| Command | CAPCAD_CAPSHEETS |
| Shortcut | none |
| Ribbon | CapCad tab › Manage panel › Output group › CapSheets: Prancheamento. Also on the CAD Utilities tab › Layout split button › Sheet Sets |
| Category | Manage: Tools |
| Form | SheetSetForm — "Project Sheet Set", modeless (the drawing stays live while it is open). Five main tabs; the first two have sub-tabs |
| Hosts | AutoCAD, BricsCAD, GstarCAD, ZWCAD and ARES Commander |
| Depends on | an active style with sheet formats defined, and (to articulate) the project's alignment |
| Also opened by | none |
Turns a project alignment into a complete set of sheets, from the rectangle in model space to the layout with viewport, title block and stamp filled in. The CAD's own sheet set organises layouts that already exist; here the sheets are born from the road's geometry.
- The sheets follow the road. Each frame is rotated to follow the alignment's direction on that stretch, not the drawing's X axis, and the next one starts exactly where the previous one ends.
- Numbering that holds. The numbers are assigned, stored in the frame block itself and can be recomputed later — globally across the project or independently per sheet group.
- Model and paper in the same window. Articulate the frames, check them in the drawing and produce the layouts with a second button — or both at once, from the Express tab.
- The stamp fills itself in. Number, scale, start and end km and whatever alignment properties the style asks for go into the format's attributes, sheet by sheet.
- Overlap, split and matchlines. The join between sheets, a sheet split into two bands on the same drawing, and the matchlines drawn in model space, all under an option.
- A standalone sheet when one is missing. Insert a loose frame anywhere, already numbered in the set's sequence.
What it does
The command solves the sheeting of a linear project in two stages.
In the first, in model space, it walks the project alignment in steps the size of the sheet and inserts, at each step, a frame block (FRAME_…) rotated to follow the alignment's direction. Each frame gets a number, the name of the sheet group it belongs to, the file name of the format, and, as XData, the scale and the viewport's insertion point. Optionally it also draws the matchlines perpendicular to the alignment, at the limit of each sheet.
In the second, in paper space, it reads those frames back, creates the layouts, inserts the format block (the title block) in each one, creates the viewport with the same rotation and scale as the matching frame and fills in the title block's attributes — number, scale, start and end km, and the alignment properties the style asks for.
What a sheet is, how big it is, which title block to use and where the viewport area sits inside it all come from the active style (key Formato); the Styles page explains where that is edited. The alignment is the active project's — see The alignment.
The Update tab renumbers a set already articulated; the Tools tab gives access to the Layout navigator and to the viewport tools, and the Split DWG by sheet tab creates one DWG per sheet.
Workflow
- If you will use Save continuously (128), save the drawing first: with that option on, generating in paper space refuses a drawing that has no name yet.
- Run
CAPCAD_CAPSHEETS. The form opens beside the drawing and the style's name appears at the top, in Style:. If there is no valid style, the command says so and does not open. - On the ViewFrames ModelSpace › Along alignment tab, choose the Sheet (22) and the Scale 1: (23). The width and height boxes fill themselves in from the format's usable area.
- Check which stretches of the alignment go in, in the list (9). They all come in ticked; clear the ones you do not want.
- Adjust Overlap (3), Start from length (7), Matchlines (15) and Split (18 to 21).
- Set the Numbering (37 to 39) and the Sheet Groups (40 to 43).
- Click Articulate active alignments (11). With more than one stretch selected the command asks for confirmation, showing a summary. The frames appear in model space.
- Move to Sheet Paperspace › Generate, choose the layout mode (67 or 72) and click Generate PaperSpace sheets (68). The command lists which layouts will be deleted, asks for confirmation and generates.
- If you need to renumber afterwards, use the Update tab.
The Express tab does steps 7 and 8 in sequence, with a single button.
The form
There is one form, with five main tabs; the fifth, Split DWG by sheet, has its own section further down. The captures below share a single numbering: a control keeps its number on any tab where it appears. The three lower frames — Sheet size, Numbering and Sheet Groups — belong to the ViewFrames ModelSpace tab and stay visible across its three sub-tabs.
