Creating Plot Templates

Note:

This procedure should be performed by a System Administrator.

Each enterprise industry model plot inherits the settings of the plot template that is used to define it. When you define a plot from a plot template, the following is true:

• You can modify some attributes, but generally not those defined in the template. There are a few exceptions. If a value cannot be modified, its control is grayed in the generic form.
• You cannot add any feature such as images, north arrows, decorations, and so on.
• You cannot add any labels that were not already defined in the template. For example, if the template did not specify a label for the plot's name, it cannot be added to the plot instance.

Plot templates ensure consistency across an organization, and are usually defined by administrators.

A template always specifies the paper size, orientation, and stylization for the plot. When you create an individual plot using a template, you cannot change those settings. Other settings in a plot template can be specified or left blank, for example, the scale used for a map placeholder or the layout of the maps on the page and how each map is styled. If you specify these settings in the template, you will not be able to override them when you create a plot with that template. If you leave such settings blank, you must specify them each time you create a plot with that template.

Use plot templates to store the settings for multiple plots, for example several plots at a scale of 1:5000 at a certain size. Individual plots use the scale, layout, and settings from the template, but specify a different location or updated data. For example, you can produce current plots every month to send updated data to your civil engineers.

Plot Template Settings

A plot template can include any of the following settings:

• Printer, paper size, and orientation: You must specify these in the template. When you create a plot with this template, you can change the printer, but the plot will always use the template’s paper size and orientation.
• Plot style: In rare cases, you can select an existing AutoCAD style sheet for a template. However, the appearance of a plot is defined by the display model defined in the Display Manager .
• Display model: An XML file that holds a collection of display styles. The display model for the plot is different from the one used for the map you are plotting. The plot display model specifies the appearance of the plot elements, for example, the block used for the scalebar.
• Scale and origin: An initial valid scale and insertion point for the plot (point) feature. These values depend on the industry model in which the new template is stored. Typically, they are pre-defined in Infrastructure Administrator . You do not need to set them when creating the template. The values are used to create the initial plot/template features in the database. You define the actual insertion point and the scale of the Map Placeholder when you capture the map for the plot.

Plot Template Elements

The elements in the plot template are objects that you can style. They are stored in the enterprise industry model as a special feature class. A plot template can include any of the following elements:

• Map placeholder: A viewport that displays the portion of the drawing that you capture when you create a plot. You can rotate, move, or scale the map placeholder using grip points to capture the specific area of interest. To create a template that contains a specific map, first define the map placeholder, next, select the map placeholder in the Plot Explorer, and then capture the map. This area of the map will always appear in the template. For example, you might create a template with two map placeholders: one for the user to define the portion of the map to capture at plot time, and the other to hold a specified overview map that is captured and saved with the map placeholder during template creation.

  Map placeholders are rectangular. To create a map placeholder that is not a rectangle, do one of the following:

  • Use the Display Manager to place a white custom shape on top of the map placeholder.
  • Create an island map for this purpose. An island map has irregular borders defined by a perimeter feature class or a topology. For more information about creating islands, see Capturing Islands.
• Images: Points that are stylized by the display model. The Display Model must refer to a block that contains vector data. Unlike map placeholders which are going to be populated with the current data from the database, the images are static. Raster images in AutoCAD blocks are not supported.
• Legend: A simple point that can be styled to use a defined legend block.
• North arrow: A simple point that is styled according to the selected display model for this plot. If you style it to use an AutoCAD block, the block will appear at the position of the point feature.
• The north arrow feature will always have a rotation of 0°, even if the entire plot is rotated. If you use an AutoCAD block to style it, the block will always point in the northing direction, so it will appear to rotate (while all other plot elements, such as the legend, decorations, and so on, will remain aligned with the paper). For example, if you capture a section of the city and rotate it so that north is at 10 degrees, a north arrow using an AutoCAD block will show north at ten degrees.
• Scalebar: A simple point that can be styled to use a defined scalebar block.

Note:

The blocks used for template elements are AutoCAD blocks. The System Administrator specifies a location for these blocks, and may install standard blocks in that location for you to use in your display models.

Plot Template Text Elements

Text elements in the plot template can include any of the following elements:

• Plot Label: Displays dynamic information that is specific to each plot, such as the scale. To populate the label, you must enter an attribute. By default, labels can be created for the plot’s name and scale. For other types of label, create an appropriate label definition in Infrastructure Administrator . See Data Model: Labels.
• Decoration Text: Displays static text that does not change with each plot, for example “Date:”. The actual date would be displayed as a dynamic label. Unlike plot labels, decoration text does not require a label definition. In your display model, you style the Decoration Text as annotation layer.
• Plot Decoration Label: Displays any kind of dynamic label information related to a decoration feature. Because the Decoration feature class is of type Collection, it cannot be used for static text information.