plotfx

Process Help

PLOTFX - create a base plan plot

Process Name	Menu Path	Link to Command Table
PLOTFX	Command line only	Click here

Introduction
Files, Fields and Parameters
Notes
Example
Errors

Introduction

Generates a frame plot consisting of a frame, annotated grid, title block and legend block. Features include scale bar, north arrow and optional plan window for use with PLOTSX (section plotting command).

How to use

This is a general process which can be used to add a frame, title block and legend to any DATAMINE plot. Used in conjunction with PLOTSX high quality drill hole sections can be produced, including a plan view of drill hole locations and paths. The components are:-

Frame

A box around the data area, a separate box for section and plan if the plan window is used. An additional box is plotted 2mm outside the data area.

Grid

A full grid of intersecting lines spaced according to the @XINC and @YINC parameters for the horizontal and vertical axes respectively. These grid lines will start from @XMIN and @YMIN unless the optional parameters @XGSTART and @YGSTART are specified. (Should not be less than @XMIN and @XMAX respectively).

Annotation

Grid lines are annotated with data values along the lines and inward. In addition a 4 character suffix may be added using the @XGID and @YGID parameters.

Title Block

An optional title block may be added into any corner of the data area. There are 3 sizes that may be specified: standard, basic and small.

Standard 145 x 100 mm
Basic 130 x 80 mm
Small 100 x 60 mm

For sheet sizes less than 400 mm x 400 mm only a small title block is drawn. The title block contains up to 4 lines of text plus date, drawing number and boxes for manual annotation (Drawn, Designed, Checked and Approved).

The standard block, on sheets at least 400mm x 400mm, contains an automatically generated scale bar.

Legend Block

A legend block containing varying size and color text and symbols may be added into any corner of the data area.

Plan Window

PLOTFX may be used in conjunction with PLOTSX to produce section plots having a plan window across the top of the section. Using the @SPLAN=1 setting and appropriate values for the @PLDIST, @PRDIST, @PLX1, @PLX2, @PLY1 and @PLY2 parameters will produce separate gridded frames for both the SECTION and PLAN windows.

The width of the plan window is specified in user data units and should be at least twice the section projection distance. The parameters are @PLDIST and @PRDIST and must equal the values of @PLDIST and @DISTANCE specified for the PLOTSX command.

The plotted width of the plan window plus 10mm is deducted from the data area. It is therefore necessary to allow for this reduction by increasing @YMAX.

If a number of plots are to be generated with the same scales and axes, then it is only necessary to generate a single frame using PLOTFX. This can then be joined to any plot by the APPEND process.

PLOTFX does not require a plot prototype, although one may be used. The @IBASE parameter may be used to specify sheet size. If a prototype is used then @IBASE=9. If only 4 of XMIN, XMAX, YMIN, YMAX, XSCALE and YSCALE are specified then the other 2 must be set to missing data (i.e. @XMAX=-, @YMAX=-).

If no prototype is used then all 6 of the scale and size parameters must be set and consistent.

Files, Fields and Parameters

Input Files

Name	Description	I/O Status	Required	Type
PROTO	Plot prototype file. Must contain the fields X, Y, S1, S2 and CODE (numeric, explicit) and XMIN, XMAX, YMIN, YMAX, XSCALE, YSCALE (numeric, implicit). If these last 6 values set in PROTO , then corresponding parameters need not be set.	Input	No	Plot Prototype

Output Files

Name	I/O Status	Required	Type	Description
PLOT	Output	Yes	Plot	Output plot file.

Parameters

Name

Description

Required

Default

Range

Values

XINC

Grid increment on X axis.

Yes

Undefined

YINC

Grid increment on Y axis.

Yes

Undefined

IBASE

Baseplan size:

Option	Description
1	A0 horizontal - 1000 x 800 mm
2	A0 vertical - 800 x 1000 mm
3	B1 horizontal - 900 x 650 mm
4	B1 vertical - 650 x 900 mm
5	A1 horizontal - 800 x 560 mm
6	A1 vertical - 560 x 800 mm
7	A3 horizontal - 350 x 250 mm
8	A3 vertical - 250 x 350 mm
9	user defined
10	user defined with single thickness title
11	user defined with no outer frame For options 1-8 a plot prototype file is not required, but parameters xmin , xmax , xscale , ymin , ymax , yscale must be entered.