The screenshots are of a Portuguese session; the numbering is the same one this page uses, and the tables quote the English captions the software shows in an English session. The few controls with no English caption are marked (Portuguese only).
ViewFrames ModelSpace tab
"Along alignment" sub-tab: the articulation proper. The lower frames apply to all three sub-tabs.
"Individual" sub-tab: inserts a loose frame, point by point.
"Update" sub-tab: renumbers the existing frames and syncs the title blocks.
Sheet Paperspace tab
"Generate" sub-tab: creates the layouts from the model-space frames.
"Elements" sub-tab: a read-out of what the style defines for the chosen format. Read only.
"Properties" sub-tab: the title block's attributes and the check of the alignment properties they consume.
"Revisions" sub-tab: sheet report in Excel and title block update from it.
"Plot" sub-tab: a shortcut to the printing variables.
"Tools/Options" sub-tab: generation options and viewport commands.
"Layers" sub-tab: a notice only — the layers come from the style's layer catalogue.
Express and Tools tabs
"Express" tab: model and paper in one go, with a summary of the options in force.
"Tools" tab: the drawing's layout list and access to the layout navigator.
Along alignment — the articulation
Where the alignment comes from
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Active | Articulates the project's alignment. Only available when the project has one; when it does, this is the initial choice. |
| 2 | Select | With no project alignment (or by choice), the command asks for a curve in the drawing and articulates that curve. One curve only; the stretch list (9) then has a single item. The frames are marked as stretch 1 relative to the chosen curve, and the paper stage resolves that index against the project alignment — which is why the km attributes and the alignment properties may not match on this path. |
| 9 | Stretch list (Segments Nr / Length) | One item per stretch of the alignment, with its length. They all come in ticked. The articulation runs once per ticked stretch, in ascending order of number. With two or more ticked the command asks for confirmation before drawing. |
| 13 | refresh | Re-reads the style and the alignment and rebuilds the lists, the style defaults, the attribute table and the property check. |
Step and joins
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Overlap | How far one sheet reaches back over the previous one, in drawing units. The articulation step is sheet width − overlap. A negative value leaves a gap between the sheets. An overlap greater than or equal to the width aborts the command with a warning. |
| 5 | Apply on curves only | The overlap is applied only when that sheet's limit falls on a curved stretch; on a tangent the sheet advances its full width. The command measures the change in tangent direction over a window around the limit and treats anything above ~0.57° as a curve. |
| - | Sheets with north up | The frames stay upright (no rotation), so the viewport does not turn and north points up. Each sheet takes the longest stretch of the alignment that fits in the frame with a margin of 10% of its height on every side, centred on it; the next one starts at the cut less the overlap, and the matchline stays perpendicular to the alignment. Diagonal stretches fit fewer metres per sheet. Off by default; the style can turn it on. |
| 7 | Start from length | The distance from the start of the alignment to the first sheet. A negative value does the opposite: it extends the alignment backwards by that amount and starts articulating from the extension. |
| 14 | Fit sheet width for full coverage | Redistributes the width so the sheets close exactly at the end of the stretch: the command rounds length ÷ width to the nearest integer and divides again. With an overlap, the arithmetic becomes (length + overlap × (n−1)) ÷ n. |
| 4 | Total | Articulates the whole stretch. Options 4, 6 and 8 only show with Select (2) or with a single stretch ticked in the list (9); with two or more stretches ticked the run is always total, and the command asks for the summary confirmation. Button 11 shows the chosen mode. |
| 6 | Segment | Articulates only part of the stretch: the command asks for two points and articulates the alignment between them. |
| 8, 10 | 1 point + count, Count | The command asks for a point and articulates from there to the end of the stretch, stopping after Count sheets. Zero runs to the end; 1 inserts one sheet per click and asks for the point again, until Esc. In this mode Fit sheet width for full coverage (14) is disabled. |
| 12 | Zoom | Zooms to the alignment before articulating. Ticked by default. |
| 11 | Articulate active alignments | Runs the articulation. Before that it checks the format and the scale, warns if the group name is empty, warns if there are already frames in model space (you can carry on) and warns if any stretch has a distorted length factor. A progress bar shows the frames being created and can be cancelled — cancelling undoes that stretch's frames in full. |
Matchlines
