Making linetypes

Hi all,
I want to make some linetypes I allready read all autodesk help, but I can't make what I want
For example I want 2 paralel lines and a line between them like: =|=|=| ... I made a shape file ltypeshp.shx which contains:
*136,15,BOX
1,014,1,0F0,1,050,1,02C,1,0F8,1,058,1,014,0

then I made a linetype definition:
*BOXLINE,=|=|=|=|=|=
A,1.8,-.1,[BOX,ltypeshp.shx,s=.1],-.1

and what I get is not good, any sugestions links where I can find info about making linetypes, or maybe there is some tool ....
Thanks

 

I don't know whether it will make any difference, but you don't need all the
"1," pen-down items in the shape definition. The pen is assumed to be down
when you start, and remains down unless and until you use a "2," code to
raise it. The shape definition could be
*136,8,BOX
014,0F0,050,02C,0F8,058,014,0
But it may work as you have it, being told (even though unnecessarily) to
put the pen down for every segment.

If I read your diagrammatic linetype correctly, I think you want your 1.8
unit line segment perpendicular to the direction of the overall line and
Boxes, but the way you have it makes it parallel. Positive values for
pen-down and negative values for pen-up are always along the direction of
the line. You would need another shape definition for that perpendicular
piece, maybe something like this, that picks the pen up and moves down 9
units, then puts it down and moves up 18, then picks it up again and moves
back to the origin point:
*137,8,CROSSLINE
2,0AC,1,0A4,0A4,2,0AC,0
Use it at .1 scale factor (as you do with your box), to make it 1.8 units
long instead of 18.

I've never seen a complex linetype that uses more than one shape in it, but
Batting and Zigzag each have more than one shape INSERTION (though of the
same shape), and I don't find anything saying you CAN'T have more than one
shape, so maybe this would do it (not tested):

*BOXLINE,=|=|=|=|=|=
A,.0001,[BOX,ltypeshp.shx,s=.1],-2,[CROSSLINE,ltypeshp.shx,s=.1]

(AutoCAD starts Batting and Zigzag with a nearly-zero length line segment,
but I'm not sure it's necessary to have an actual piece of line first like
that. You might be able to start with A,0,[<shape-insertion>]..., but I'll
stick with their approach here.)

But for making it look better on CURVES, it would be better to do it more
like the way they do Batting and Zigzag, by moving ahead (with the pen up)
to the middle of a shape that has width, and drawing it in with a negative-x
setback of half its drawn width:

*BOXLINE,=|=|=|=|=|=
A,.0001,-1,[BOX,ltypeshp.shx,x=-1,s=.1],-1,[CROSSLINE,ltypeshp.shx,s=.1]

Does that work?

Kent Cooper, AIA

.... I made a shape file ltypeshp.shx which contains:

about making linetypes, or maybe there is some tool ....

 

That may be what Remyga is looking for, but I would want to know what the
intent of the original 1.8 in the linetype definition is. There doesn't
seem to be anything here that could account for that.

And it now occurs to me that, (duh) even with the assumptions in my previous
reply about a longer crossline, you could do the box and the crossline in
ONE shape definition.

Kent Cooper, AIA


"R.K. McSwain" wrote...
Try this: (I renamed your shape file to dummy.shx and renamed the shape to
BOXXX)

*BOXLINE,=|=|=|=|=|=
A,0,[BOXXX,dummy.shx,s=.1],-2.0

See attached pic:

.... I made a shape file ltypeshp.shx which contains:

about making linetypes, or maybe there is some tool ....

 

Have a look at the MKShape and MKLType tools in Express Tools.
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