Yes

1,11

Undefined

NDX

Annotation decimal places on X axis (0).

Undefined

NDY

Annotation decimal places on Y axis (0).

Undefined

TICKLX

Length of grid ticks on X axis in mm. = 0 for full lines (0).

Undefined

TICKLY

Length of grid ticks on Y axis in mm. = 0 for full lines (0).

Undefined

XGSTART

Start point of X grid, ticks Default is XMIN. To suppress plotting of X-axis set XGSTART to '+'.

Undefined

YGSTART

Start point of Y grid, ticks Default is YMIN. To suppress plotting of Y-axis set YGSTART to '+'.

Undefined

TBLOCK

Option	Description
0	for no title block
1	for standard title block
2	for basic title block
3	for small title block (0). Titles are prompted for interactively.

0,3

0,1,2,3

EMPTYTB

Option	Description
0	for filled title block
1	for empty title block

0,1

TUNITS

Units for scale bar in title box.

Undefined

TSCALE

Scale to be plotted in the title box and used for the scale bar. This is a natural scale i.e. for 1:1000 enter 1000. If TUNITS is not specified then units are assumed to be metres. Note if TUNITS is used then TSCALE is not required. If used it will overwrite the value calculated by TUNITS. The default is XSCALE 1000 (-).

Undefined

LBLOCK

Option	Description
0	for no legend block
1	for standard legend block [100x100mm]
2	for wide legend block [200x100mm]

0,3

0,1,2,3

TPOS

Title block position;

Option	Description
1	for bottom right
2	for bottom left
3	for top left
4	for top right; (1)

1,4

1,2,3,4

LPOS

Legend position;

Option	Description
1	for bottom right
2	for bottom left
3	for top left
4	for top right
5	same as title box but to side
6	same as title box but above/below; (1)

1,6

1,2,3,4,5,6

XGID

Text following grid number on X axis, max 4 characters, enclosed in single quotes if alpha, eg. 'mE'

Undefined

YGID

Text following grid number on X axis, max 4 characters, enclosed in single quotes if alpha, eg. 'mN'

Undefined

DRAWNUM

Plot drawing number, max of 4 characters.

Undefined

LOGO

Plot logo;

Option	Description
0	for none
1	to plot logo (0). This will be prompted for following titles.

0,1

SPLAN

Selection of plan window. If selected then the following 6 parameters must also be set.

Option	Description
0	no section plan window
1	plot plan window. (0)

0,1

PLDIST

Width of plan window in user data units. Must equal PLDIST for corresponding PLOTSX command.

Undefined

PRDIST

Section projection distance. Should equal DISTANCE on the PLOTSX command. Horizontal grid lines are drawn in the plan window along the section line and at PRDIST either side of it.

Undefined

DMINUS

Negative distance from section plane. For sections where PRDIST differs on either side. If not specified then PRDIST will be used.

Undefined

DPLUS

Positive distance from section plane. For sections where PRDIST differs on either side. If not specified then PRDIST will be used.

Undefined

PLX1

X Co-ordinate at start of section line. Must equal X1 on PLOTSX command.

Undefined

PLX2

X Co-ordinate at end of section line. Must equal X2 on PLOTSX command.

Undefined

PLY1

Y Co-ordinate at start of section line. Must equal Y1 on PLOTSX command.

Undefined

PLY2

Y Co-ordinate at end of section line. Must equal Y2 on PLOTSX command.

Undefined

CHARSIZE

Character size in millimetres of grid annotation (2.5).

2.5

Undefined

ASPRATIO

Aspect ratio, width / ht. for chars (1.1).

1.1

Undefined

APPEND

Plot append flag. If set to 1 then the new plot will be appended to the PLOT file, assuming it exists and is a proper plot file. (0)

0,1

Colour [as 'pen' number] for plot (1).

Undefined

XMIN

Minimum value of X for plot. None of XMIN, XMAX, YMIN, YMAX, XSCALE, YSCALE need be set if this information is already in the prototype.

Undefined

XMAX

Maximum value of X for plot.

Undefined

YMIN

Minimum value of Y for plot.

Undefined

YMAX

Maximum value of Y for plot.

Undefined

XSCALE

X scale in user data units per millimetre.

Undefined

YSCALE

Y scale in user data units per millimetre.

Undefined

Notes

For title entry, X offset and Y offset (in mm) can be used to reposition titles from the standard positions. Exclusion of these will result in centered titles as shown in the Figure 1.

The number of characters per line and number of lines in the legend and title blocks vary depending upon block and character sizes.

For wide legend blocks (@LBLOCK = 2) two columns of legend may be specified. A code of C will switch to the 2nd side.

Example

Example 1

The following example uses PLOTFX to add a frame, grid and title block to a plan produced by PLOTAN.

!PLOTAN	&IN(COLLARS),&PROTO(A0PROTO),&PLOT(PLAN), X(XCOLLAR),Y(YCOLLAR),*VALUE(BHID),@XOFFSET=2, @XMIN=8000,@XMAX=-,@YMIN=1000,@YMAX=-,@XSCALE=2, @YSCALE=2
!PLOTFX	&PROTO(PLAN),&PLOT(PLAN),@APPEND=1,@XINC=200, @YINC=200,@IBASE=9,@TBLOCK=1
	OUTBACK MINING COMPANY
	BIG ROCK MINE * 4
	DRILL HOLE LAYOUT * 3
	PLAN * 3
In the above example a prototype is used and the frame etc. is appended to the plot file 'plan'. PLOTFX could have been used to create the sheet size as follows:
!PLOTFX	&PLOT(PLAN),@XINC=200,@YINC=200,@IBASE=1, @TBLOCK=1,@XMIN=8000,@XMAX=10000,@XSCALE=2,@YMIN=1000, @YMAX=2600,@YSCALE=2
	OUTBACK MINING COMPANY
	BIG ROCK MINE * 4
	DRILL HOLE LAYOUT * 3
	PLAN * 3
!PLOTAN	&IN(COLLARS),&PROTO(PLAN),&PLOT(PLAN),@APPEND=1, X(XCOLLAR),Y(YCOLLAR),*VALUE(BHID),@XOFFSET=2

Example 2

Creates title block and legend box.

!PLOTFX	&PROTO(A0H),&PLOT(PLOT),@XINC=100,@YINC=100, @TBLOCK=1,@LBLOCK=1,@DRAWNUM='DW10'
	COMPANY * 6
	PROJECT * 5
	Title 1 * 5
	Title 2
	T1 * VARYING TEXT SIZE * 1 * 5
	T2 * SYMBOLS AND * 1 * 4
	91 * CIRCLE * 1 * 1 * 0 * 4 * 6
	94 * TRIANGLE * 1 * 1 * 0 * 4 * 6
	99 * LINE * 1 * 1 * 0 * 4 * 6
	96 * DIAMOND * 1 * 1 * 0 * 4 * 6
	97 * STAR * 1 * 1 * 0 * 4 * 6
	98 * BOX * 1 * 1 * 1127 * 5 * 5

Error and Warning Messages

Message	Description	Solution
>>> CANNOT APPEND TO NON-EXISTENT OUTPUT FILE. >>> A NEW OUTPUT FILE WILL BE CREATED	The @APPEND parameter has been set to 1, but the specified plot file does not exist. A new file will be created to contain the new plot being produced.

>>> ERROR - CANNOT APPEND TO PLOT FILE AS IT DOES >>> NOT CONTAIN ALL THE REQUIRED FIELDS. >>> THE PLOT FILE WILL BE OVERWRITTEN.	The @APPEND parameter has been set to 1, the specified plot file exists but is invalid. The existing plot file will be overwritten by the new plot being produced.

>>> FATAL ERROR, BAD SCALE/RANGE COMBINATION(S) <<< >>> XMIN, XMAX = nnnnnnnnnn.nn nnnnnnnnn.nn >>> YMIN, YMAX = nnnnnnnnnn.nn nnnnnnnnn.nn >>> XSCALE, YSCALE = nnnnnnnnnn.nn nnnnnnnnn.nn	Either insufficient scale information had been entered (at least two of XMIN, XMAX, XSCALE or Y equivalents must be entered either from the prototype of from parameters) or the combination given of XMIN, XMAX, and XSCALE (or their Y equivalents) was impossible. Often caused by entering a null plot prototype and no parameters. Fatal; the process is exited.