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Matchlines | Draws, at each sheet's limit, a line perpendicular to the alignment, set back by half the overlap. Its total length is sheet height + extension, half to each side of the alignment; in the split modes the height is already halved, and the line shrinks with it. |
| 16 | Ext. | The extra length of the matchlines beyond the sheet height. Empty or zero means 100. |
| 17 | standalone | Draws a loose matchline: pick a point, the command projects it onto the nearest alignment element and draws the perpendicular there. This one is more generous than the articulation's — its total length is 2 × sheet height + extension — so that it certainly crosses the viewport frame; with no format and scale defined it uses 1000. It carries no selection tag, so it survives a new articulation. |
Split (a sheet in two bands)
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | None | The viewport takes the format's whole usable area. |
| 19 | Bottom | The frame becomes half the height and the viewport takes the lower half of the usable area. |
| 20 | Upper | Half the height, viewport in the upper half. |
| 21 | Double | Half the height and two frames per sheet: odd passes go to the upper half, even ones to the lower, and both share the same sheet number. This is the "there and back" layout on one drawing. |
| - | Include profile | With Bottom (19) or Upper (20), the free half of each sheet gets a second viewport showing the alignment's drawn profile over that sheet's km stretch, zoomed to fit. Only enabled when the alignment has a stored profile; the label beside it shows ✓ Profile available or ✗ Alignment without profile. |
Sheet size
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | Sheet | The formats defined in the active style. Choosing one reloads every box in this frame. If the style has a single format, it comes already chosen. A format whose viewport area is not defined as four coordinates is refused with the warning "Format not yet implemented - please request it". |
| 23 | Scale 1: | The style's usual scales; without them, the default list 50, 100, 250, 500, 750, 1000, 1250, 1500, 2000 and 2500. It also accepts a typed value. It opens on the style's default scale, when the style sets one. |
| 24 | Block | The title block file defined in the format. Filled in by the style. If it is a full path and the file does not exist, the command warns and clears the box. |
| 25, 28 | width / height — model | The sheet's size in drawing units. This is what the articulation uses. |
| 26, 29 | width / height — paper | The same size in millimetres of paper. Editing one side recomputes the other through the scale (model = paper × scale ÷ 1000). The box turns pink when the paper value exceeds the format's usable area. |
| 27, 30 | width / height — vp clearance | A margin taken off the usable area. The effective sheet is model − |clearance| × scale ÷ 1000. Zero uses the whole area. It comes filled in from the style when the format carries default widths. |
| 31 | reset | Reloads this whole frame from the current format and scale. |
| 32, 33 | Viewport insertion point x / y | The lower-left corner of the viewport area inside the title block, in the format block's own coordinates. It comes from the style; it is written into every frame and it is what places the viewport in the layout. |
| 34 | pick | Takes that point by clicking in the drawing. It only works in paper space; in model space the command says "Available in PaperSpace". |
| 35 | reset | Returns to the coordinates the style's format defines. |
| 36 | Select existing frames | Asks for a window in the drawing and leaves only the frames (FRAME_…) inside it selected, ready for another command. |
Numbering and sheet groups
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 37 | Within Sheet Group | The numbering restarts in each group: when looking for the next free number, the command only looks at frames of the same group. |
| 38 | Global (ignore groups if present) | Continuous numbering across the whole drawing, whatever the group. |
| 39 | Initial dwg reference | The first number of the sequence. Empty means 1. Numbers already in use are skipped, and the numbering can be redone later from the Update tab. |
| 40 | Do not use | No group: the frames get no group name. |
| 41 | Use alignments | The group is the alignment stretch: alignment.1, alignment.2… by stretch number. |
| 42 | Custom | The group is the text in 43, the same for every sheet of the run. With an empty name the command asks whether you really want to carry on. |
| 43 | group name | The disciplines defined in the style, and it accepts typed text. Only enabled with Custom selected. |
| 44 | Presets | A list of 18 ready-made combinations of layout, group and numbering. Choosing one sets the matching options (layout mode 67 or 72, with 69 or 75; group 40 to 42; numbering 37 or 38) and paints each control it changed light blue. |
Individual — inserting a standalone sheet
Inserts frames one at a time, by clicking points. Each click creates a frame with the format, scale and size of the Sheet size frame, already numbered as set in 47 to 49, and then asks for a rotation angle about the clicked point (Enter accepts without rotating). The loop carries on until you press Enter at the point prompt.
