Defining Print Specifications

You can define the properties for each print specification of each specification type (Printer, Print Area, Layout, Display).

When you modify specifications, keep in mind that they are shared across job sets. If you edit a specification, your changes affect all job sets that reference it. Similarly, if you delete or rename a specification used by another job set, Batch Print automatically selects a new specification of the appropriate type the next time it opens that other job set.

Printer Specifications

A Printer specification selects a MicroStation printer driver, a paper size, a paper orientation and specifies post-processing options.

Define printer specifications

You can create new printer specifications via the Batch Print Specification Manager dialog box.

To create a new Printer specification

1. In the Batch Print dialog box, click the Manage Specifications icon.
   or
   From the Batch Print dialog box´s Specifications menu, choose Manage.
   The Batch Print Specification Manager dialog box opens.


2. In the Types list box, select Printer.


3. Click the New button.
   The New Printer Specification Name dialog box opens.


4. In the Name field, key in the name for the new specification.


5. Click OK.
   The New Printer Specification Name dialog box closes and the Properties dialog box opens for the new printer specification.


6. Click the Driver button.
   The Select Printer Driver File dialog box opens.


7. Select the required printer driver.


8. Click OK.
   The Properties dialog box opens for the selected printer driver to be associated with the newly named specification.

Using the Properties dialog box, you can define the various settings for the selected printer.

Setting the properties in the Properties dialog box

1. In the Paper group box, from the Size option menu, choose a paper size.


2. In the Paper group box, from the units option menu, choose the dimension readout in the desired units.


3. In the Orientation group box, select the desired paper orientation (or print rotation).


4. In the Output and Post Processing group box´s “Print to” options, select:
   File — to create print files.
   Device — to print directly to a device.
   See Output and Post Processing options.


5. Click OK to accept the modifications to the printer specification Properties.

Output and Post Processing options

In the Output and Post Processing section of the printer Properties dialog box, you can choose between creating print files (optionally with a post processing system command) and printing directly to a device.

To create print files

1. In the Output and Post Processing group box´s “Print to” options, select File.
   The default output directory is that specified by the configuration variable MS_PLTFILES.


2. (Optional) To change the default output directory, key in a new value.
   or
   (Optional) Click the Browse button to open the Select Print File Output Directory dialog box. Use this dialog box to select a new directory, then click OK.


3. (Optional) To specify an operating system command to be executed for each generated print file, key in the command into the Print Cmd field, using “%f” to represent the print file name.


4. (Optional) To change the format of the filenames assigned to print files, click the Name button and use the controls in the Print Filename Format dialog box. When finished, click OK to return to the printer Properties dialog box.

By default, print files are named after the design file with a three-digit numeric extension. Multiple print files from the same design file are distinguished by incrementing this numeric extension (for example, abc.000, abc.001, abc.002).

When you click the Name button in the Output and Post Processing section, three of the Format options let you specify a file extension in the Extension field.

Choosing Custom activates the String field for entry of a custom format. This format can be literal characters plus any combination of the following substitution strings.

Substitution String	Replaced By
%j	Base job set filename (“batchplt” if job set is untitled).
%d	Base design filename (no directory or extension).
%e	Contents of Extensions field.
%p	Three-digit print counter starting with 000. This counter is not reset between design files in a job set.
%b	Three-digit per-design-file print boundary counter starting with 000. This counter resets between design files in a job set.
%m	Model name
%x	Design file extension.

If you have design files with the same base name but different extensions, you can use the %x substitution string to differentiate the print filenames. This lets you include the file extension in the print filename.

Take, for example, the filenames abc.dgn, abc.hln, abc.s01. Here you could specify in the Print Filename Format dialog box that the Extension be ps and that the String be %d-%x.%e. This would generate print filenames abc-dgn.ps, abc-hln.ps, abc-s01.ps.

Your other choice, in the Output and Post Processing section of the Default Properties dialog box, is to print directly to a device.

