An Area iiPDF Template specifies which layout and other (embedded) iiPDF templates to include in the final Area iiPDF output. This topic explains the feature in detail through the use case scenario of creating a new Area iiPDF Template. An Area iiPDF Template is created using the Area iiPDF Configuration dialog, which lists all available templates by name and owner in a paginated grid, along with action buttons for sharing, editing, removing and creating a new template. As mentioned in the parent topic, multiple Area iiPDF Templates can be created, but only one can be selected when running an Area iiPDF export operation.
Clicking on the + Action button opens a new dialog for a specifying a new template, with all parameters set to blank or default values:
Note: In addition to the blank / default field values, the creation mode of this dialog is indicated by the blue Creation label next to the title.
The following is a step-by-step explanation of creating an Area Template. Each step is focused on specifying export parameters inside a single accordion group, which groups similar parameters together.
Specify basic Template information
The upper part of the dialog (not under any accordion group) enables specifying:
the template Name (mandatory) in the Name text box and
the Export Format from the drop down menu
sharing information by checking / un-checking id the Template is Private or Shared by setting the Is Public? checkbox, and finally
set additional PDF page properties by clicking on the Set PDF Information (only if PDF format is selected, for the other, .dxf format, the button is disabled).
The screenshot below shows most of the properties specified, while a dedicated sub-topic covers details of PDF information.
The Scale group enables specifying the scale for fitting the resulting output content with respect to the page size. For this example, the default (last) option is selected, which will scale the Area content to fit on a single page.
The following is an explanation of each available Scale option displayed above:
Scale Option
Description
Fixed At
This allows an exact scale to be set for the page output,
e.g.Site Distance = 50 to Paper Distance = 1
is a scale of 50:1 and equates to 50 inches in the Area = 1inch on the page. The number of pages required to fit to this scale is automatically calculated.
To Fit # Pages Horizontally
Defines the number of pages horizontally across which the Area is output is split. The number of Vertical pages will be automatically calculated.
To Fit # Pages Vertically
Defines the number of pages vertically across which the Area is output is split. The number of Horizontal pages required will be automatically calculated.
To Fit on One Page
This is the default and most commonly used option, which will scale the Area content to fit on a single page.
Finally, the Total page computation group displays calculated values of the number of vertical, horizontal and total page numbers.
and / or a Data Export template for each Super Category
The first option is useful in cases where the Area targeted for export contains Elevation Equipment, because checking this option will generate the associated Rack Elevation layouts as an embedded iiPDF attachment. For example, the user may define and select a (Rack) Elevation template to use when embedding the rack layout into the primary Area iiPDF.
The second option is used to embed Data Export files associated with the objects in the Area being exported. Checking the Include Data Export Templates checkbox enables specifying multiple Super Categories to include in the output, along with their associated Data Export template. Once a Super Category is selected (by clicking on the checkbox next to its name), a specific Data Export template needs to be selected from the dropdown menu, which will define the column data to be included in the embed Data Export file for that Super Category.
IMPORTANT: Any Analytics active in the Area selected for export are included in the active View and will implicitly be included in the exported output data.
Note that the Result Blink Rate and Result Pulse Rate options are not used, as .PDF format doesn't support those features. Also, Highlights and Grid can be manually included / excluded from the export in the Options section, as described in Step 4.