The group follows the same choice as the articulation: with Use alignments (41), the command works out which stretch of the alignment the point fell on and uses alignment.<n>; with Custom (42), it uses the name in 43.
A standalone frame carries no selection tag, so a new articulation does not erase it.
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 45 | Centred | The clicked point is the frame's centre. |
| 46 | Bottom left | The clicked point is the lower-left corner. |
| 53 | Empty View | Marks the frame as "no viewport": when paper space is generated, that sheet gets a layout and a title block, but no viewport, no north and no arrows. |
| 54 | Insert standalone format | Starts the insertion loop. It checks the format and the scale first, as the articulation does. |
| 47, 48, 49 | Next, Sheet, number box | Next: each frame gets the lowest free number. Sheet: it gets the next free number from the one typed in the box. |
| 50, 51, 52 | Format, Matchline on alignment, Standalone matchline | What Insert standalone format (54) inserts. Format: frames, as described above. Matchline on alignment: asks for a point and draws a matchline there, perpendicular to the project alignment, like the standalone button (17). Standalone matchline: draws a matchline between two clicked points. The lines carry no selection tag. |
| 55 | Set sheet size from entities… | Opens the Format definition form, the same one CAPCAD_DEFINE_SHEET opens in model space, with the paper size from 26 and 29 in its custom row: measure an area of the drawing and see at what scale it fits. See Layouts and viewports. |
| 56 | Adjust numeration as inserted | When the inserting is over, renumbers every frame of the drawing in sequence, like Update sheets (60) with All (61). Ticked by default. |
Update — renumbering and syncing
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 57 | Number | Type a number and press Enter to apply it to the frame selected in the drawing. With nothing pre-selected, the command asks for the frame. |
| 58 | Replace the existing one with the numbered one | Swaps the numbers between the chosen frame and the one that already had that number. |
| 59 | Shift the numbering | Applies the number to the chosen frame and renumbers the others around it, skipping the reserved number. |
| 60 | Update sheets | Renumbers the whole set in the current numeric order and, if 64 is ticked, propagates it to the title blocks and to the matchlines. At the end it shows a summary of what changed. |
| 61 | All | Considers every frame in model space. |
| 62 | Select | Asks for a selection in the drawing and works on that only. |
| 63 | Files | Renumbering across several DWGs: it opens a folder picker and walks the sheet drawings. |
| 64 | Match frameview numeration with sheets | After renumbering, writes the new number into the matching sheet's title block, renames the layout tab and updates the code on the paper-space matchlines. |
| 65 | Use the lowest in the group | The first number is the lowest number already present in the set. |
| 66 | Use the ref below | The first number of the renumbering is the value in 39. The default. |
Generate — the sheets in paper space
The Generate PaperSpace sheets button (68) reads every frame in model space (any block carrying the number attribute), groups them, deletes the layouts that are about to be rebuilt — listing them and asking for confirmation — asks "Deseja processar N formatos em M layouts?" (in Portuguese in every language) and then, sheet by sheet: creates or activates the layout, inserts the title block, creates the viewport rotated and locked at the sheet's scale, writes the number above the title block and fills in the attributes.
