamp.arx
* pstamp.hlp
* acpltstampreadme.txt

Table of Contents
------------------

1.1	INSTALLATION

1.2	PLOT STAMP DIALOG BOX	
1.2.1	Plot with Plot Stamp	
1.2.2	Plot Stamp Fields	
1.2.3	Drawing Name	
1.2.4	Layout Name	
1.2.5	Date and Time	
1.2.6	Login Name	
1.2.7	Device Name
1.2.8	Paper Size
1.2.9	Plot Scale	
1.2.10	Comment	
1.2.11	Location and Offset	
1.2.12	Location	
1.2.13	Stamp Upside Down	
1.2.14	Orientation	
1.2.15	X Offset	
1.2.16	Y Offset	
1.2.17	Offset Relative to Printable Area	
1.2.18 Offset Relative to Paper Border
1.2.19 1.2.19	Preview	
1.2.20	Text Properties	
1.2.21	Font	
1.2.22	Height	
1.2.23	Units	
1.2.24	Single Line Plot Stamp	
1.2.25	Log File Location	
1.2.26	Log File	
1.2.27	Log File Name	
1.2.28	Browse	

1.3	PLOTSTAMP COMMAND LINE	
1.3.1	On	
1.3.2	Off
1.3.3	Fields	
1.3.4	Log File	
1.3.5	Location	
1.3.6	Properties	

PLOTSTAMP
------------------------
Plotstamp adds the specified plot stamp information - including drawing name, layout name, date and time, and so on - to a drawing that is plotted to any device. Once you turn plot stamping on, it remains active with whatever settings have been most recently entered until you specifically turn it off. AutoCAD creates a plot stamp at the time the drawing is being plotted; the plot stamp is not saved with the drawing. Before you plot the drawing, you can preview the position of the plot stamp in the Plot Stamp dialog box (not in the AutoCAD(r) drawing area or in the plot preview). The plot stamp you create is justified on one of the four drawing corners and can be forced to print on either one or two lines. You can also choose to record the plot stamp information to a log file.

1.1 Installation
------------------------
1. Extract plotstmp.zip to a temporary directory.
2. Place the file acpltstamp.arx in a directory referenced in your AutoCAD file
paths in the Options such as the main AutoCAD directory.
3. Place the file Pstamp.hlp in your AutoCAD\Help\ directory.
4. Now in AutoCAD use APPLOAD or the ARX command to load the acpltstamp.arx.
5. The command to set up the Plot stamp is PLOTSTAMP. There is also a
scriptable -PLOTSTAMP

Note: After loading it will be persistent in all future launches of AutoCAD unless you unload it explicitly with the APPLOAD or the ARX command.

1.2 Plot Stamp Dialog Box
-------------------------
Turns plot stamping on or off, specifies the information for the plot stamp, and then places the stamp according to the specified location and offset. You can orient the stamp vertically, horizontally, or upside down. To plot your drawing with the plot stamp information currently entered in the Plot Stamp dialog box, select Plot with Plot Stamp.
1.2.1 Plot with Plot Stamp
Specifies applying plot stamp information to the plotted drawing. PLOTSTAMP is automatically loaded when you start AutoCAD. To unload PLOTSTAMP, you must use ARXUNLOAD. 

1.2.2 Plot Stamp Fields
------------------------
Specifies the drawing information you want applied to the plot stamp.

1.2.3 Drawing Name
------------------------
Includes the drawing name and path in the plot stamp information.

1.2.4 Layout Name
------------------------
Includes the name of the layout in the plot stamp information. 

1.2.5 Date and Time
------------------------
Includes the date and time in the plot stamp information. 
NOTE The date and time format is determined by the Regional Settings dialog box in the Windows Control Panel.  Plot stamping uses the short date style for dates. 

1.2.6 Login Name
------------------------
Includes the Windows login name, as contained in the LOGINNAMESYS_LOGINNAME@acad.hlp>main system variable, in the plot stamp information.

1.2.7 Device Name
------------------------
Includes the current plotting device name in the plot stamp information.

1.2.8 Paper Size
------------------------
Includes the paper size for the currently configured plotting device in the plot stamp information.

1.2.9 Plot Scale
------------------------
Includes the plot scale is included in the plot stamp information.

1.2.10 Comment
------------------------
Specify any custom information that you want added to the plot stamp.

1.2.11 Location and Offset
------------------------
Determines the plot stamp location, the orientation of the plot stamp, and the offset you want to apply relative to either the printable area or the paper border.

1.2.12 Location
------------------------
Indicates the area where you want to place the plot stamp. Selections include Top Left, Bottom Left, Bottom Right, and Top Right. The location is relative to the image orientation of the drawing on the page. 

1.2.13 Stamp Upside Down
------------------------
Indicates that you want the plot stamp to be rotated upside down.

1.2.14 Orientation
------------------------
Indicates the rotation angle of the plot stamp in relation to the specified page. The rotation options include horizontal and vertical orientation for each of the locations (for example, Top Left Horizontal, and Top Left Vertical).

