The TEXT command is used to add text to a library element or drawing. When entering several texts it is not necessary to invoke the command each time, as the text command remains active after placing text with the mouse.
Orientation
The orientation of the text may be defined by the TEXT command (orientation) using the usual definitions as listed in the ADD command (R0, R90 etc.). The right mouse button will change the rotation of the text and the center mouse button will change the current layer.
Text is always displayed so that it can be read from in front or from the right - even if rotated. Therefore after every two rotations it appears the same way, but the origin has moved from the lower left to the upper right corner. Remember this if a text appears to be unselectable.
If you want to have text that is printed "upside down", you can set the "Spin" flag for that text.
Special Characters
If the text contains several succeeding blanks or a semicolon, the whole string has to be enclosed in single quotes. If the text contains single quotes then each one itself has to be enclosed in single quotes. If apostrophes are required in the text, each must be enclosed in single quotes.
Key Words
If the TEXT command is active and you want to type in a text that contains a string that can be mistaken for a command (e.g. "red" for "REDO") then this string has to be enclosed in single quotes.
Text Height
The height of characters and the line width can be changed with the CHANGE commands:
CHANGE SIZE text_size *.. CHANGE RATIO ratio *..Maximum text height: 2 inches
Text Font
Texts can have three different fonts:
| Vector | the program's internal vector font |
| Proportional | a proportional pixel font (usually 'Helvetica') |
| Fixed | a monospaced pixel font (usually 'Courier') |
The text font can be changed with the CHANGE command:
CHANGE FONT VECTOR|PROPORTIONAL|FIXED *..The program makes great efforts to output texts with fonts other than Vector as good as possible. However, since the actual font is drawn by the system's graphics interface, Proportional and Fixed fonts may be output with different sizes and/or lengths.
If you set the option "Always vector font" in the user interface dialog,
all texts will always be displayed and printed using the builtin vector font.
This option is useful if the system doesn't display the other fonts correctly.
When creating a new board or schematic, the current setting of this option is stored in the
drawing file. This makes sure that the drawing will be printed with the correct
setting if it is transferred to somebody else who has a different setting of
this option.
You can use the SET VECTOR_FONT ON|OFF command
to change the setting in an existing board or schematic drawing.
When creating output files with the CAM Processor, texts will always be drawn with Vector font. Other fonts are not supported.
If a text with a font other than Vector is subtracted from a signal polygon, only the surrounding rectangle is subtracted. Due to the above mentioned possible size/length problems, the actually printed font may exceed that rectangle. Therefore, if you need to subtract a text from a signal polygon it is recommended that you use the Vector font.
The Ratio parameter has no meaning for texts with fonts other than Vector.
Character Sets
Only the characters with ASCII codes below 128 are guaranteed to be printed correctly. Any characters above this may be system dependent and may yield different results with the various fonts.
Text Variables
| >NAME | Component name (ev.+gate name) 1) |
| >VALUE | Comp. value/type 1) |
| >PART | Component name 2) |
| >GATE | Gate name 2) |
| >DRAWING_NAME | Drawing name |
| >LAST_DATE_TIME | Time of the last modification |
| >PLOT_DATE_TIME | Time of the plot creation |
| >SHEET | Sheet number of schematic 3) |
1) Only for package or symbol
2) Only for symbol
3) Only for symbol or schematic
| Index | Copyright © 2005 CadSoft Computer GmbH |