Help make a Railroad Track Linetype

[chung.lam]

Can someone please help me on this? What I'm trying to do is make a linetype like a railroad track pattern, or all squares, whichever is easier. I've noticed that I can't make that pattern using a regular .lin file so what I tried to do was first draw the pattern, turn that into a shape, and then try to make a complex linetype inserting that shape. Problem I keep running into is the spacing seems to be off. Somtimes if I draw a longer line then the pattern gets all jumbled and doubles or triples itself making the whole thing blurry. Can someone tell me of an easier way, or even the right way to make a linetype like that? Its a big headache for me right now.

[Mike.Perry]

Hi

Can you please post what you have done so far, will help us, help you...

Or at the very least, please post an example drawing file that shows exactly what you are after achieving.

Have a good one, Mike

[chung.lam]

Hope this works.

[Mike.Perry]

How would I go about posting an example? Sorry for the newb question?Hi

No sorry, necessary or required :)

See if this helps...

What Are Attachments? (http://forums.augi.com/faq.php?faq=vb_read_and_post#faq_vb_attachment_explain)

Plus, the following might prove helpful / useful...

* How to Forum article (http://www.augi.com/forums/Forums.pdf) ( Opens PDF document ).

* Most Frequently Asked Questions (http://www.augi.com/forums/default.asp?page=545)

:beer: Mike

[rkmcswain]

Can someone please help me on this? What I'm trying to do is make a linetype like a railroad track pattern, or all squares, whichever is easier. I've noticed that I can't make that pattern using a regular .lin file so what I tried to do was first draw the pattern, turn that into a shape, and then try to make a complex linetype inserting that shape. Problem I keep running into is the spacing seems to be off. Somtimes if I draw a longer line then the pattern gets all jumbled and doubles or triples itself making the whole thing blurry. Can someone tell me of an easier way, or even the right way to make a linetype like that? Its a big headache for me right now.
Just a couple of general tips. Set your LTSCALE to 1.0 when creating and testing linetypes. That way the numbers in the LIN file make sense. Make sure to create your shape based on a 1.0 linetype scale with a proper base point, so you don't have to tweak the scale and position of the shape in the LIN file.

See also:

http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2004/01/tips_autocad_co.html

http://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=3094

http://www.upfrontezine.com/tailor/tailor16.htm

http://aec.cadalyst.com/aec/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=100843

http://www.foresoft.com/Tutorials/linetypeautocad.htm

[rkmcswain]

Hope this works.
If you are going to post the drawing with the complex linetype embedded, you will need to attach the "drawing1.shx" file also.

Shape files are not embedded into drawing files.

[chung.lam]

I had to start over again because I played with so many numbers. But this is oe of the better attempts. I have the SHX file and the lin file as well.

[chung.lam]

I have also made attempts using a kind of sideways U shape and a Z shape. Does anyone think these are better? Just to throw another wrench into my problem, I need the middle lines to be a different color and the line to prompt for a width when placed. Is making a linetype even the right thing for me to do?

[lmitsou]

Try this as well. Let me know if it does the trick for you.

Thanks,

[chung.lam]

Thanks for the help lmitsou. I kinda of already had that effect with some other files I tried. Here is my other attempt. Another problem I have now is getting those middle lines to a different color and finding a way for Autocad to ask for a width everytime I use this line. Not sure if a linetype is what I should be making now. Any other ideas?

[lmitsou]

Thanks for the help lmitsou. I kinda of already had that effect with some other files I tried. Here is my other attempt. Another problem I have now is getting those middle lines to a different color and finding a way for Autocad to ask for a width everytime I use this line. Not sure if a linetype is what I should be making now. Any other ideas?

Since you are talking about width, then I assume we are talking about polylines (?). If we are talking about polylines, then when you start drawing a polyline after you give a start point, it gives you the option to set a width size. Unless you meant pen width which is a different matter.

Also about the colour of the middle lines, is it a fixed colour or will it vary? If it is a fixed colour then maybe you should consider making your linetype with this middle line colour from scratch.