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 68 | Generate PaperSpace sheets | Runs the generation described above. With Save continuously (128) on, it requires a saved dwg. A progress bar shows the sheets being created; cancelling stops between one sheet and the next (never in the middle of a split sheet) and keeps what has already come out. |
| 67 | 1 format per layout | One layout per sheet, named after the sheet number with four digits (0001). |
| 69 | Use sheet ID for layout | With 67 ticked and a group present, the layout's name becomes <group>-0001. That same identifier becomes the value written into the FOLHA / FORM_PRANCHA attributes. |
| 72 | Formats in the same layout | A single layout, with every sheet side by side, apart by the style's Gap between sheets (250 paper units when the style sets none). |
| 75 | Separate by groups if present | With 72 ticked, produces one layout per sheet group, each named after the group. Cleared, everything lands in a single layout called capcad.sheets. |
| 70 | All | Processes every frame. |
| 71 | Select | Asks for a selection in the drawing and generates only the selected frames. |
| 73, 74 | Viewports On / Off | The state the viewports are left in at the end. With On the command also runs CAPCAD_LAYOUT_VIEWPORT_ON at the end of the generation. |
| 80 | Matchlines | Repeats, in paper space, the matchlines that already exist in model space, with the neighbouring sheet's code. |
| 81 | If split | The code text used on the matchlines of split sheets. |
| - | Fit matchlines to the frame area | With Matchlines (80), each paper-space matchline block slides along its own line into the sheet, only as far as it takes to sit wholly inside; a block that already fits does not move. AutoCAD only. |
| 87 | Wipeout | Clips the viewport at the matchline, hiding what lies beyond the join. |
| 82 | In Paper | Draws the coordinate grid in the layout, over the viewport. |
| 83 | In Model | Draws the grid in model space, on its own per-sheet layers, frozen in the other viewports. |
| 85 | None | No coordinate grid. |
| 84 | Compute text H for the scale | Sizes the grid's text height by the sheet's scale. |
| 90 | Insert north | Inserts the north block defined in the style, at the position the format indicates, rotated to match the frame's rotation. |
| 91 | Insert arrows | Inserts the continuation arrows (vai / vem, out / in) defined in the format. |
| 89 | Include status [Beta] | Draws a key map in the top-left corner of each viewport: the group's frames in outline, with the current sheet filled. A beta feature. |
| 76 | Sheets | Inserts the format block (the title block) on each sheet. Cleared, the sheets come out with no title block, no attributes and no auxiliary number. |
| 77 | Explode format block | The title block is exploded and the attribute values stay as texts. The sheet loses its link to the model-space frame: By sheets (capsheets) reports and Link sheets no longer see it. |
| 78 | Sheet elements | Cleared, the sheets come out without the sheet elements: paper-space matchlines (80), wipeout (87), auxiliary numbering (88), status (89), north (90) and arrows (91). |
| 79 | Viewports | Creates the sheets' viewports. Cleared, the sheets come out with no viewport and no Include profile profile. |
| 88 | Auxiliary numbering | Writes the sheet number in large type, height 50, centred above the title block, on the current layer. |
| 86 | Settings… (grid) | Opens the coordinate grid (CAPCAD_GEO_GRID); see Coordinate grid. |
The layouts that will be deleted. Before generating, the command lists the layouts that match the chosen mode and asks whether it may delete them. Answering No cancels the whole generation. If the generation is then cancelled from the progress bar, the sheets already created stay.
Elements
Read only: what the style defines for the format chosen in 22.
