PlotDesigner

The CadnaA PlotDesigner enables to design multi-page graphic printout by using various cell types.

For example, the following cell types are available:

Plan cell: contains the CadnaA screen graphics
3D cell: display 3D Special views
Text cell: may contain one or multiple lines of text
Symbol cell: displays symbols (for example, the north arrow)

Provided the BMP option is available (see Chapter 9 - Bitmaps), bitmap files may be inserted as well (using the Bitmap cell).

Each type of cell has various properties (e.g. dimensions, background color, borders, and margins). The objects „Page“ and „Container“ are used to generate multiple pages or to arrange multiple objects on each page (e.g. in rows or in columns).

Dialog PlotDesigner

Select the command PlotDesigner from the File menu or click the printer symbol on the toolbar. The dialog consists of the plot preview (left) and the cell tree (right), the latter showing the hierarchy of the actual cells. The currently selected cell is highlighted in both, the plot preview and in the cell tree.

Dialog PlotDesigner: left: plot preview, right: cell tree

Cell Tree

The cell tree displays the current tree structure of the project „(untitled)“ being the root object (level 0). This root object is unique and can not be copied, moved or deleted.

Project

After double-clicking on the project cell its properties are displayed.

This includes:

Printer: displays the default printer selected in WINDOWS. Click on button „Setup“ to select an available printer, the paper size, source and orientation (portrait or landscape mode).
Standard range: preset field of printing. This field is used when the cell type "Plan cell" (see below) is selected, the pressure range "standard".
Margins (mm): distances to edge

Below this hierarchy level, all pages are listed.

Pages

The pages within a project are on hierarchical level 1. The name of each page always starts with „Page: ...“ followed by the entered name of the page. Each page can - as can the container objects - have four different alignments:

horizontally side (X)
vertically above one another (Y)
each other (Z)
freely positionable

New Page

Use the symbol „New page“ (or via menu Insert|New page) to insert a new page at the end of the current project.

Previous/Next page

Switching between pages occurs by clicking the respective page in the cell tree or one of the cells within a page or by clicking on the „Previous/Next page“ buttons.

The toolbar in the dialog PlotDesigner contains following objects:

opening / saving / printing PlotDesigner files:

	opens the dialog Open an existing file enabling to select plot files (file extension * .cnp) or CadnaA files (*.cna). The existing plot project will be replaced.
	opens the Import Files dialog - The imported plot structure is added to the existing one. The following import formats are available: CadnaA-Plot Files (.cnp): loads a plot-file which has been saved via File\|Save as menu command (or the respective save symbol) Template Files (.txt): loads old template files formerly used in CadnaA to produce a graphic output CadnaA Files (*.cna): loads the plot formatting from the selected CadnaA file
	saves the existing plot structure as a plot file (* .cnp).
	opens the Print dialog for printing of individual or multiple pages

copy current view to clipboard:

opens the Copy to cliboard dialog to copy the current view as Metafile or Bitmap to the clipboard

copying / inserting / deleting pages/container/cells:

	copies the currently selected page/container/cell - The copied object appears in the cell tree in bold text.
	pastes the copied page/container/cell to a new location in the cell tree.
	deletes the currently selected page/container/cell (with safety prompt) - The objects inside of the page or container to be deleted are deleted as well.

previous/next page:

	previous page
	next page

display page/container/cell properties:

displays the Cell Properties dialog for pages, container or cells. Same as a double click on a cell.

insert new page/new container:

	inserts a new page (insertion of a new, free positionable container as the last element of level 1)
	inserts a new XYZ or free positionable container

cell types (for a detailed description see PlotDesigner - Cell Types):

	plan cell		bitmap cell (requires option BMP)
	3D cell		legend cell
	text cell		command Create table
	symbol cell		macro cell
			empty cell

arranging cell order:

By the move arrows the selected cell can be moved, even to a different hierarchy level (from left to right):

move cell up on the same level

move cell down on the same level

move cell one level up

move cell one level down

More information see section "Working in cell tree".

expand/collapse cell tree:

	expands the entire cell tree causing that all containers and all cells are visible
	makes collapse the entire cell tree causing that just the project cell and all pages within the project are visible

Undo / Redo:

	Undo last action (also via CTRL+Z)
	Redo last action (also via CTRL+Y)

The commands available in the menu bar mainly overlap with those in the toolbar. Exceptions to this are the commands in the View menu, which are described below.

