What is a Drawing Token?

Drawing Tokens are different from Machining Tokens in that they will not perform machining or impact g-code. Drawing Tokens are intended to provide extra details for drafting and detailing purposes. Most products come standard with drawing tokens already in place. For instance, when drawing product sections, you'll notice some drawing tokens have already been included (dimensions, labels, hatching, etc.). This information can be viewed in the spreadsheet by selecting the prompts tab of the desired subassembly. This article provides a list of the available drawing tokens and an explanation of their parameters so that users can make the most of them. 

The tokens listed below can be added to any tab except for those dealing with metafile pictures. The name of the token is what is added when using it in a formula. When viewing the parameters of the drawing tokens in the spreadsheet, the list below corresponds to the available columns for each drawing token. Please note that parameters in brackets are optional, and some of the parameters allow for multiple sets of information, each separated by the pipe symbol. Not all drawing tokens use every column available. A excel worksheet of the different token parameters is available at the bottom of the page. 

To access the tokens listed in this article open the Part Properties menu > show the properties for the subassembly of choice > select the Drawing Tokens tab > select the Prompts tab > select any tab below MetaFiles. 

The [END] marker must come at the end of the list of drawing tokens. You may need to delete it and add it back to the end of your list. 

The visual representations of the Drawing Tokens below are drawn as a Plan Section.

When in Top view, the upper left corner of the product is the origin (0,0), this positions the product in the fourth quadrant, so Y will need to be a negative number when the intent is to draw within the product.

DRAWLINE

This token will draw a single line based on the parameters.

Start X refers to the starting point of the line on the x-axis of the selected subassembly.

Start Y refers to the starting point of the line on the y-axis of the selected subassembly.

End X refers to the ending point of the line on the x-axis of the selected subassembly.

End Y refers to the ending point of the line on the y-axis of the selected subassembly.

This parameter allows you to enter comments for the product. You can enter up to three comments, each separated by the pipe symbol.

This parameter refers to the name of the layer and the color code separated by a pipe symbol (|).

DRAWARC

This token will draw a single curved line based on the parameters.

Start X refers to the starting point of the arc on the x-axis of the selected subassembly.

Start Y refers to the starting point of the arc on the y-axis of the selected subassembly.

End X refers to the ending point of the arc on the x-axis of the selected subassembly.

End Y refers to the ending point of the arc on the y-axis of the selected subassembly.

Center X refers to the midpoint of the arc on the x-axis.

Center Y refers to the midpoint of the arc on the y-axis.

This parameter allows you to enter comments for the product. You can enter up to three comments, each separated by the pipe symbol (|).

This parameter refers to the name of the layer and the color code separated by a pipe symbol (|).

DRAWPOLYLINE

This token will draw a polyline that can contain multiple vector points.

Use this parameter to create a list of 2D coordinates (x;y). Separate the x and y values with a semicolon, and separate the points with a pipe symbol (|).

Enter the bulge for each vector.  Zero is a straight-line route.  Separate each value with a semicolon.  If the entry is left blank, the polyline will be straight. 

Entering this parameter through the prompts will produce 0’s on the right end of the entered value. This enables the software to register the information's origin. It will not affect the value in any way.

Enter the directional value for each vector, either 0 or 1.

0 will assign positive bulge values to represent counterclockwise arcs & negative bulge values to represent clockwise arcs.

1 will assign positive bulge values to represent clockwise arcs & negative bulge values to represent counterclockwise arcs. 

The default, recommended value is 1.

This parameter allows you to enter comments for the product. You can enter up to three comments, each separated by the pipe symbol (|).

This parameter refers to the name of the layer and the color code separated by a pipe symbol (|).

DRAWRECTANGLE

This token will draw a rectangle.

Start X refers to the starting point of the rectangle on the x-axis of the selected subassembly.

Start Y refers to the starting point of the rectangle on the y-axis of the selected subassembly.

This parameter refers to the width of the rectangle.

This parameter refers to the Height of the rectangle.

This parameter allows you to enter comments for the product. You can enter up to three comments, each separated by the pipe symbol (|).

This parameter refers to the name of the layer and the color code separated by a pipe symbol (|).

DRAWCIRCLE

This token will draw a circle.

Start X refers to the x coordinate at the center of the circle.  

Start Y refers to the y coordinate at the center of the circle.

This parameter is the length of the radius of the circle.

This parameter allows you to enter comments for the product. You can enter up to three comments, each separated by the pipe symbol (|).

This parameter refers to the name of the layer and the color code separated by a pipe symbol (|).

DRAWDIM

This token will add a dimension label based on the parameters.

Start X refers to the starting x coordinate for the brackets delineating the dimension being marked.

Start Y refers to the starting y coordinate for the brackets delineating the dimension being marked.

End X refers to the ending x coordinate for the brackets delineating the dimension being marked.

End Y refers to the ending y coordinate for the brackets delineating the dimension being marked.

Length of the leader.

This parameter refers to the actual text being printed. Enter the label that you want to be displayed.

Dim Style is a set of styles within AutoCAD. You can find a list of available Dim Styles in the Dimension Style Manager.

Dim Style can only be used if you’re not using annotative scaling.

This parameter allows you to enter comments for the product. You can enter up to three comments, each separated by the pipe symbol (|).

This parameter refers to the name of the layer and the color codeseparated by a pipe symbol (|).

DRAWTEXT

The token allows users to add text based on the parameters.

This parameter marks the starting x coordinate for the line of text.

This parameter marks the starting y coordinate for the line of text.

This parameter determines the angle of the text.

The width is used in conjunction with the Start X parameter to determine text alignment (Parameter 7)(Will Convert to MTEXT and Wordwrap If Populated).

This parameter determines the actual text to be displayed.

Text Style refers to an AutoCAD text style. You can find a list of available text styles in the Text Style menu.

Text style will only be used if you’re not using annotative scaling.

To align text to the left of your established width, enter a ‘0’. Enter a ‘1’ to center align the text. Enter a ‘2’ to right-align the text.

Parameter 5 and 7 are both used for DRAWTEXT token options.  Parameter 5 is the new method that allows you to use a single parameter to control both AutoCAD and Report image options.  If Parameter 5 is populated in the token the program will first use it.  If it is not populated the program will use the legacy parameter, which is parameter 7. Even though some options are CAD only, they should still be populated with a value even if only using the report.

This parameter allows you to enter comments for the product. You can enter up to three comments, each separated by the pipe symbol (|).

This parameter refers to the name of the layer and the color code separated by a pipe symbol (|).

DRAWLEADER

This token will draw an arrow based on the parameters.

This parameter marks the x coordinate that will be pointed to by the arrow.

This parameter marks the y coordinate that will be pointed to by the arrow.

This parameter marks the x coordinate at the end of the leader.

This parameter marks the y coordinate at the end of the leader.

This parameter refers to the length of the arrowhead itself, as opposed to the length of the entire leader. The length of the leader is established using the start and endpoint parameters.

This parameter is referring to the width of the arrowhead itself.

This parameter allows you to enter comments for the product. You can enter up to three comments, each separated by the pipe symbol (|).

This parameter refers to the name of the layer and the color code separated by a pipe symbol (|).

DRAWBLOCK

This token will add an AutoCAD drawing file from the Graphics folder in the Microvellum Data suite of folders.

This parameter refers to the point on the x-axis where the AutoCAD drawing file will be inserted.

This parameter refers to the point on the y-axis where the AutoCAD drawing file will be inserted.

The entire file path must be entered in this parameter.

This parameter refers to the rotation of the block.

This parameter will change the size of the block. A value of 0.5 would make it twice as small, where a value of 2 should make it twice as large.

This parameter allows you to enter comments for the product. You can enter up to three comments, each separated by the pipe symbol (|).

This parameter refers to the name of the layer and the color code separated by a pipe symbol (|).

DRAWHATCH

This token will allow you to add a hatch pattern to the entity that immediately precedes it in the token list. It is only valid after used on an entity that is a circle or closed polyline.

If no entity precedes the DrawHatch token in the token list, it will not be applied.

This parameter refers to the hatch pattern itself. For a full list of hatch patterns, type “HatchEdit” into the command line and select an internal. Within the Hatch Edit window is a dropdown list of patterns available.

This parameter determines the angle of the hatch pattern.

This parameter will accept a number between zero and two.

This parameter allows you to enter comments for the product. You can enter up to three comments, each separated by the pipe symbol (|).

This parameter refers to the name of the layer and the color code separated by a pipe symbol (|).

For further information on Drawing Tokens and their function, visit one of these articles: Working in the Drawing Tokens Tab ,  Understanding Drawing Tokens ,  Prompt Drawing Token Tabs .