Rockwell Automation Allen-Bradley Plot Software User Manual

AB-Plot V. 1.x Software Manual

USER MANUAL

(Catalog Number 1492-PLOTSOFT B)

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

INSTALLING PLOTTER SOFTWARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

INSTALLING GENERIC PRINTER DRIVER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

AN INTRODUCTION TO PLOTTER SOFTWARE . . . . . . . . . . . 17

STARTING THE PLOTTER PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

CALIBRATING THE PLOTTER PLATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

THE MENU BAR OF THE INPUT SCREEN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

THE AUTOFILL FUNCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

EDITING MARKER CARD CONFIGURATIONS . . . . . . . . . 30

The Import and Export of Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

TEXT ORIENTATION AND PLOTTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

The Output Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

PLOTTING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

THE RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

EDITING BLOCKS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

SUPPORT AND UPDATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

SYMBOLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

LIST OF SHORTCUTS AND FUNCTION KEYS . . . . . . . . . . 40

DEFINITIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

THE GRAPHAB.GDM CONFIGURATION FILE . . . . . . . . . 42

THE ABPRINT.INI INITIALIZATION FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

List of Figures

Download AB-Plot Software Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

File Download Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Save As Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The “User Information” Source Directory Dialogue Window . . . . . . 7

The “Choose Destination Location” Directory Dialogue Window . . 8 The “Select Program Folder” Target Directory Dialogue Window . . . 8

Selecting “Add a Printer” in Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Add Printer Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Selecting a Local Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Selecting a Printer Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Assigning the Generic/Text Only Printer Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Naming the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Not Sharing the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Not Printing a Test Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Completing Add Printer Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Found New Hardware Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Found New hardware Wizard-Installing Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Browse for Folder Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Found New Hardware Wizard-Installation Process Options . . . . . . 17

Completing the Found New Hardware Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Starting the AB-Plot Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

The Plate Location Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

The Marker Card Format Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

The Plate Location Window with Marker Style Assigned . . . . . . . . . 19

The Input Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

The Plot Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Plotter Settings Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Plotter Plate Calibration Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

The Input Screen After Selecting a Marker Card Type . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Direction of Labelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

The Autofill Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

The Marker Card Configuration Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

The Import Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Importing Tables Created in Microsoft Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

The CTRL + V Fill Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

The CTRL + SHIFT + V Fill Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

The Export Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Different Ways of Labelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Configuring the Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Configuring the Default Plotter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

The Plot Preview Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

INSTALLATION 5

INSTALLATION

Before installing the Plotter Software, make sure that your system complies with the following requirements.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

• Personal computer with at least an 80486 processor

• Minimum RAM 8 MB

• Microsoft™ Windows 95 or later

• CD Drive

• Hard drive with at least 50 MB space available

• Windows-compatible mouse

• Screen resolution 640 x 480, 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768

• Open parallel communications port or USB port

INSTALLING PLOTTER SOFTWARE

The following procedure assumes that you have already installed the Windows operating system and are familiar with the basic principles of it. If this is not the case, you should refer to the Windows User's Handbook. Note: The screenshots correspond to Windows XP.

Installation/Update procedure (Online):

Use the following instructions to download the application.

1. Go to: http://www.ab.com/industrialcontrols/products/ terminal_blocks_and_wiring/marking_systems_access/abplot.html

INSTALLATION 6

2. Click the Download ABPlot

Software (Version 1.00 - 8.13 MB) link.

3. When the “File Download” window pops up, click Save.

Figure 1 Download AB-Plot Software Link

Figure 2 File Download Window

4. When the “Save As” window appears, choose the location that the download will be saved. Keep the location simple, as you will need to find the file later.

Figure 3 Save As Window

INSTALLATION 7

5. Once the file has saved to the specified location, find the file and double-click on it. This will start the installation. If any pop-up window appear asking if you would like to run the application or questioning security, click “OK” or “Yes.”

Installation/Update procedure (from CD):

Use the following instructions to install the application from CD.

1. Start Windows.

2. Insert CD in the disk drive.

3. Close all other applications and click on "My Computer". Activate the

CD drive.

4. The installation procedure begins and in the AB-Print dialogue window prompts you to enter your name and your company.

Figure 4 The “User Information” Source Directory Dialogue Window

INSTALLATION 8

5. You are prompted to enter the drive or path to store the source files. After doing so, select Next.

6. Finally, the Setup Program displays the message that the installation has been successfully completed. Should you have any questions or encounter any problems, please refer to Support and Updates for further advice.

Figure 5 The “Choose Destination Location” Directory Dialogue Window

Figure 6 The “Select Program Folder” Target Directory Dialogue Window

INSTALLING GENERIC PRINTER DRIVER

The plotter software requires that a generic printer drive be installed on a parallel or USB printer port for your computer.

This procedure shows screens from Windows XP. Earlier versions of windows will have a similar procedure, but the screens may look different.

INSTALLATION 9

Installation/Update Procedure Using a Parallel Port:

Use the following instructions if you intend to connect with a parallel port. For USB port instructions, please refer to USB Port Instructions on page 14.

For Windows XP:

1. Click on Start, then select Settings, then Printers and Faxes. A similar window is

visible:

2. This brings up the “Add Printer Wizard”:

Select Next.

Figure 7 Selecting “Add a Printer” in Windows XP

Figure 8 Add Printer Wizard

INSTALLATION 10

3. Select Local, then Next. Figure 9 Selecting a Local Printer

4. Select the parallel port for the

plotter (typically LPT1) then Next.

Figure 10 Selecting a Printer Port

INSTALLATION 11

5. Select Generic/Text Only driver, then Next.

Figure 11 Assigning the Generic/Text Only Printer Driver

INSTALLATION 12

6. Name the printer. It has been named “Generic/Text Only” in this example. Select the printeras a default. Select Next.

7. Do not share the printer. Select Next.

Figure 12 Naming the Printer

Figure 13 Not Sharing the Printer

INSTALLATION 13

8. Do not print a test page. Select Next.

Figure 14 Not Printing a Test Page

9. Select Finish. Figure 15 Completing Add Printer Wizard

Now the printer driver has been assigned to the parallel port.

INSTALLATION 14

USB Port Instructions

Use the following instructions if you will use a USB port to connect the printer.

1. Connect the printer to the computer via the USB port. A similar window will appear.

2. Select “No, not this time.” and click Next.

Figure 16 Found New Hardware Wizard

+ 32 hidden pages