-PLOT Script AcCoreConsole

[squatman]

Hi,

Apologies there isn't a correct forum for my script query.

I have a .scr that runs in AcCoreConsole to plot the drawing.

PDFSHX
0
-PLOT
No


DWG to PDF.pc3
"C:\path\drawing.pdf"
N
Y
CLOSE

This has been working fine, but now coming across some drawings with an issue.

Stepping through the script manually in AcCoreConsole I see where the problem is:

Enter a layout name or [?] <Model>:

The drawing has a Model space and 1 layout space called Border @A3, if I type ? AcCoreConsole lists Layout1 and Layout2 which don't exist.

If I open the drawing and enter the commands in there I get the correct prompt:

Enter a layout name or [?] <Border @A3>:

I'm scratching my head so any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.


Edit: I've just tried adding extra Layouts and AcCoreConsole still only lists Layout1 and Layout2.

[Opie]

Have you tried setting the desired layout current? It could be the "@" symbol affecting this or even the spacing in the layout name. You may need to surround the layout name in quotes.

[squatman]

Opie, thanks for your response.

I've just tried this, but in AcCoreConsole it doesn't even recognise that Layout "Border @A3" exists, it lists Layout1 and Layout2 for some reason which don't exist.

When I run CTAB and then type "Border @A3" it says cannot set CTAB to that value.

I've just done some testing, and the only way I'd been able to get AcCoreConsole to see the correct layouts was to remove all layouts and allow it to automatically create a new Layout1, which now is accessible in AcCoreConsole.

We've got hundreds of drawings that could be like this that I need to use in AcCoreConsole, is there a way to automatically validate all layouts or something so they initialise correctly for AcCoreConsole to read?

Thank you

[PaulLi_apa]

Try including the following in your script which seems to work for me at least with my test drawing that contains a layout tab named: "Border @A3"
But if it still doesn't work then can you share a sample dwg that accoreconsole has trouble seeing "Border @A3"?

(foreach x (dictsearch (namedobjdict) "acad_layout")(if (and (= (car x) 3)(= (cdr x) "Border @A3"))(setvar 'ctab (cdr x))))

[squatman]

PaulLi_apa, thanks for the reply.

I ran that command, it didn't give me "Regenerating layout." it just went to Command:

Also, some of the drawings might be A2 or A1 so explicitly using "Border @A3" wouldn't be ideal.

Why would it see the layout fine in the AutoCAD console, but in AcCoreConsole it doesn't?

Thank you

[PaulLi_apa]

I'm not sure why accoreconsole won't see that layout because when I manually added that layout using the exact name as a test on a blank new drawing it saw it and set that as the current layout and then did a qsave as you saw in my screen shot.
What happens when you try doing the same by added that layout name on a new drawing?
Again if you can share a sample dwg with that layout name which accoreconsole doesn't recognize then I can test using that same dwg on my end.

[squatman]

Here is an example file.

Edit: just seen your reply, thanks a lot for your time and help on this. Something seems weird that AcCoreConsole thinks there's a Layout1 and Layout2. I look forward to your results with my file.

[PaulLi_apa]

Well your exampleA3.dwg already has Border @A3 set as current so that's why when you run accoreconsole you don't see a regenerating layout response.
I set Model current, save & close out of the dwg and then ran my batch file which launches accoreconsole on the now modified exampleA3.dwg and the screenshot now shows the regenerating layout
ScreenShot.png

Then when I open the exampleA3.dwg the Border @A3 is set as the current layout tab.
I've tried both in AutoCAD 2020 & 2025 (with all the updates installed) accoreconsole encountered no issues.
What version of AutoCAD have you tried this on?

[BlackBox]

Consider leveraging the native Autopublish mechanism to automagically plot all layouts via Core Console:

Script (.SCR):

(setvar 'automaticpub 1)
(command ".QSAVE")

---

Separately, if you actually need to iterate layoutlist in Core Console:

https://www.theswamp.org/index.php?t...9440#msg609440

I'm thinking it might be based on ActiveX which isn't supported in acoreconsole as far as I know.

(layoutlist) is defined inside acapp.arx which is not loaded by acoreconsole

So simply load it in the Script:

_.arx L "acapp.arx"
(setq foo (layoutlist))

Core Console supports loading ARX/.NET assemblies.

Cheers

2022-03-30_06-58-57.png

[PaulLi_apa]

very nice...thanks for both tips...cheers!!!