The commands in the View menu are:

Zoom:
- Whole Page: displays the entire page on the screen
- 50, 100, 200%: select the required zoom level. The zoom level 100% corresponds to the selected paper size. Alternatively, the zoom level can be changed via the mouse wheel.
Redraw: The PlotDesigner view is redrawn on the screen.
Grid lines: displays grid lines on/off
Options dialog: enables to modify the following global settings:

- Grid lines: spacing and line pattern
- settings for command „Create Table“:
    - Prefer columns over containers: If activated columns are generated containing the rows (if deactivated, vice versa).
    - Fill table with text boxes (recommended): If activated, the table cells are filled with free positionable containers.
- Miscellaneous:
    - Auto-Safe: of the PlotDesigner settings

Working in the PlotDesigner

Selecting cells

Plot preview: A mouse click on a cell of the plot preview selects it. If a click is made on an already selected cell with the CTRL key pressed, the parent cell / container is selected.
Cell tree: Clicking with the mouse on a cell in the tree selects it. Alternatively, the arrow keys on the keyboard can be used to move the selection through the cell tree.

Creating cells

To create cells, the corresponding icons on the toolbar or the menu commands can be used.

Deleting cells

Position of the new cell: If a new cell is created when a container cell is selected, it becomes a child object of the container cell. If the selected cell is not a container (e.g. a text cell), the new cell is inserted at the same level. New page cells are always inserted at the end of the current project.

Edit cells

Double-clicking on a cell opens the Cell Properties dialogue. Alternatively, after selecting the cell, click on the "Cell properties" icon in the toolbar. For more information, see Cell Properties.

Positioning of cells

Graphic preview: Cells which are in an X, Y or freely positionable container can be moved via drag&drop:
- Horizontal/vertical container: Objects can only be moved in the horizontal or vertical direction. This can be used to change the order of the cells in the container.
- Freely positionable container: Objects can be moved in any direction. The position of the cell is changed, but not the order in the tree.
Cell Tree: Cells can be moved using the positioning arrows (see toolbar) or using Dra&Drop.

Copy/past of cells

After selecting a cell, it can be copied by clicking on the symbol in the toolbar, using the menu command or the key combination CTRL+C.

For pasting, a symbol in the toolbar, a menu command and the key combination CTRL+V are also available. When pasting, the same instructions apply as mentioned under "Creating cells".

View of the Cell Tree

The cell tree shows the hierarchy (parent, child) of the tree objects, consisting of pages, containers and cells. The active object is highlighted. By clicking once with the mouse on the symbol or the name of a tree object selects the corresponding cell. Alternatively, the arrow keys on the keyboard may be used to move the highlighted cell within the tree.

Cell Tree (example): The table object „Table“ is highlighted.

Hierarchy

In the cell tree, a plus (+) or a minus (-) sign is shown in front of each page or container object. The (+) sign indicates that the page or container contains further objects, either further containers and/or other cells. Click on the (+) sign to open the page of container. An open page or container is indicated by a (-) sign. A further click on the (-) sign closes the page or container. Pages or containers without any sign in front are empty. A container shifted to the upper left of other cells is the „father“ of the subsequent elements placed inside (i.e. on the level below), also called „children“. Just a container can be a „father“. Cells of type „child“ can adopt the cell properties of their „father“.

Delivered Plot-Layouts

Designing a plot-layout from scratch involves a significant amount of work. In order to simplify your work some predefined legends (file suffix *.cnp) are supplied.

Example

Path: Examples\Export\Plot_Legends_ANSI

Those can directly be used for printing or be modified according to your needs.

Example

Path: \Examples\Export\Plot_Legends_DIN

Quit PlotDesigner

When closing the dialog PlotDesigner using the close symbol you will be prompted in case changes were made whether to apply or to revert these changes. Alternatively, both the commands Apply changes and quit and Revert changes and quit are available from the File menu of PlotDesigner.

PlotDesigner

Dialog PlotDesigner