Use of AutoText entities in PlotMaker

You can dynamically display and update information related to your Layouts and Layout Books, your placed drawings, system date and time and Project-specific data with AutoText entities. These are some of the most commonly included pieces of information on any printed architectural document.

AUTOTEXT may be placed in either Project/Drawings or in Master Layouts/Layouts. In the case that Drawing Name or Drawing Number is placed in a Master Layout/Layouts the text "Undefined value" will appear. Drawing Scale and Output Scale will always display "1:1." For PlotMaker all other AUTOTEXT items will work correctly in both Projects/Drawings and in Master Layouts/Layout.

AUTOTEXT items must be entered with the TextTool in ArchiCAD. These can be placed anywhere within a Text block and their code (such as <DRAWINGNAME>) will be automatically replaced with the correct value, while the rest of the Text block will remain the same. The table below lists the codes for all AUTOTEXT items.

The values of the last 15 entries in the table (from 'Client' to 'Custom 3') can be entered in Book/Book Info in PlotMaker. If a field is not filled here, the following text will appear in the Text on the Layouts: "#Field Empty#".

Name of AUTOTEXT in PlotMaker's Edit menu	Text entered with Text Tool in ArchiCAD/PlotMaker ¹	Description
Layout Name	<LAYOUTNAME>	Name of Layout on which text is located
Layout Number	<LAYOUTNUMBER>	Number of Layout on which text is located
Subset Name	<SUBSETNAME>	Name of Subset on which text is located
Subset Number	<SUBSETNUMBER>	Number of Subset on which text is located
Page Number	<PAGE>	Page Number of Layout on which text is located
Number of Pages	<TOTPAGE>	Number of Layout Pages in the Layout Book
Book Name	<BOOKNAME>	Name of Layout Book
Book Path	<BOOKPATH>	Full path of Layout Book
Drawing Name	<DRAWINGNAME>	Name of Drawing file into which text is placed *
Drawing Path	<DRAWINGPATH>	Full path of Drawing file into which text is placed **
Drawing Scale	<DRAWINGSCALE>	Scale of Drawing file into which text is placed
Output Scale	<OUTPUTSCALE>	Output Scale set for Drawing file into which text is placed
Last Saved at	<LASTSAVEDAT>	Date when current Layout Book was last saved ***
Last Saved by	<LASTSAVEDBY>	User name under which current Layout Book was last saved +
Long Date	<LONGDATE>	Current date in long date format ++
Short Date	<SHORTDATE>	Current date in short date format ***
Time	<TIME>	Current time of the day +++
Client	<CLIENT>	Name of client of Project
Project Name	<PROJECTNAME>	Full name of Project
Street	<STREET>	Street where Project is built
City	<CITY>	City in which Project is built
State/Country	<COUNTRY>	Country of the Project
Postal Code	<CODE>	Postal code of the location where Project is built
Company	<COMPANY>	Name of Company that creates this ArchiCAD Project
Project Number	<PROJECTNUMBER>	Project Number of current Project
Architect	<ARCHITECT>	Name of Architect of the Project
Draftsmen	<DRAFTSMEN>	Draftsmen working on the Project
Project Status	<PROJECTSTATUS>	Current Status of Project
Date of Issue	<DATEOFISSUE>	Date of Issue of last Drawings
Custom 1	<CUSTOM1>	Custom field #1
Custom 2	<CUSTOM2>	Custom field #2
Custom 3	<CUSTOM3>	Custom field #3

Notes:

¹ PlotMaker only recognizes commands entered in CAPITAL letters.

* In case of Project Hotlinks: the name of a temporary .PMK file generated from the View imported into PlotMaker (e.g.: '0. Story.pmk'). In case of File Hotlinks: the name of a PMK file saved from ArchiCAD (e.g.: 'PM Autotexts.pmk').
** In case of Project Hotlinks: the full path of the temporary PMK file generated from the View imported into PlotMaker (e.g.: 'D:Documents and Settings/username/Local Settings/TempPlotMaker_2689848638PM Auto.pln. Story.pmk'). This file is created in a temporary system folder when PlotMaker updates the imported View, and it is deleted when you quit PlotMaker. In case of File Hotlinks: the name of a PMK file saved from ArchiCAD (e.g.: 'E:GS30528TechNotesPM Autotexts.pmk').
*** Short format of Date as set in system Preferences (e. g. 28-05-2003)

+ Name under which current user is logged in to the computer
++ Long format of Date as set in system Preferences (e. g. 28 May 2003)
+++ Time of the day as set in system Preferences (e.g. 13:32)

Note: AUTOTEXT entities were a new addition to PlotMaker's features, starting with PlotMaker 3.

Problems with AUTOTEXTs

Autotext items display Undefined Value

There are two possible reasons for this:

The AutoText Value is not defined: i.e. it refers to the Subset Name when there is no Subset in the Layout Book
The value of the AutoText variable is not yet updated in PlotMaker: i.e. when importing a new drawing with AutoText values into a layout, the AutoText values <LAYOUTNUMBER>, <LAYOUTNAME>, <SUBSETNUMBER> or <SUBSETNAME> show "Undefined Value" until a Redraw or any zoom command is issued.

CategoryLayouting

Use of AutoText entities in PlotMaker

Problems with AUTOTEXTs

Autotext items display Undefined Value

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