To print directly to a device

1. In the Output and Post Processing section, select Print to Device.


2. In the Port field, key in the port name (for example, lpt1: or \\server\printer).
   Keying a name in this field has the same effect as adding a default_outFile=filename record to a printer driver (.plt) file.

Modifying a printer specification

You can modify an existing Printer specification from the Batch Print Specification Manager dialog box. Also, you can modify the selected Printer specification from the Batch Print dialog box.

Remember, when you modify a Printer specification, it affects all job sets that reference that particular specification.

To modify an existing Printer specification

1. In the Batch Print dialog box, click the Manage Specifications icon.
   or
   From the Batch Print dialog box´s Specifications menu, choose Manage.
   The Batch Print Specification Manager dialog box opens.


2. In the Types list box, select Printer.


3. In the Specifications list box, select the specification that is to be modified, then click Properties.
   or
   In the Specifications list box, double-click the specification to be modified.
   The selected printer specification´s Properties dialog box opens.


4. Make changes as required to the settings.


5. Click OK to accept modifications to Printer Specification Properties.
   The printer specification´s Properties dialog box closes.

Modify the selected printer specification from the Batch Print dialog box

1. In the Specifications Controlling Printing list box in the Batch Print dialog box, right-click Printer, then choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
   or
   Select the Printer Specification entry in the list box and then from the Specifications menu, choose Properties.
   The printer Properties dialog box opens.


2. Make changes as required to the settings.


3. Click OK to accept modifications to Printer Specification Properties.
   The printer specification´s Properties dialog box closes.

Print Area specifications

A Print Area specification describes how Batch Print determines which portion of each design file to print. The two basic options are:

• A view — may be one of the eight numbered views or it may be a saved view(s).

• A fenced area in a view — because fences are not stored in design files and because Batch Print essentially is non-interactive once it starts printing, Batch Print dynamically creates fences from particular boundary-defining elements, such as shapes or a cell (similar to placing a fence by snapping to the vertices of a shape). The print Area Specification Properties dialog box is used to define the characteristics of the shape elements or the name of the cell.

To create a new print Area specification

1. In the Batch Print dialog box, click the Manage Specifications icon.
   or
   From the Batch Print dialog box´s Specifications menu, choose Manage.
   The Batch Print Specification Manager dialog box opens.


2. In the Types list box, select print Area.


3. Click the New button.
   The New Print Area Specification Name dialog box opens.


4. In the Name field, key in the name for the new specification (for example, Layouts).


5. Click OK.
   The New Print Area Specification Name dialog box closes and the Properties dialog box for the new specification opens. The specification´s name appears in the title bar of the dialog box (for example, Layouts Properties).


6. From the Reference View section's View option menu, choose the number of the desired view or Saved View.
   Designating a reference view determines the default print options (which can be overridden, See Display specifications), viewing angle and, in 3D files, clip volumes and front and back clipping planes.


7. If you chose Saved View, key in the name of the Saved View(s).
   When you choose Saved View, a field appears adjacent the View option menu.


8. From the Print Boundary section's Method option menu, choose from:

   View	to print a view or saved view(s) in each file.
   Fit Master	to print the view after fitting it to all elements in the active model.
   Fit All	to print the view, after fitting it to all elements in the active model and all references.
   Shape	to print an area bounded by a particular shape. When you select Shape, toggles appear that let you define the attributes of the shape (that is, the Level, Color, Style and Weight attributes).
   Cell	to print an area bounded by a cell. When you select Cell, a Name field appears, into which you key in the name of the cell. The cell name may be a literal name (for example, “border”) or regular expression (for example, “bdr.*” to match any cell name starting with “bdr”).
   Sheet	to print a sheet.



