# Plot Management

## Key Features

| ### Plot
| You can plot one or multiple selected documents either directly or through a plot job. All selected documents are combined and processed in a single plot job.
| Plottable file types can be defined in the File Types mask.
| Direct Plotting
| This option submits the selected files directly to the default plotter using the plot default parameters of the user. The configuration parameters of this plot job cannot be edited by the user. No plot configuration window is displayed.
| Define and Assign Plotter default Configurations
| Plotting with Plot Jobs
| A plot job needs to be created if a document is to be plotted with custom parameters such as a specific start time. The Create plot order function opens a mask with plot default parameter values that can be customized by the user. The Execute plot order function initializes the plot job. The following steps must be completed to create a plot job: Define a new plotter/output device (if required). Define one or several new plot default parameters for this plotter. Assign PLM users to the new plot default parameter.
| For additional information, please refer to the Installation Manual and to Define and Assign Plotter default Configurations.
| Plot Order
| Mandatory fields
Name of field | Data type | Description
Order Number | INTEGER | Unique identification of a plot job. This ID is automatically assigned by the Plot Management module and cannot be changed. The number generator uses a cyclic number pattern, i.e. it works through a sequence and once the last number has been reached the sequence starts again. The default minimum value is 900000. This number is defined in the PAC_ID field. It is the keyfield of the folder.
Status | CHAR | Status of the current plot job. This value cannot be changed by the user. The following parameter values are available: CREATE NEW PLOT ERROR OK
Plotserver | CHAR | Name of the plot server (required for batch processes). The batch process only executes plot jobs with the status level NEW whose Plotserver field contain the name of the plot server. This must be set in the start script (e.g. axalantORIGIN_cust.cmd): Windows: set NODE=%COMPUTERNAME% Unix: set NODE=COMPUTERNAME
Date | DATE | Date of creation this value cannot be edited.
Time | CHAR | Creation time. this value cannot be edited.
Description | CHAR | Contains additional plot job data.
| General Tab
| The parameter values given in the General tab depend on the configuration of the plot server default settings and can therefore differ from the values listed below!
Name of field | Data type | Description
Type | CHAR | Device type. The following parameter values are available: U: User plotter R: Printroom plotter S: Special plotter The list of available plot type comprises User plotter (user-defined plot job, default), Printroom plotter (reprographics plot job) and Special plotter (special-purpose plot job). The special cases Printroom plotter and Special plotter are available only where enabled in the configuration by the administrator.
Name | CHAR | Name of output device. A field selection menu call displays a list of available output devices. The following three fields are defined depending on the output device selection: Meda, Size, and Color. These fields are displayed for information only. They cannot be modified in the plotter selection.
Media | CHAR | The media used for plotting, e.g. paper or transparency film
Max. size | CHAR | Maximum size supported by the plotter. This parameter cannot be changed by the user. The field is displayed for information only.
Color | LOGIC | Defines whether or not the plotter supports color plotting. Valid options are Yes and No. This value cannot be changed by the user. The field is displayed for information only. The field contents is defined by the Name field parameter.
Copies | INTEGER | Number of plot job copies. This value defines the number of additional copies to be plotted of the associated document, e.g. value 2 = plots the document twice
Priority | INTEGER | Defines the priority level of a plot job in the plot server system (values 1-10).
Folding | LOGIC | Name of the folding mode for the output devices that supports automatic document folding.
Banner | CHAR | Defines the banner type of a plot job, e.g. no banner, start page, or start page and end page.
Set |  | SET processing enabled: Yes/No
Set name |  | Name of the set process for plot jobs containing a set with multiple files.
Stamp | CHAR | A stamp consists of a user-defined character string. Variables to be retrieved from the database are identified by a leading ‘@’. The following parameter values can be retrieved from Agile e6: User: @USER& Date: @DATE& Time: @TIME& Document ID: @DOCUMENT_ID& Document version: @DOCUMENT_VERSION& Dokument revision: @DOCUMENT_REVISION& Sheet no.: @DOCUMENT_SHEET& Document status: @STATUS& Stamps can use any combination of columns from the T_DOC_DAT, T_DOC_XXX, T_PAC_DAT and CDD_PLO_PAC tables. Example: T_DOC_DAT.LEV_IND
Alternative stamp | CHAR | This variable contains alternative stamp text. During output, both stamp text strings are concatenated and forwarded as a single string to the plot server system.
Scale mode | CHAR | The following options are available: User-defined Size Optimized These settings are assigned globally to all documents in a plot job. Depending on the option selected parameter values can be entered in the Factor and Size fields. With the User-defined option is enabled, a scaling factor can be specified in the Factor field. If the Size option has been selected, the parameter value in the Size field specifies the target size (A4, legal, etc.) of the drawing. No additional parameter values can be specified if Optimized has been selected. The User-defined option plots drawings with a user-defined scaling factor. The Size option forces the scaling of all drawings to a predefined standard format. Not all DIN formats will be available at all times. The system lists only those formats that have been defined in the plotter default configuration, e.g. only the DIN A3 and DIN A4 formats might be available for a a DIN A3 plotter. No additional parameter values are required for the Optimized option. This option can be used for plotters with multiple paper trays. This enables the plot system to plot drawings at the optimum paper size for each drawing. Example: A plotter with a DIN A3 and DIN A4 paper tray. DIN A4 drawings are plotted using the DIN A4 paper tray. DIN A3 drawings are plotted using the DIN A3 paper tray. Drawings of a size exceeding DIN A3 are scaled down to DIN A3 and plotted using the DIN A3 tray.
