Customized Linetype

Hi Listers,
I have two questions in customizing a linetype with text.
a. Can I define the width factor of the text as if in making a text style?
b. Can I control the lineweight of the text?
Would these be possible if I use shape instead of Text?
Thanks.

CT

 

Hi ct_lo.wsd answer for question no.1

; cs is stand for create style font
; Design by Ade Suharna <>
; 24 November 2004
; Program no.141/11/2004
; Edit by
(defun c:cs (/ nam texnam ang wfac thei)
(while
(setq nam (getstring "\nENTER NAME FOR FONT : "))
(setq texnam (getstring "\nENTER NAME FOR STYLE: "))
(setq ang (getreal "\nENTER OBLIQUE ANGLE: "))
(setq wfac (getreal "\nENTER WIDTH FACTOR: "))
(setq thei (getreal "\nENTER TEXT HEIGHT: "))
(command "_style" nam texnam ang wfac thei "N" "N" "N")
)
)

 

a. The thing you put into the linetype definition is a text STYLE name, not
a FONT name, so if the style you call for has a width factor, it should be
used that way in the linetype.
b. You should be able to by using a text style that is based on a TrueType
font with "weight," or a multiple-line .SHX font like ROMAND, ROMANC,
ROMANT, etc. I don't think you can do it with a single-line .SHX font like
ROMANS or TXT. If you want the text lineweight lighter than the line parts,
you may be out of luck if you use a pen plotter, but you can probably still
do it with an inkjet or laser plotter, using a lightweight TrueType font and
a heavy enough lineweight for the line parts.

 

Kent,
I did have the same experience as raised by CT in (a). I have tried to make a custom linetype with width factor less than 1in the text style as you suggested. No matter what I set in the text style, the width factor remains unchanged (ie =1). In addition, I got the same results by using the make linetype tool in Express. Any ideas?

Kam

 

I confess I haven't tried width factors in any of the custom linetypes I've
made -- I just looked at the Customization Guide under custom linetypes, and
it describes it as using a text Style name, not a Font, so I made the
apparently mistaken assumption that it actually meant that, and that the
style would carry its width factor into the linetype. (I do wonder what
happens if you use a linetype like that in a drawing that doesn't have that
text style defined in it.)

If that doesn't work, there's the shape approach, mentioned as a possibility
in the original post. But that could be pretty complicated to define if the
text content isn't really short, or if you have a variety of different text
contents that you want to use.

If you don't mind the line going through the text and not being associated
with it, you could make a block of the text and apply it along the lines and
curves using Measure or Divide, with the Block option. With that approach,
it would be very easy to make the text with a width factor, and a different
lineweight than the line.

 

try defining a style using Arial Narrow. It doesn't need a <1 width
assignment. Its already narrow.