9. (Optional) In the Search Files section, turn off the Master File and/or References settings to limit the search for the boundary-defining shape or cell.
   By default, Batch Print searches each master file and all of its references to find the boundary-defining shape or cell. You restrict the search to specific references by typing their logical names (for example, “border”) or filenames (without drives or directories, for example, “border.dgn”) into the multi-line References field. As with cell names, reference filenames may be literals or regular expressions.


10. (Optional) Turn on Process Multiple Boundary Elements to generate a print for each boundary element found.
    or
    (Optional) Turn off Process Multiple Boundary Elements to generate a print for the first boundary element found only.


11. Click OK to accept the settings.
    The Properties dialog box closes and the new specification becomes the selected print Area specification in the Batch Print dialog box.

Selecting multiple cells, references or saved views

When specifying the name of a cell, reference or saved view, you can use regular expressions to choose multiple items. Regular expressions let you define strings with variables for matching the name(s) of the required items. They provide a string matching mechanism and are defined by the following rules:

Character	Meaning
c	any non-special character c matches itself.
\c	turn off special meaning of character c.
^	beginning of line.
$	end of line.
.	any single character.
:a	any alphabetic character [a-z|A-Z].
:d	any digit [0-9].
:n	any alphanumeric character [a-z|A-Z|0-9]. Also, a colon followed by a space matches any punctuation character.
[…]	any one of characters in …; ranges like a-z are legal.
[^…]	any single character not in …; ranges are legal.
s*	zero or more occurrences of string s (the preceding character).
s+	one or more occurrences of string s (the preceding character).
st	string s followed by string t.

Examples

Take, for example, the case where there are six references attached — print1.dgn, print2.dgn, print3.dgn, printa.dgn, printb.dgn, and prelim.dgn.

The following table shows those filenames that are matched when using various reference filename specifications.

Specify	To find the following
p.*	All six references. Finds all files beginning with the letter “p” followed by zero or more of any other characters.
print:d.dgn	Three references — print1.dgn, print2.dgn and print3.dgn. Finds all files beginning with “print” followed by a single digit and then “.dgn.”
print:a.dgn	Two references — printa.dgn and printb.dgn. Finds all references beginning with “print” followed by a single alphabetic character and then “.dgn.”
print:n.dgn	Five references — all but prelim.dgn. Finds all references beginning with “print” followed by a single alphanumeric character and then “.dgn.”

Modifying a Print Area specification

You can modify an existing Print Area specification from the Batch Print Specification Manager dialog box. Also, you can modify the selected Print Area specification from the Batch Print dialog box.

Remember, when you modify a Print Area specification, it affects all job sets that reference that particular specification.

To modify an existing Print Area specification

1. In the Batch Print dialog box, click the Manage Specifications icon.
   or
   From the Batch Print dialog box´s Specifications menu, choose Manage.
   The Batch Print Specification Manager dialog box opens.


2. In the Types list box, select Print Area.


3. In the Specifications list box, select the specification that is to be modified, then click Properties.
   or
   In the Specifications list box, double-click the specification to be modified.
   The selected print area specification´s Properties dialog box opens.


4. Make changes as required to the existing settings.


5. Click OK to accept the modifications to the Print Area Specification Properties.
   The Properties dialog box closes.

Modify a selected Print Area specification from the Batch Print dialog box

1. In the Specifications Controlling Printing list box in the Batch Print dialog box, right-click Print Area and then choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
   or
   Select the Print Area specification entry in the list box and then from the Specifications menu, choose Properties.
   The appropriate Print Area Properties dialog box opens.


2. Make changes as required to the existing settings.


3. Click OK to accept the modifications to the Print Area Specification Properties.
   The Properties dialog box closes.

Layout specifications

A Layout specification describes how Batch Print determines the size and position of each print on the selected sheet size.

Batch Print supports five print size options, which are selected via the print Size/Scale section's Method option menu in the Properties dialog box. Options are:

• Maximize — makes each print as large as possible given the paper size and orientation in the job set´s Printer specification.

• Scale — specifies a scale factor that maps master units in the design file to physical units on the output media. The print size is calculated from this scale and the size of the print area.

• % of Maximum Size — specifies an integer between 10 and 100 inclusive to make each print some percentage of its maximum possible size on the selected sheet size.

• X Size — specifies an explicit X size (width) for the print. The print´s Y size is calculated from this X size and the print area´s aspect ratio.

• Y Size — specifies an explicit Y size (height) for the print. The print´s X size is calculated from this Y size and the print area´s aspect ratio.

Batch Print supports two Print Origin options, which are selected via the Print Origin section's Method option menu in the Properties dialog box. Options are:

• Center — centers each print on the selected sheet.

• Manual Offset— specifies explicit X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) offsets for the print. These offsets are relative to the selected sheet´s lower-left margin.

If necessary, you can change the printed output units used by your printer. This is done by selecting the required units from the Units option menu. You can select from — in, ft, mm, cm, dm, m.

The Center origin option and the Maximize and % of Maximum size options are safe options. They never cause print-time errors. Certain combinations of the other options, combined with a particular print area´s size or shape, may result in print-time errors.

Example of Print-time Errors

Consider a design file representing a map defined in terms of meters. A print scale of 1 (meaning one master design unit maps to one mm or inch) almost certainly results in a “print size too large” error when used with that file. That same scale factor might work fine with a design file representing some small mechanical part. See Printing Errors.

To create a new Layout specification

1. In the Batch Print dialog box, click the Manage Specifications icon.
   or
   From the Batch Print dialog box´s Specifications menu, choose Manage.
   The Batch Print Specification Manager dialog box opens.


2. In the Types list box, select Layout.


3. Click the New button.
   The New Layout Specification Name dialog box opens.


4. In the Name field, key in the name for the new specification (for example, A4 portrait or 1”=20´).


5. Click OK.
   The New Layout Specification Name dialog box closes and the Properties dialog box for the new specification opens. The specification´s name appears in the title bar of the dialog box (for example A4 portrait Properties or 1”=20´ Properties).


6. From the Print Size/Scale group box´s Method option menu, choose the required method (see above for descriptions).


7. From the Print Origin group box´s Method option menu, choose the required method (see above for descriptions).


8. From the Units option menu, select the desired units for the printer output.
   The scale of the print is calculated as master units per printer output units. This setting defines the printer output units.


9. Click OK to accept the settings for the new Layout specification properties.
   The Layout Properties dialog box closes and the new specification becomes the selected Layout specification in the Batch Print dialog box

Modifying a Layout specification

You can modify an existing layout specification from the Batch Print Specification Manager dialog box. Also, you can modify the selected Layout specification from the Batch Print dialog box.

Remember, when you modify a Layout specification, it affects all job sets that reference that particular specification.

To modify an existing Layout specification

1. In the Batch Print dialog box, click the Manage Specifications icon.
   or
   From the Batch Print dialog box´s Specifications menu, choose Manage.
   The Batch Print Specification Manager dialog box opens.


2. In the Types list box, select Layout.


3. In the Specifications list box, select the required specification, then click Properties.
   or
   In the Specifications list box, double-click the specification to be modified.
   The selected specification´s Properties dialog box opens.


4. Make changes as required to the existing settings.


5. Click OK to accept the modifications to the Layout specification properties.
   The Properties dialog box closes.

To modify the selected Layout specification from the Batch Print dialog box

1. In the Specifications Controlling Printing list box in the Batch Print dialog box, right-click Layout and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
   or
   Select the Layout specification entry in the list box and then from the Specifications menu, choose Properties.
   The appropriate Layout Properties dialog box opens.


2. Make changes as required to the existing settings.


3. Click OK to accept the modifications to the Layout specification properties.
   The Properties dialog box closes.

Display specifications

A Display specification controls the appearance of printed elements. You can specify a pen table that will resymbolize the print or you can control one or more display options — the printing equivalent of the MicroStation view attributes.

Each option has three possible states:

• As-is — causes Batch Print to use the setting saved in the design file.

• On — turns on the setting.

• Off — turns off the setting.

To create a new Display specification

1. In the Batch Print dialog box, click the Manage Specifications icon.From the Batch Print dialog box´s Specifications menu, choose Manage.
   The Batch Print Specification Manager dialog box opens.


2. In the Types list box, select Display.


3. Click the New button.
   The New Display Specification Name dialog box opens.


4. In the Name field, key in the name for the new specification (for example, No Fills).


5. Click OK.
   The New Display Specification Name dialog box closes and the Properties dialog box for the new specification opens. The specification´s name appears in the title bar of the dialog box (for example, No Fills Properties).


6. (Optional) Make the desired changes in the state of each option.


7. (Optional) To attach a pen table to resymbolize the print, key in the name and location of a pen table in the Filename field or use the Browse button to select the pen table.


8. Click OK to accept the settings for the new Display specification properties.
   The Display Properties dialog box closes and the new specification becomes the selected Display specification in the Batch Print dialog box

Modifying a Display specification

You can modify an existing Display specification from the Batch Print Specification Manager dialog box. Also, you can modify the selected Display specification from the Batch Print dialog box.

Remember, when you modify a Display specification, it affects all job sets that reference that particular specification.

To modify an existing Display specification

1. In the Batch Print dialog box, click the Manage Specifications icon.
   or
   From the Batch Print dialog box´s Specifications menu, choose Manage.
   The Batch Print Specification Manager dialog box opens.


2. In the Types list box, select Display.


3. In the Specifications list box, select the required specification, then click Properties.
   or
   In the Specifications list box, double-click the specification to be modified.
   The selected specification´s Properties dialog box opens.


4. Make changes as required to the existing settings.


5. Click OK to accept the modifications to the Display specification properties.
   The Properties dialog box closes.

To modify the selected Display specification from the Batch Print dialog box

1. In the Specifications Controlling Printing list box in the Batch Print dialog box, right-click Display, then select Properties from the pop-up menu.
   or
   Select the Display specification entry in the list box and then, from the Specifications menu, choose Properties.
   The appropriate Display Properties dialog box opens.


2. Make changes as required to the existing settings.


3. Click OK to accept the modifications to the Display specification properties.
   The Properties dialog box closes.

Example of Three-state Toggle Options

To illustrate the benefits of these three-state options, consider a set of design files each having a different combination of on/off view attribute settings for text nodes, constructions and fill. Assume that you want to print all of these files with text nodes and constructions hidden, but you want to print filled areas as they appear in the files. (Fill may be on in some files and off in others.) To obtain the desired results, simply set the Text Nodes and Constructions options to Off and set the Fill option (and all other options) to As-is. As Batch Print opens each design file, it turns off text nodes and constructions but it will leave all other settings alone.

Files and directories

Batch Print stores user preferences in the file ${MS_DATA}batchplt.rsc (for example, c:\Bentley\Workspace\system\data\batchplt.rsc). Currently the only preference saved is the name and location of the last job set file saved or opened.

Batch Print stores all specifications in the file ${_USTN_WSMOD} default/data/batchplt.spc (for example, c:\Bentley\Workspace\system\data\batchplt.spc). You can make Batch Print use a different file by setting the configuration variable MS_BATCHPLT_SPECS to point to the desired file through Workspace > Configuration > Printing > Batch Print Specification.

You have control over the names and locations of job set files. By default, they are saved in the directory specified by the configuration variable MS_PLTFILES.

The default Batch Print log file (written to record the status of the actual printing process) is MS_PLTFILES:batchplt.log (for example, c:\Bentley\Workspace\projects\examples\generic\out\batchplt.log).

For a list of Batch Print key-ins, see Batch Print Key-ins.