Factor | FLOAT | Scaling factor: A scaling factor can be defined if the User-defined option has been selected in the Scale modefield. The value range for scaling factors is 0 < scaling factor < 1.
Size | CHAR | Target size. A scaling format can be defined if the Size option has been selected in the Scale modefield. A selection menu is associated with this field containing a list of available paper formats, e.g. DIN-A0, DIN-A1, DIN-A2, DIN-A3, DIN-A4.
Start time mode | CHAR | The following options are available: User-defined Immediate Blocked If the Immediate option is selected, the plot job is plotted immediately. The Blocked option delays the execution of the plot job in the plot server system. The plot job can be reactivated at any time by the plot server administrator. The User-defined option allows the definition of a start time for this plot job in the Time field.
Time | CHAR | User-defined start time of the plot job. The field parameter must be defined using the following format: DD.MM.YYYY HH:MM:SS (D= day, M= month, Y= year, H= hour, M= minute, SS= second).
Setup | CHAR | Specifies the configuration parameter set for the plot server system. The selection menu contains a list of available plotter configurations. The list of available parameter values for this field depends on the selected plot server system installation. Default must be defined in case of a CIMGRAPH default system. Some CAD software interfaces may require the definition of custom plotter configurations.
| Plot Attributes
| Plot attributes define the following characteristics of an output device: Paper: plot media, e.g. paper or transparency film DIN-Format, e.g. A5 or A4 Folding modes: defines the folding modes if the plot device supports folding and if the folding function is enabled Scale modes: defines the scale mode for plot output Plotter setup: plot server system configuration parameters Banners: enables the banner plot function Start time modes: optional start time parameter for plot job
| Individual attributes must be defined under System > Plot management > Plotter attributes.
| ### Management of active Plot Jobs
| All active plot jobs can be displayed and managed individually in the Plot orders mask (Start > Plot > Plot order) or in the List of plot jobs. The following functions are available through the context menu or GUI buttons:
| Display active Plot Jobs
| Once the plot job has been created, it can be displayed and edited in the List of plot jobs.
| Submit a Plot Job
| After the plot job has been created/configured it must be submitted to the plot server system with the Execute plot order function.
| Resubmit a Plot Job
| The Repeat plot order function enables the user to resubmit a plot job that has been as a result of an ERROR status. The ERROR status is returned by the plot server system. It indicates that the plot job has not been completed due to an output problem. Use the Repeat plot order function to resubmit the plot job.
| Plot jobs cannot be repeated unless their status level is "ERROR"!
| Cancel a plot job
| The status of successfully completed plot jobs progresses to OK. They can be deleted. The Account plot orders function deletes all plot jobs with the status OK from the list of active plot jobs. These systems will then have no further relevance to the system except for informational purposes. It is recommended that you purge the list of active plot jobs in regular intervals.
| Delete own plot jobs
| Users can delete all plot jobs they have created themselves. However, a users must have manager privileges to be able to delete a plot job created by another user.
| Update the status of an active plot job
| The Refresh status function loads and updates Status file data. Status files are used for the exchange of data between the plot server system and Agile e6. First of all the process initializes the status of all associated documents. The status of the plot job is adjusted in the following steps: Once all associated documents have the status OK, the plot job also receives the status level OK. As long as at least one of the documents retains the status level NEW , the status level of the plot job will also be NEW. Should an ERROR status occur in one of the associated documents, the plot job is set to the status level ERROR. Exceptions: If no files have been assigned to the plot job its status is set to ERR-FILE. If the file cannot be processed its status is set to ERR-FORMAT. Neither one of these two status levels affects the overall status of the plot job.
| Introduction > Status Files.
| Define the priority level of a plot job
| A document can have a number of associated files with varying priority levels, which can be assigned by the system administrator. Individual priority level can be defined for any file format. In case of priority level conflicts, only the higher priority files are submitted to the plot server system.
| Define the Priority Level of a Plot Job
| Batch processes
| The start time of a plot job can be controlled through a batch process: If the batch process function is enabled users can create a plot job and execute the Execute plot order command. The status of the plot job is set to NEW. However, the plot job is not submitted immediately. Instead, all plot jobs with the status NEW remain in the queue until the specified start date.
| For additional information, please refer to Initialize plot jobs through a batch process.
| Batch plot jobs
| Documents can be associated with files, that the plot server system cannot process directly. Whether or not an associated file can be processed is verified for each file in the course of the plot job definition process. The Batch plot jobs function allows you to view these files and to place them in the batch plot queue for conversion. The files are later plotted via the CAD batch plot system.
| ### Display a list of unresolved documents
| A list of documents with no associated files (if any) can be displayed with the Scan requests function. Missing files can be created or imported, e.g. by scanning a paper-based document.