Removing TAB names...
Here is a common question I am frequently asked. "How do I remove the tab label name from a plot file?" For example, you drawing name is A101 and inside that drawing you have a tab name default by AutoCAD called "layout1" or "Work" depending on what release of AutoCAD you are working with. When you proceed to plot out your drawing to a file you are given the following name "A101-layout1.plt". There is no way for now to remove the tab name unless you remove it each time you plot to a file. But even this can be a very tedious task. And for you power users who prefer to use the Publish command you do not have this option unless you rename each drawing that is loaded into the Publish dialog box.
Your Solution:
Leave the plot names the way they are for now. Below will explain how to rename them in just a few keystrokes. For you old time DOS users, this will be a no brainier. In AutoCAD you can SHELL out to DOS. Simple type in SHELL at the command prompt and hit enter twice. You may have to navigate in DOS to the location where all your plot files located. Once you have located the folder that holds your plot files all you have to do is type in the following
C:\Temp\Plot Files>REN_???-layout1.plt_???.plt
Basically, I am telling DOS to rename all the files in this folder that contain these characters. The "?" is telling DOS to ignore this character in its location of the file name. The "_" is just an indicator letting you know that in DOS this is a space insertion. So after running this, your files will look like this;
(OLD) A101-layout1.plt
(NEW) A101.plt
For more complex drawing names, below is an example of how to use this DOS command. Here is the plot name: "A1-05-201-Full Size.plt". If you notice, there is a space between the word "Full Size", in DOS a space means many things to help execute the certain command you are trying to tell it. In this case we do not want DOS to see this so you simply place a "?" telling it to ignore this part of the name.
C:\Temp\Plot Files>REN_??-??-???-Full?Size.plt_??-??-???.plt
My suggestion is to practice a little bit to fully understand how this very old, but very useful command can come in handy!
Your Solution:
Leave the plot names the way they are for now. Below will explain how to rename them in just a few keystrokes. For you old time DOS users, this will be a no brainier. In AutoCAD you can SHELL out to DOS. Simple type in SHELL at the command prompt and hit enter twice. You may have to navigate in DOS to the location where all your plot files located. Once you have located the folder that holds your plot files all you have to do is type in the following
C:\Temp\Plot Files>REN_???-layout1.plt_???.plt
Basically, I am telling DOS to rename all the files in this folder that contain these characters. The "?" is telling DOS to ignore this character in its location of the file name. The "_" is just an indicator letting you know that in DOS this is a space insertion. So after running this, your files will look like this;
(OLD) A101-layout1.plt
(NEW) A101.plt
For more complex drawing names, below is an example of how to use this DOS command. Here is the plot name: "A1-05-201-Full Size.plt". If you notice, there is a space between the word "Full Size", in DOS a space means many things to help execute the certain command you are trying to tell it. In this case we do not want DOS to see this so you simply place a "?" telling it to ignore this part of the name.
C:\Temp\Plot Files>REN_??-??-???-Full?Size.plt_??-??-???.plt
My suggestion is to practice a little bit to fully understand how this very old, but very useful command can come in handy!
posted by Revit CADegories at 1:57 PM