| # | Field | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| 92 | insert arrow? | True when the format has both arrow blocks defined. |
| 93, 94 | seta_vai, seta_vem | The names of the arrow blocks. |
| 99 | pt north ref VP | The point where the north is inserted, in the format block's coordinates. |
| 95, 96 | entry matchline, exit matchline | The paper-space matchline blocks: MATCHLINE_GENERIC_INCOMING and MATCHLINE_GENERIC_OUTGOING. |
| 97, 98 | north block, north scale | The north block and its scale as the style defines them; without them, NORTE.dwg and 0.5. |
Properties
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 101 | Sheet attributes (Attribute / Value) | The attribute templates defined in the style: for each title-block tag, the text it receives. The text can contain <sheet.number> and <sheet.number,000> (the sheet number in three digits), <today, dd/mm/yy> (today's date), <align.name> (the alignment's name) and @property> or <align.property> for an alignment property. |
| 100 | Reset | Reloads the table from the style. |
| 102 | match line | The text that goes into the code of the paper-space matchlines. Writing @FORM_NUMERO makes the command substitute the template of the FORM_NUMERO attribute from the table above. |
| 103 | Expression | When the alignment property is not filled in at that km, the attribute receives the expression as written. |
| 104 | "-" | When the property is not found, the attribute receives -. The default. |
| 105 | Alignment properties used: check | The alignment properties the attributes consume, with the state of each. name is always OK; the others may show —. |
| 106 | check | Redoes the check. The text above the frame turns green on Propriedades eixo ok or red on Há propriedades não definidas para um ou mais trechos (both in Portuguese). |
| 107 | Alignment properties | Opens CAPCAD_ALIGNMENT_PROPERTIES — see Alignment properties. |
Besides the table's templates, some attributes are filled by a fixed rule, whatever the style:
| Attribute tag | Value written |
|---|---|
ESCALA, FORM_ESCALA |
1:<scale> when the scale is one of the style's usual scales; SEM ESC. when it is not and option 125 is ticked |
KM_PRANCHA, FORM_KM_INICIAL |
the km of the frame's start corner, in 0+000 format |
FORM_KM_FINAL |
the km of the frame's end corner |
FORM_EXT |
the sheet's width in paper |
FOLHA, FORM_PRANCHA |
the sheet's identifier (with the group prefix, if 69 is ticked) or the bare number |
Revisions
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 109 | Sheet Report | Lists the title blocks of every layout (the blocks on the formats layer) with their attributes, layer, id, insertion point and dwg path, and sends the table to Excel. Two columns show the link to model space: linked to frame (yes when the title block and the frame point to each other) and frame number. Drawings with no title block are listed separately at the end. |
| 108, 110, 111, 112 | This dwg, Select, Folder and the folder box | The report's scope: this drawing only; the dwgs picked in a dialog; or every dwg in the folder written in 112. |
| 114, 115 | Number + FilePath, FilePath + Number | The order of the report's rows. |
| 113 | Sheet update from report | Reads the active Excel sheet (the report, once edited) and writes the values back into the title blocks' attributes. Rows for other drawings (DwgFilePath column) are written to those files after a confirmation; a drawing that is open or locked is listed as not written. With no Excel open, the command says so. |
| 116 | Cap Attributes | Asks for a block and opens Cap Attributes (CAPCAD_BLOCK_ATTRIBUTE_EDIT) already set to apply to every block of the same name: a value edited there applies to the title blocks of every layout. See Blocks and attributes. |
Plot
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 117 | Plot | Disabled in this version. To publish the sheets, see Publish to PDF. |
| 118 | Adjust variables | Sets the four printing variables — LTSCALE 1, MSLTSCALE 0, PSLTSCALE 0, PLINEGEN 1 — and turns the WIPEOUT frames off. |
Tools/Options
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 119 | Styles… | Opens the style editor (CAPCAD_STYLE_EDITOR) — see Styles explorer. |
| 128 | Save continuously | Saves the dwg after each sheet generated. With the option on, a drawing that still has no name is refused before generating: save it first. Cleared by default. |
| 131 | Alignment properties | Opens CAPCAD_ALIGNMENT_PROPERTIES. |
| 132 | Create standalone wipeout | In paper space: pick the viewport, then the model-space matchline through it; the command clips the smaller piece. In model space it says "Available in PaperSpace". |
| 123, 127 | Lock / Unlock all viewports | Call CAPCAD_LAYOUT_VIEWPORT_LOCK and CAPCAD_LAYOUT_VIEWPORT_UNLOCK. |
| 124, 129 | All viewports On / Off | Call CAPCAD_LAYOUT_VIEWPORT_ON and CAPCAD_LAYOUT_VIEWPORT_OFF. |
