How To Create A Symbol Line Style

This tech tip explains how to create a custom symbol line style using the Line Style Editor.

Before you start, make a backup copy of CAD.lst (Start / All Programs / AllyCAD 2011 / Explore Common Data Folder / AllyCAD 2011/ Cad.lst).

• Open Line Style Editor (Start / All programs / AllyCAD 2011 / Tools / Line Style Editor).
• In Line Style Editor, select File > Open from the menu, and then select Cad.lst
• Select File > Save As from the menu, and save the linestyles as "Cad_backup.lst"
• Select File > Open again, and load Cad.lst again.
• Click on Edit > Insert and give the new linestyle a name under line style details:

Go to Help > Contents for more info. We will enter the definition of the new linestyle in the grid on the right of the Linestyle Editor. For this tech tip, we want to create a new "Fence 4" linestyle, which will consist of 13mm dashes separated by 5mm crosses ("plus signs"), like so:

To create the cross ("plus sign") in the dash pattern, we will use a 5mm dash combined with symbol "TRACK1" from shape file ltypeshp.shx. The "TRACK1" symbol is a vertical bar ( | ) of length 2, with its origin in the middle of the bar.

Start by entering the data for the first 13mm dash in the first row of the grid:

Enter "13" in the Length column of the first row of the grid.

Now enter the data for the 2.5mm space after the first dash:

Enter "-2.5" in the Length column of the 2nd row of the grid.

Now enter the data for the cross ("plus sign"):

Enter "5" in the Length column of the 3rd row of the grid. This dash is the horizontal part of the cross.

In the Font column, enter the name of the symbol file which contains the symbol we want to use (ie: "ltypeshp.shx").

In the Symbol column, enter the name of the symbol we want to use (ie: "TRACK1").

In the Scale column, enter the scaling value for the symbol. In this case, since we want a 5mm cross, and the "TRACK1" symbol is 2 units high, we need to enter a Scale value of "2.5".

In the "X Off" column, enter a value of "-2.5". This means move the symbol 2.5 units to the left, so that it gets drawn in the middle of the dash. If we left the "X Off" value as 0, the symbol would be drawn at the end of the dash.

Now enter the data for the 2.5mm space after the last dash:

Enter "-2.5" in the Length column of the 4th row of the grid.

Your new line style should look like the image below:

Select File > Save from the menu. If you want to save as a new line style file, go to File > Save As, give it a different then save.

Close AllyCAD and then restart AllyCAD (so that linestyles get reloaded from Cad.lst).

HOW TO LOAD A LINE STYLE FROM A .LST FILE

In AllyCAD 2011, select Settings > Line Styles from the menu.

Click the Load button and select the new line style file you created in this case select Test.lst. Click on Open.

The line styles contained in Test.lst will be listed. Select the linestyle "Fence 4" that we created previously:

Click OK, then OK in the Line Styles dialog.

Select your new line style and draw a line. It should look the same as in the Line Style Editor: