Linetype Definition Woes

[john.uhden]

What did I do wrong?

Left to right is fine, but right to left is whacko.

I am aware that newer versions contain an Upright parameter by default, but does that create this mess?

Is maybe the ending pen-down supposed to equal the starting pen-down?

*EXIST_OHW,Exist OHW --- OHW ----- OHW ----- OHW ---
A,.25,-.21,["OHW",GBEITC,S=.08,U=0.0,X=-0.19,Y=-.04],.22

[Kent1Cooper]

Try pen-down, pen-up only to the middle of the gap, back off the X for the text by only half its length, then another pen-up for the rest of the gap, pen-down.  Something like this [adjust numbers to suit the font your Style uses]:

A,.25,-.11,["OHW",GBEITC,S=.08,U=0.0,X=-0.1,Y=-.04],-.11,.22

[In quickie trial, it improved the situation but didn't completely solve it, but I'll let you tweak it.]

[ronjonp]

@john.uhden  You could also use the attached to assist in creating your linetypes.

The code spits out this definition:

*EXIST_OHW,Exist» ----------OHW----------OHW----------OHW----------
A,0.25,-0.1075,["OHW",GBEITC,S=0.08,R=0.0,X=-0.0891667,Y=-0.03],-0.1075

[john.uhden]

Thank you very much @Kent1Cooper for your input.  My primary mistake was ending with a pen-down instead of a pen-up.

But I'm getting the feeling that some Autodesk programmer screwed up a little.

Even though the HOT_WATER_SUPPLY seems to work pretty well, if you change the pen-ups from -0.2 to to -0.1 and change X=-0.1 to X=-0.05 (proportional) it doesn't work with Upright turned on.  The Upright is a great new feature, but I think someone bollixed up the math.

Seems like I'll have to either turn off the Upright or put up with text not centered in the gap.

[john.uhden]

@ronjonp 

I hate to tell you, but I think that "seems" to work only because you have Upright turned off.

See what you get when you add U=0.0.

[ronjonp]

---

@john.uhden wrote:

@ronjonp 

I hate to tell you, but I think that "seems" to work only because you have Upright turned off.

See what you get when you add U=0.0.

---

Never used that before ... what is the advantage? The human brain can easily decipher upside down text 😃

[john.uhden]

@ronjonp
It's really cool if it would work. Instead of having to reverse linework
to have it read right-side-up, AutoCAD automatically displays it
right-side-up.
I have no idea when it was implemented, but it's in the 2020 help.
I don't know yet if that's w/r/t WCS or UCS or Viewtwist.

[ronjonp]

If I get some time maybe I'll try to get that incorporated. 🍻

[john.uhden]

@ronjonp
Don't spend your time on my behalf.
I've tweaked the definition to where it is not perfect, but at least almost
acceptable.
But you should learn for yourself.
Anyway, many thanks for your interest and contribution.

[ronjonp]

@john.uhden  It would be nice to figure out what's going on ... although this feels a bit like a bug:

[dbroad]

This has a balanced error.

*OHW,----------OHW----------OHW----------OHW----------
A,0.25,-0.22,["OHW",STANDARD,S=0.08,U=0,X=-0.13,Y=-0.04],-0.22

[ronjonp]

---

@john.uhden wrote:
@ronjonp
Don't spend your time on my behalf.
I've tweaked the definition to where it is not perfect, but at least almost
acceptable.
But you should learn for yourself.
Anyway, many thanks for your interest and contribution.

---

Will you share your 'acceptable' definition?

[john.uhden]

Thanks, as usual, Doug.
Late yesterday I determined that the only Autodesk-supplied
definitions containing the Upright parameter are GAS_LINE and
HOT_WTER_SUPPLY.
I'm going to test today to see if "upright" is w/r/t the WCS, UCS, or
Viewtwist.
If it's not the Viewtwist then there's no point in our office using the
Upright parameter.
As has been our habit for centuries, we will probably just continue to
reverse any linework that's upside down.

[dbroad]

I use the upright parameter for my own work.  Seems to work fine but may take a bit of work.  I usually use 1 or 2 character symbols, especially for work where there are tight curves.  There could also be some issues with TTF fonts vs SHX fonts that I have not investigated. The picture below isn't perfect but I doubt anyone not using a microscope would notice.

[john.uhden · Accepted solution]

Well, I've made a decision.
As the "upright" characteristic seems to ignore any UCS and viewtwist, and
since its character positioning is not consistent, we will not be using it
in this office. Maybe someday Autodesk will make it work correctly.
Until such time, there is the REVERSE command.

[john.uhden]

@dbroad 

I am impressed with that, but strangely enough we never run into utility lines that are built in circles.

[dbroad]

Just an illustration to test orientation. I agree with your rationale though. In architectural work, I don't need to rotate the coordinate system often when using complex linetypes.

[john.uhden]

@Anonymous
Wait a second.
We civils don't rotate the coordinate system (like most architects I
know). We rotate the camera via Viewtwist. 0,0,0 is always 0,0,0 WCS.

[dbroad]

I would rather avoid dview. Instead:

UCS OB <pick> Plan <2 returns> UCS <2 returns> View Save .... (Of course, if I would also rather save the UCS with the view so that annotation and dimensioning work easier. So I skip the UCS between Plan and View. Viewtwist itself is read-only. Wish it weren't.

[john.uhden]

@Anonymous
That's fine for you because you are diligent and used to it.
All the guys here (and most with whom I have ever worked) don't pay enough
attention to UCS (even though the UCSICON shows them), so it's just plain
dangerous to be in a CS other than World. Coordinates are everything.
Yes, we want the rectangular lot to be orthogonal to the viewport, but we
dare not rotate the world. So we rotate the camera that's looking at the
world.