| 120 | Legacy version | Disabled in this version. |
| 133 | Coordinate grid | Opens the coordinate grid (CAPCAD_GEO_GRID); see Coordinate grid. |
| 121 | Justify bottom left | The viewport is the size of the frame and sits at the insertion point the frame carries. |
| 122 | Centre VP if smaller than usable area, in X, in Y | When the frame is smaller than the format's usable area, the viewport grows to the usable area in the ticked direction (in X, in Y) and shows the frame centred, with more of the model around it. In Y, the halves of a split sheet do not grow. Ticked by default, with X and Y. AutoCAD only; on the other CADs the viewport stays as in 121. |
| 126 | Lock Viewports | Disabled: the generated viewport is always locked. |
| 125 | For unusual scales show: not to scale | Ticked, a scale outside the style's usual scales writes SEM ESC. into ESCALA / FORM_ESCALA; cleared, the real scale 1:<scale> is written on every sheet. Ticked by default. |
| 130 | Check for block updates when running | During generation, the title block, north and arrow blocks that come from the library are downloaded again, even when a local copy exists. |
Express
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 134 | Generate model and paper | Runs the articulation and then the sheet generation. With Save continuously (128) on, the saved-dwg check runs before anything else, so an unsaved drawing stops the command before a single frame is drawn. Each half keeps its own confirmations; if the articulation is cancelled, the paper part does not run. |
| 135 | Resumo (Portuguese only: "summary") | Read-only text with the options in force, in three blocks — GENERAL, MODEL and PAPER. It refreshes when you enter the tab. |
Tools
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 136 | Load | Fills list 139 with the drawing's layouts. |
| 137 | Pallete | Opens the Layout navigator (CAPCAD_LAYOUT_NAVIGATOR). |
| 139 | Layout list | The names loaded by 136. |
| 140 | Delete all layouts… | Calls CAPCAD_LAYOUT_DELETE, which does its own confirmation. |
| 141 | Sort layouts… | Calls CAPCAD_LAYOUT_REORDER. |
| 138 | Delete all viewframes… | Disabled in this version. |
| - | Link sheets | Restores the link between the paper-space sheets and the model-space frames where it is missing (for instance, in layouts copied by hand): it matches each title block to its frame by what the viewport shows and, failing that, by the sheet number. At the end it reports how many sheets were linked and how many were not found. On AutoCAD, a single Undo reverts it all. |
| - | DWG per sheet… | Opens the Split DWG by sheet tab. |
Split DWG by sheet
Creates one DWG per sheet with only what lies inside it. The current drawing is not changed. Each file is named after the sheet's layout (when the sheet has a layout of its own) or after its number; a sheet split in Double mode comes out as a single DWG with both halves. At the end the command reports how many DWGs it created and offers to open the folder.
| # | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| - | By CapSheets / By AUX_DIV-* layers | What a sheet is: the CapSheets frames, or the closed polylines of each AUX_DIV-* layer, one DWG per layer. |
| - | Sheet area: Viewport (whole frame) / Partition (cut at the matchlines) | With By CapSheets: the whole frame, or the frame cut by its matchlines. |
| - | Cut at the sheet edge | Curves are cut at the sheet edge, hatches rebuilt, and blocks, xrefs, wipeouts and images clipped; texts, dimensions and tables stay when their insertion point is inside. Cleared, whatever crosses the edge stays whole. |
| - | Cut the alignment | The alignment is cut like the rest. Cleared, it stays whole. |
| - | Keep only the sheet's frame and matchlines | Removes the other sheets' frames and matchlines (by layers: the polylines of the other AUX_DIV-* layers). |
| - | Layout with only the sheet's title block | With By CapSheets: a layout holding several sheets keeps only this sheet's title block and viewports. |
| - | Purge at the end | Purges what is left unused from the DWG created. |
| - | Do not cut these layers (separated by ;) | The layers written in the box are copied whole, never cut. Wildcards are accepted. |
| - | Folder | Where the DWGs are written. It comes filled with the folder DWG-<drawing name>, next to the drawing; on a drawing that has no name yet it is empty and has to be chosen. |
| - | Generate | Creates the DWGs, with a progress bar that can be cancelled. |
How the options combine
The figures below were produced by running the command's own articulation engine on a sample alignment 3,303.6 m long — two tangents and two curves — with an 800 × 350 unit sheet at 1:1000. The numbers inside the frames are the sheet numbers the engine assigned; the dashed orange lines are the matchlines.
Simple articulation
No overlap: 5 sheets numbered 1 to 5, each rotated to follow the alignment's direction on its stretch and butted against the end of the previous one. The last one runs past the end of the alignment — that is the remainder of the stretch.
Overlap
Overlap 150: each sheet reaches 150 back over the previous one, so the join now has a shared band. The matchline falls at the sheet's limit, set back by half the overlap.
The same overlap of 150 with "Apply on curves only": where the sheet's limit falls on a tangent, the sheet advances its full width; the join only shrinks on the curves.
Fit sheet width for full coverage
With the fit on, the same 3,303.6 units become 4 sheets of 825.9 instead of 5 of 800 — the alignment ends exactly at the end of the last sheet.
Split: Double
"Double" mode: the frames become half the height (175) and the numbers repeat in pairs — sheets 1 and 1, 2 and 2 are the two bands of one drawing, one above the other in the viewport.
Start from length
Value 400: the sheets start 400 past the beginning of the alignment, and the initial stretch has no sheet.
Value −400: the alignment is extended 400 backwards and the first sheet starts in the extension — useful for leaving some slack before the start km.
What is written into the drawing
Each frame is a block FRAME_<format>_<scale>_<width>_<height> inserted on the frames layer of the active layer catalogue, with:
| Where | Name | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Attribute | number |
the sheet number |
| Attribute | sheetgroup |
the sheet group |
| Attribute | sheettitleblock |
the title block's file name, without the folder |
| XData | formatoStyle |
the format's key in the style |
| XData | sheetscale |
the scale divided by 1000 |
| XData | sheetVpInsLowerPoint.x / .y |
the viewport's insertion point inside the title block |
| XData | alignmentIndex |
the alignment stretch's number |
| XData | sheet.split |
present on the frames of Double mode |
| XData | sheet.emptyvp |
present on standalone frames marked Empty View |
The frames and matchlines of one articulation run also get a selection-group tag, so they can be re-selected later with CAPCAD_SELECT_GROUP.
Remembered between sessions
Practically the whole form: format, scale, width and height, clearances, overlap, start length, start number, viewport insertion point, numbering mode, sheet group, split, matchlines and the paper tab's options. They are saved when the form closes and when you click Articulate or Generate PaperSpace sheets, and restored when it opens. The style's defaults are applied after the saved values, and a control the style set gets a light green background, with the tip from the style, while it keeps the style's value; change it and the background goes, put the value back and it returns. The Reset style items button, top right (in the same green), gives every one of those controls the style's value back and leaves the rest alone. A saved format that no longer exists in the active style is discarded.
Notes
- With Save continuously (128), generating in paper space requires a saved dwg. The command checks it itself; it warns and aborts, and it never saves an unnamed drawing on its own.
- Up to 255 layouts per drawing. If the layouts that stay plus the ones the generation would create add up to more than 255, the command warns and generates nothing, before deleting or creating any layout.
- The
CANNOSCALEvariable is set on every sheet to1:<scale>. It is a drawing-wide variable, so the last sheet generated is the one that stays in force; annotative entities size themselves by it. Select(2) and the alignment properties. Articulating a curve picked on screen, the frames are marked as stretch 1 relative to that curve, and the paper stage resolves that index against the project alignment — the km attributes and the alignment properties can come out wrong. For the definitive set, articulate the project's alignment.- To set the scale and format of a layout that already exists, without going through the articulation, use
CAPCAD_DEFINE_SHEET— see Layouts and viewports. - To publish the finished set as PDF, see Publish to PDF.
- Some of the command's prompts and confirmations are shown in Portuguese in every language.