1.2.15 X Offset
------------------------
Indicates the X offset value that is calculated from either the corner of the paper or the corner of the printable area, depending on which setting you specified. If you specified Relative to Paper Edge, your offset value must be calculated to ensure that the plot stamp information fits entirely within the designated printable area of the paper size. If the offset value you specified positions the plot stamp information off the printable area, the plot stamp text is clipped.

1.2.16 Y Offset
------------------------
Indicates the Y offset value that is calculated from either the corner of the paper or the corner of the printable area, depending on which setting you specified. If you specified Relative to Paper Edge, your offset value must be calculated to ensure that the plot stamp information fits entirely within the designated printable area of the paper size. If the offset value you specified positions the plot stamp information off the printable area, the plot stamp text is clipped.

1.2.17 Offset Relative to Printable Area
------------------------
Calculates the offset values that you specify from the corner of the paper, (not the corner of the printable area of the paper).

1.2.18 Offset Relative to Paper Border
------------------------
Calculates the offset values that you specify from the corner of the printable area of the paper (not the corner of the paper).

1.2.19 Preview
------------------------
Provides a visual display of the plot stamp location based on the location and rotation values you have specified. You cannot preview the plot stamp any other way.

1.2.20 Text Properties
------------------------
Determines the font, height, and units you want to apply to the plot stamp text.

1.2.21 Font
------------------------
Specifies the True Type font you want to apply to the text used for the plot stamp information. 

1.2.22 Height
------------------------
Specifies the text height you want to apply to the plot stamp information. 

1.2.23 Units
------------------------
Specifies the units used to measure X offset, Y offset, and height. You can define units using inches, millimeters, or pixels.

1.2.24 Single Line Plot Stamp
------------------------
If selected, places the plot stamp information to be placed in a single line of text. The plot stamp can consist of up to two lines of text, but the placement and offset values you specify must accommodate the text wrapping and the text height. If the plot stamp contains text that is longer than the printable area, the plot stamp text will be clipped. If cleared, plot stamp text is wrapped after the third field.

1.2.25 Log File Location
------------------------
Writes the plot stamp information to a log file rather than to the current drawing.

1.2.26 Log File
------------------------
Indicates that you want the plot stamp information written to a log file. The default log file name is plot.log, and is located in the AutoCAD directory. You can specify a different file name and path. After the initial plot.log file is created, the plot stamp information in each succeeding plotted drawing is added to this file. Each drawing's plot stamp information added to the log file consists of a single line of text. The plot stamp log file can be placed on a network drive 
location and shared by multiple users. Plot stamp information from each user is written to the plot.log file.

1.2.27 Log File Name
------------------------
Specifies the file name for the log file you are creating. Enter a new file name if you do not want to use the default plot.log.

1.2.28 Browse
------------------------
When chosen, a dialog box lists currently saved plot stamp log files. You can choose to overwrite an existing plot stamp log file with the currently specified plot stamp information, and save this file.
1.3 PLOTSTAMP Command Line
If you enter -plotstamp at the Command prompt, PLOTSTAMP displays prompts on the command line. -PLOTSTAMP can be used as part of a plotting script to modify plot stamp information for a drawing.

Command: -plotstamp
Enter an option [On/Off/Fields/Log file/Location/Properties]:

1.3.1 On
------------------------
Turns on the plot stamp on for the current drawing.

1.3.2 Off
------------------------
Turns off the plot stamp off for the current drawing.

1.3.3 Fields
------------------------
Specifies the plot stamp field information you want to apply to the current plot stamp. You are prompted for each field you want to include.
Stamp drawing name ? [Yes/No] <Yes>:
Stamp layout name ? [Yes/No] <Yes>:
Stamp date and time ? [Yes/No] <Yes>:
Stamp login name ? [Yes/No] <Yes>:
Stamp plot device name ? [Yes/No] <Yes>:
Stamp paper size ? [Yes/No] <Yes>:
Stamp plot scale ? [Yes/No] <Yes>:
Enter comment to stamp: 

1.3.4 Log File
------------------------
Specifies writing the current plot stamp information to a log file rather than applying this information to the current plotted drawing. The default log file is plot.log, unless you specify another file path. You are prompted as follows:
Write plot stamp to log file ? [Yes/No] <Yes >:
Enter log file path <plot.log >:

1.3.5 Location
------------------------
Determines the location of the plot stamp on the page based on offset, orientation, and relationship to either the printable area or the border of the paper.

1.3.6 Properties
------------------------
Determines the measurement units, font name, and text height for the current plot stamp text. You can also specify placing the text on one line of text or wrapped onto two lines of text. The placement and offset values you specify for this plot stamp must accommodate the text wrapping and the text height.

Enter measurement units [Inches/Millimeters/Pixels] <Inches>:
Enter font name: <>
Enter text height <0.1500>:
Place plot stamp on single line? [Yes/No] <Yes >:

