The purpose of this article is to document the parameters of the Microvellum Flatshot Tokens available as of build 15.6. Elsewhere in the Microvellum Knowledge Base, you will find articles and tutorials giving an overview of the token, how to access their location and explanations on how to use them to produce dynamic product images and face frame images.

There is also an AutoCAD FLATSHOT command available in Toolbox that creates a flattened view of a 3D model. This subject is covered in a separate article.

The token list is part of this article and attached as a downloadable file in PDF format.

MICROVELLUM FLATSHOT DRAWING TOKEN

“Metafile Instruction” column or “Face Frame Drawing Instructions” column text

FLATSHOT*1[Elev View]

The token name is always FLATSHOT for this type of token.

The group ID symbol is always the asterisk or star character.

The group number should be the same for all token components that are to be grouped into the same dynamic picture produced by the program.

The comments are a sort of help text to identify the token, more quickly understood than interpreting the parameters for that token. They are not required.

Parameter 1 - FLATSHOT VIEW

Sets the view. Enter one of the following values to define the view. The value entered may be either the word “Top” or the number 1, etc.

1. Top or 1
   
2. Bottom or 2
   
3. Left or 3
   
4. Right or 4
   
5. Front or 5
   
6. Back or 6
   
7. SW or 7
   
8. SE or 8
   
9. NE or 9
   
10. NW or 10
    

Parameter 2 - OPTIONS

Each option must be separated by a semicolon.

1. First Option – Show Drilling: 1 is on, 0 is off – Default or no value will show drilling.
   
2. Second Option – Show Routing: 1 is on, 0 is off – Default or no value will show routing.
   
3. Third Option – Use Hidden view: 1 is on, and 0 is off – Default or no value will not use the hidden view.
   
4. Fourth Option – Parts Explode factor: Value between 0 to 1. The best is .1 - .9.
   
5. Fifth Option – Show Hardware: 1 is on, 0 is off – Default or no value will hide hardware.

Parameter 3 - OFFSET X and Y

Each value must be separated by a semicolon.

Since you can create multiple flatshot views for a single product, parameter 3 allows you to specify a distance in X and Y to offset this flatshot image.  All associated tokens of the same group number will be offset as well. This simplifies the use of multiple tokens as now you don’t need to do tedious calculations for the offset of each token, such as dimensions, etc.

Parameter 4 - MINIMUM BOUNDING BOX & MAXIMUM BOUNDING BOX POINT

Use a bounding box to display only part of the flatshot image. Enter the start coordinate of the desired bounding box, and the end coordinates in the format x,y,z;x,y,z. The minimum bounding box will be a point that will create the lower left front point of the cube.  The maximum bounding box will be the upper right rear point of the cube.  Only parts that fall within the cube will be part of the flatshot image.

Parameter 5 - USE DRAW INDEX

Four options separated by a semicolon in the format:  

Size;x;y;Text style

1. Size: The first value is the size of the numbers on the image.  A value of 0 turns OFF the numbers in the image. Otherwise, it will determine the size of the numbers drawn there. The larger the value, the larger the size of the numbers will be in the image.
   
2. X, Y: Second and third values are for placement of the parts list. Enter coordinate values in X and Y to define where the parts list should be drawn. (A value of 0 for X and Y will turn off the parts list).
   
3. Text style: The fourth value is the name of the text style you would want to use when drawing the product into a CAD drawing. If blank, the style will be determined by the program.
   

Option to process for CAD views only, for only processing, or both CAD and reports processing. 

No value or a value of 0 will be for both CAD and reports processing. A value of 1 will be for CAD only, and a value of 2 will be for processing only.

Parameter 7 - LAYER CONTROL

Enter one of the following:  a CAD layer name, a 3DPartLayer to use the 3D Draw Token Layer names, or leave the value blank, which will draw the CAD image on the zero layer.

Parameter 8 - KEYWORD PARTNAME FILTERING

Enter a list of keywords to include, separating each name with a comma.  Alternatively, enter a list of negative keywords to exclude (-Partname). For example, in the list “Base Stile,Base Rail,Rail Mid,Stile Mid,-Side” all parts would be included except the Side because it contains the minus sign.

Parameter 9

Not currently used.

Microvellum flatshot tokens do not currently support dynamic product image dimensioning.

Additional Information for Advanced User When Configuring Reports

The images produced by the Flatshot tokens are populated to the work order database FaceFrameImages table and are available for use in reports. The images are differentiated by two fields in that table. One is the “Name” field and the other is the “Type” field.  The Name field contains the named view of the product or face frame unit. The Type field contains the type of view of the product or face frame unit. These two fields are commonly used in report filters to limit the type of picture that is displayed in the report.

Here is a list of the Type data and what it represents and is slightly different than the Flatshot View parameter data above.

1. 1 = Top
   
2. 2 = Bottom
   
3. 3 = Left
   
4. 4 = Right
   
5. 5 = Front
   
6. 6 = Back
   
7. 7 = SW Isometric
   
8. 8 = SE Isometric
   
9. 9 = NE Isometric
   
10. 10 = NW Isometric
    

(Types 1 – 10 are taken from the “Metafile Instructions” column.)

11. 11 = Face Frame Image
    

(Type 11 is taken from the “Face Frame Drawing Instructions” column.)

Parts that are to be included in the dynamic product image produced for the report must have the drawing token DRAW3DBOX present in the row for that part, in the column “3D Draw Token.” Only parts having this 3D token will be included.

If you have extra parts in your dynamic product report images as displayed in red in the following screenshot, make sure those parts do not have the DRAW3DBOX in the column 3D Draw Token. 

In the example: “DRAW3DBOX OpenCabinetInterior,” the text string following the token name DRAW3DBOX is the AutoCAD layer on which the part will be drawn.

Additional Information About the Data Contained in the Database Field FaceFrameImages.Name

If the Flatshot Token is being applied to the product using the Metafile Instructions column of the product prompts as shown below, the Name field data corresponds to the Group Number and Comments fields described in the flatshot key at the beginning of this article. In this case, the Type field data will be any of the supported values, except eleven (11).

Spreadsheet, product prompts worksheet:

Work order database, FaceFrameImages table for dynamic product image records:

Records in the Face Frame Images table that contain a Type of eleven (11) define an image for a face frame unit, as shown below.

Spreadsheet, face frame subassembly prompts worksheet:

Work order database, FaceFrameImages table for face frame component image records:

In the Microvellum shipping data, as you can see in the database screenshot above, the face frame components are grouped with a 1 or a 10 for the front face frame unit – with a 1 indicating the front view of the front face frame, and 10 indicating the rear view of the front face frame.

The face frame parts are grouped with a 2 or a 20 for the left side face frame – with a 2 indicating the front view of the left face frame, and 20 indicating the rear view of the left face frame.

The face frame parts are grouped with a 3 or a 30 for the right side face frame – with a 3 indicating the front view of the right face frame, and 30 indicating the rear view of the right face frame.

The face frame parts are grouped with a 4 or a 40 for the backside face frame – with a 4 indicating the front view of the rear face frame, and a 40 indicating the rear view of the backside face frame.

See the graphic below and group the components into the same dynamic picture accordingly.

Verifying Microvellum Flatshot Data in AutoCAD

As you develop and test your flatshot data, you may want to verify the data during the development process instead of waiting until the end. Instead of verifying the individual flatshot images in a WMF viewer or a report, you may use AutoCAD to draw several views of a selected product quickly.

These views include a plan view, elevation view, section view, southwest isometric view, and an exploded view of the product. These are drawn within a title block frame in model space.

The command to draw these views is located at Draw > 2D Drawings > Draw Dynamic Product Image. Select the product to draw and then a location in your drawing to place the two drawings.

Additional Notes

The table FaceFrameImages is linked to the Parts table through the linking table FaceFrameImagesParts. It is linked to the Subassemblies table through the linking table FaceFrameImagesSubassemblies. A discussion of the method of using these tables in reports is outside the scope of this article.

You must select the option “Process Flatshot Tokens” on the Processing Center interface to display the dynamic product images on reports and labels.

Product libraries with a version number of 045 or newer contain flatshot token data, with each successive version refining the token data.