Custom complex linetypes

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lgreng
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Custom complex linetypes

Post by lgreng » Thu Jul 23, 2015 7:31 pm

I am using Qcad for electrical and instrumentation drawings, and would like to develop custom linetypes for ISA 5.1 signal connection lines. I got into the .lin file, and created some simple linetypes, but couldn't fine a good explanation on the web for the bracketed parameters (e.g. '["HW",STANDARD,S=2.54,R=0.0,X=-2.54,Y=-1.27]'). Is this format described anywhere?

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andrew
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Re: Custom complex linetypes

Post by andrew » Thu Jul 23, 2015 7:39 pm

There should be plenty of information on this yes:
http://www.google.com/?q=autocad+complex+linetypes

spatz
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Re: Custom complex linetypes

Post by spatz » Thu Jul 23, 2015 9:11 pm

Hello,

I just started creating symbol blocks for ISA S5.1, too. And also symbols for P&I Diagrams according to ISO 10628:2001. Would you like to share these drawings? Do you use block attributes? I'm still thinking about how to add proper block attributes. If you tell me what linetypes you are looking for, I could also try to help creating some of them.

Would like to have some discussions on efficient use of these symbols and diagrams since I have lots of bad structured P&I and Loop diagrams at my daily work.

Regards,
Stephan

lgreng
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Re: Custom complex linetypes

Post by lgreng » Thu Jul 23, 2015 11:19 pm

I'm just trying create the normal electrical analog, electrical digital, network, mechanical, etc. signal types for P&I diagrams. This should be pretty simple, if I can get the scaling right.

I've got the basics figured out, but I can't find ltypeshp.shx. I have to use an enhanced system (not S5.1 compliant) for water/wastewater, and not everything can be faked with ASCII characters, and it would really be nice to be able to make repeating graphics.

lgreng
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Re: Custom complex linetypes

Post by lgreng » Thu Jul 23, 2015 11:21 pm

One other thing that isn't obvious: when does qcad use qcad.lin, and when does it use qcadiso.lin?

lgreng
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Re: Custom complex linetypes

Post by lgreng » Fri Jul 24, 2015 12:23 am

Ok, I've found a file named "ltypeshp.cxf". I think I can edit it. Does this get automatically compiled into "ltypeshp.shx", or is there a utility to do that?

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andrew
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Re: Custom complex linetypes

Post by andrew » Fri Jul 24, 2015 8:38 am

QCAD .lin files refer to .shx files for compatibility only. .shx file are currently substituted with .cxf files. No need to compile anything.

lgreng
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Re: Custom complex linetypes

Post by lgreng » Fri Jul 24, 2015 5:07 pm

Ok, I've gotten it to do what I want. Unfortunately, it's difficult to make this available to others, because it involves edits to two system files.

One thing I noticed in debugging this: The Misc >> Modify >> Reload Linetype Definitions does not reload linetypes with my changes after I edit the ltypeshp.cxf and qcadiso.lin files. I have to quit Qcad, and restart it to see the changes. Is that supposed to work that way?

I'm using 3.95/Linux64.

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andrew
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Re: Custom complex linetypes

Post by andrew » Fri Jul 24, 2015 5:31 pm

Reload Linetype Definitions reloads all line type definitions of the current drawing from the global line type definitions which are read on start. It does not re-read the global .lin or .cxf files.

lgreng
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Re: Custom complex linetypes

Post by lgreng » Fri Jul 24, 2015 6:43 pm

One final thing to note - I can't seem to make these new linetypes retroactive to existing drawings developed with ver 3.51, even when using ver 3.95. This shouldn't be a serious problem for me, but people should be aware of this. The old drawings revert to old lintype sets in a very random and corrupt manner. In one instance, it had two copies of the same linetype in the menu.

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andrew
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Re: Custom complex linetypes

Post by andrew » Fri Jul 24, 2015 7:20 pm

Linetypes are stored in the drawing as part of your drawing file (DXF,DWG) just like layers, blocks, entities, etc. That's actually where Reload Linetype Definitions can be useful, to update old drawings to new linetypes.

lgreng
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Re: Custom complex linetypes

Post by lgreng » Fri Jul 24, 2015 9:58 pm

The problem I was having was due to a corruption in qcad.lin, which caused it to read correctly into a new project, but not a saved drawing (!). It all works now.

Hopefully, this thread will steer some people the right direction in the future. This thread was also helpful:

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=3176

MarcelloP
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Re: Custom complex linetypes

Post by MarcelloP » Wed Mar 04, 2020 10:11 am

I'd like to modify the qcadiso.lin file, but I have no permission to write in the linetypes directory. Can I put my new .lin file in another and personal directory, not in the installation dorectory?

Thanks in advance

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andrew
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Re: Custom complex linetypes

Post by andrew » Wed Mar 04, 2020 11:23 am

No, this is currently not possible, but might be in a future version. For now, you could download / extract the ZIP archive and install QCAD in your home folder or install additional .lin files as admin.

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