Custom Linetype

[bustermin]

I am trying to create a custom lintype by using mkshape & mklinetype but I am not having any luck. below is a pic of what I am trying to make a linetype from. can anyone please help.

 

[ReMark]

I was able to do it this morning (Thursday, 10/31). First I made what I called my "loop" out of two lines and two arcs. Next I used the PEDIT command to create one continuous polyline. I invoked the MKSHAPE command and just followed the prompts. I did a quick test to make sure I had created a shape by invoking the SHAPE command and inserting my loop. No problem. I invoked the MKLTYPE command, followed the prompts (using my loop "shape") and completed the task. AutoCAD created the linetype definition for me as expected. To test I opened the Linetype dialog window and made my new linetype named "Loop" current. I went back into my drawing and proceeded to draw a line and the result is as seen below.

 

 

And to prove the above was not faked here is what the linetype definition file looks like.

 

*LOOP,looped polyline

A,0,-.000021,[TESTLOOP,C:\Users\mycomputernamehere\Desktop\Test,y=-.000022,s=1],-.498058

[ReMark]

More proof.

 

Got some not-so-good (totally expected though) results on the left. However, the results with the circle were totally unexpected. That came out really nice don't you think?

[ReMark]

Darn!

 

Zoomed in on the circle and noticed the pattern breaks as it bends to form the circle. I would imagine that the tighter the bend the larger the gap would be and vice versa. The circle in the previous image had a diameter of 6. Oh well, it was an interesting experiment so it wasn't a total loss.

 

Good luck getting your loopy line to work the way you want.

[Barneel]

It's a shame there doesn't seem to be a way to perfect these crazy linetypes

Even the AC standard ones suffer from it

 

[bustermin]

That is the same procedure I was using and I can not get it to work, I got it to work one time but it had similar results to yours but the gaps were a lot worse. I am not sure what I am doing wrong....

[ReMark]

And here I thought you hadn't gotten it to work at all. I think no matter how accurate your picks are when you create the linetype using the shape file you'll still have gaps. Can you see gaps when you print your drawing? How much perfection are you striving for here?

[ReMark]

I think part of the problem is the resolution one specifies when using the MKSHAPE command. Look at the above image.

 

Loop A is our polylined loop.

 

Loop B is that same loop overlaid with its corresponding shape. I used the default resolution of 128.

 

Loop C is the same polyline loop overlaid with its corresponding shape. However, in the case the resolution was set as 1024.

 

Notice anything? Probably not. I'll fix that in a moment.

[ReMark]

A closeup of the tops of loops B and C.

 

Now do you notice anything?

[ReMark]

And here is a closeup of the bottom of loops B and C.

 

Notice anything here?

[ReMark]

And just one more for affect.

 

Can you see me now?

 

I went back and made a third similar shape and bumped the resolution to 4096 (32X the default) and still the shape did not overlay the polyline exactly. I'm not sure how high one can set that number and it really isn't worth it to me anyway to try and find out. I'll leave that up to anyone with 20/20 vision. I'm legally blind in one eye so it doesn't really bother me that much.

[bustermin]

My problem is it will only show up as all dots for some reason.....

[ReMark]

Your loop-like linetype shows up as dots?

 

Post an image. Also attach copies of both your shape and linetype files.

[bustermin]

here is what it gives me A,0,-.05515

 

[bustermin]

the site will not let me attach anything else other than the pics, it just keeps spinning......

[ReMark]

here is what it gives me A,0,-.05515

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]44915[/ATTACH]

If that is your linetype definition file than it appears to be lacking a lot of information compared to the one I posted.

[ReMark]

the site will not let me attach anything else other than the pics, it just keeps spinning......

That's probably because you are still considered a neophyte here at CADTutor since you do not have the required 10 post minimum. I should have noticed that. My bad.