Using configuration variables

You can use configuration variables to define default settings to standardize your setup and further streamline the printing process. Following are several printing configuration variables that can help you in this:

Variable	Description
MS_PLOTDLG_DEF_PLTFILE	If this variable is set to a printer driver (.plt) filename, that printer driver will be loaded (instead of the last used printer driver) when you open the Print dialog box.
MS_PLTFILE_EDITOR	If this variable is set to a fully-qualified name of a text editor, then this editor will be used when you select “File > Edit Printer Driver” in the Print dialog box.
MS_PLT_SYSPRT_PLTFILE	If this variable is set to a fully-qualified printer driver name, then this will be used instead of printer.plt when Windows Printer is selected in the Print dialog box (see Setting a new default Windows system printer).
MS_PLOTDLG_DEF_PENTABLE	Defines a default pen table that is loaded when you open the Print dialog box.
MS_PLOTDLG_DEF_PLOTINI	If this variable is set to a print configuration file, then it will be loaded automatically when the Print dialog box is opened. If this variable is set, then you should not set MS_PLOTDLG_DEF_PLTFILE or MS_PLOTDLG_DEF_PENTABLE, as print configuration files contain references to a printer driver file and a pen table, and will override the individual configuration variables for these.

Setting a new default Windows system printer

When you select Windows Printer in the Print dialog box (Printer and Paper Size section), by default “printer.plt” is the printer driver selected. This driver file is used by MicroStation to interface with a Windows system printer. Normally, this is the system (Windows) default printer. To force MicroStation to use another networked printer, you should take the following steps.

Save printer.plt under a different name (such as LFprinter.plt).
Edit the sysprinter record in this new file, by adding /name= “your_printer_name”
Set the MicroStation configuration variable MS_PLT_SYSPRT_PLTFILE to the name of your new printer driver file (in this case LFprinter.plt).

With the above setup, when you select Windows Printer in the Print dialog box, the printer driver LFprinter.plt will be chosen, and the printer specified in its sysprinter record will be the system printer.