Create Layouts from Selected Polylines
Like this. Three versions, walk along a pline, make layouts by placement, pick a point and scale.
Not free but cheap as I normally have to edit the code to suit the end users title blocks and scales.
Have made 44 layouts in one go.
Yet another case where ChatGPT fails miserably
1. Function vlax-3d-point already exists so no need to define
; vlax-3d-point function already exists so no need
;(defun vlax-3d-point (lst)
;(vlax-make-safearray vlax-vbDouble '(0 . 2))
;(setq pt (vlax-make-safearray vlax-vbDouble '(0 . 2)))
;(vlax-safearray-fill pt lst)
;pt
;)2. Using BoundingBox function on selected Plines to determine vport width and height does not work since these are model dimensions which would be too large to fit on A3 size in Paperspace
; (setq entObj (vlax-ename->vla-object ent))
;; Get bounding box
; (vla-GetBoundingBox entObj 'minPt 'maxPt)
; (setq minPt (vlax-safearray->list minPt))
; (setq maxPt (vlax-safearray->list maxPt))
;; Calculate center and size
; (setq vpCenter (mapcar '(lambda (a b) (/ (+ a b) 2.0)) minPt maxPt))
;
;(setq vpWidth (* (- (car maxPt) (car minPt)) 1.1)) ; 10% margin
;(setq vpHeight (* (- (cadr maxPt) (cadr minPt)) 1.1))3. When creating a new Layout need to delete Vport if created based on current Option settings
;; Create new layout
(setq layoutName (strcat "PolyLayout" (itoa (1+ i))))
(command "_.Layout" "_New" layoutName)
(setvar 'ctab layoutName)
; chk if vports
(setq ssvp (ssget "_X" (list '(0 . "VIEWPORT") (cons 410 (getvar "ctab"))))
j 0
)
; chk if there's a vport
(if (> (sslength ssvp) 1)
; then delete vport
(repeat (sslength ssvp)(entdel (ssname ssvp j))(setq j (1+ j)))
)4. Need to set paper size to A3 on new Layout:
; setup A3 layout
(command "_.-PAGESETUP" "DWG TO PDF.pc3" "ISO full bleed A3 (420.00 x 297.00 MM)" "_M" "_Landscape" "_No" "_Layout" "1:1" "0,0" "_Yes" "." "_Yes" "_No" "_No" "_No")
;5. Use 10% margin for Vport width & height based on A3 paper size
;; Create viewport in center of paper
(setq paperWidth 420.0) ; A3 in mm
(setq paperHeight 297.0)
; set vport size based on A3
(setq vpWidth (* paperWidth 0.90)) ; 10% margin
(setq vpHeight (* paperHeight 0.90))
;6. Zoom out to see entire A3 size sheet and turn on Vport:
; zoom out
(command "_.Zoom" "_E")
;; Configure viewport
(vla-put-DisplayLocked vpObj :vlax-false)
(vla-put-Visible vpObj :vlax-true)
; Need to turn on vport
(vla-put-ViewportOn vpObj :vlax-true)
;7a. MViewCenter property does not exist on Vports:
VLA-PUT-MVIEWCENTER should be VLA-PUT-CENTER
7b. Vport's Center property expects a 3d array point and not 2d
; no such property as MViewCenter
;(vla-put-MViewCenter vpObj (vlax-2d-point vpCenter))
; needs to be a 3d point
;(vla-put-Center vpObj (vlax-3d-point vpCenter))
;
; using these sizes will get giant vport
;(vla-put-Width vpObj vpWidth)
;(vla-put-Height vpObj vpHeight)
; (vla-put-DisplayLocked vpObj :vlax-true) ; move this down below
; no need to do this
;(vla-put-Target vpObj (vlax-3d-point '(0 0 0)))
;(vla-put-Direction vpObj (vlax-3d-point '(0 0 1)))
8. Use the following method to create a Vport matching Pline:
; vport mspace zoom to location of pline
(command "_.MSPACE") ; go inside vport
(command "_.ZOOM" "_OB" ent "") ; zoom to pline obj
(command "_.Copy" ent "" "0,0,0" "@")
(command "_.Chspace" (entlast) "") ; make a copy of the pline and change it from mspace to pspace
(command "_.PSPACE") ; go back outside vport
(entdel (vlax-vla-object->ename vpobj)) ; delete the original vport
(command "_.Mview" "_Ob" (entlast)) ; create vport based on pline boundary
(setq vpObj (vlax-ename->vla-object (entlast))) ; convert new vport to vl obj
(command "_.MSPACE") ; go inside vport
(command "_.ZOOM" "_OB" ent "") ; zoom to pline obj
(command "_.PSPACE") ; go back outside vport
9. Now ready to lock Vport display:
; now lock display
(vla-put-DisplayLocked vpObj :vlax-true)I also add at the beginning and end of code to make sure to start in Model tab:
; Make sure to start in Model tab
(setvar "tilemode" 1)
;; return back to Model tab
(setvar "tilemode" 1)
;
In the walk along p/line make layouts also creates the mview with correct orientation, the code uses the size available for the mview and sets correct scale. In this image the view is rotated to suit each rectang orientation. So the road in this case appears approx horizontal.
When I say cheap I am talking about the price of a coffee.
There are others here who also have done make layouts. Not sure if free or not.
last comment Chatgp & Copilot are still learning how to write code.
I do the opposite of this, drawing the rectang based on desired dwg scale and the title block being used, which defines the mview size in a layout, matching the correct title block. See the image in post 2. As mentioned rectang's can be rotated and the viewport will reflect this rotation.
draw a rectangle on the viewport,
copyclip it to model space and use it.
you can also scale this rectangle to known value.
This movie is an example of making layouts. Its a specific version to make a single size layout. The result is 17 layouts. The flashing which normally does not happen it is to do with screen recording of the layouts being made. You can though see the rotation being done in each viewport.
