Running the PLMPrintBatch

You can use the PLMPrintBatch to print objects without running V6. These objects may be V6 or V5 files (such as .CATProduct, .CATPart documents, etc.), raster files (bmp, tiff, etc.), vector files (CGM, HPGL, HPGL2) and V4 models.

This task shows you how to:


Before you begin: Provided that you have a graphic board, the rendering style (i.e. Shading, Shading with Edges, etc.) can be taken into account when printing in batch mode.

Access the Batch Interface from the Command Line

You can run the CATUTIL command to access the PLMPrintBatch interface.

  1. Open an MS-DOS Window.

  2. Access the following folder:

    C:\Program Files\Dassault Systemes\Bn\intel_a\code\bin (where n is the current release number)

  3. Enter the command CATUTIL -Name PLMPrintBatch

The PLMPrintBatch opens.

Access the Batch Interface from the Batch Monitor

You can also access the print batch interface using the Batch Monitor in a V6 session. In that case, additional options are available to you.

  1. Access the Batch Monitor interface either from the command line, or from a V6 session.

  2. In the Batch Monitor window, double-click PLMPrintBatch from the list.

The PLMPrintBatch dialog box opens.

Define the Batch Parameters

Before running the PLMPrintBatch, you must define the parameters to be applied.

In this scenario, the batch interface has been accessed from the Batch Monitor:



Before you start, note that the printing parameters you define apply globally to all the objects to be printed, you cannot modify these parameters for each object individually.

  1. Select a printer using the list displayed next to Printer Name.

  2. Click Properties... to set up the printing parameters.

    Important:
    • The look of the dialog box changes according to the driver.
    • If the driver is provided by Dassault Systèmes, the Printer Properties dialog box is displayed.

  3. Optional: To print to a file, select the Print to file check box then enter a file name or click File Name....

  4. Depending on the location of the objects to be converted, click:

    • to search for objects stored in ENOVIA V6: see Infrastructure User's Guide: Infrastructure Tools: Running Batches: Running the DownwardCompatibility Batch: Searching for Objects.
    • to search for objects stored in other connectors (e.g. VPMV5, 3D XML, etc.) :



      In the Connect to Database dialog box, enter the required connection parameters (if necessary) then click OK to validate.

    Warning: Appropriate licenses are required to access objects in the provider you are connected to.

  5. Optional: If you are searching for objects stored in a database other than ENOVIA V6, click or if you are searching for file objects, click to access the dedicated search interface.

    For more information about how to search for file objects, see Infrastructure User's Guide: Infrastructure Tools: Running Batches: Running the DownwardCompatibility Batch: Searching for Files.

    The objects to be converted are listed in the batch window.

  6. Click Default Printing Parameters to define the parameters used by default for all printed documents:



  7. In the Printing Parameters dialog box, use the Layout tab to define the page orientation, the image size and position.

    Warning: When the Use image format option is selected, note that
    • For documents other than .CATDrawing or .model, the printer's default paper format is displayed in the Form Name box.
    • For .CATDrawing or .model documents, User is displayed in the Form Name box (with a warning for the dimensions) if the format is not supported by the printer or, the appropriate format with the corresponding dimensions is displayed if it is supported by the printer.
    • For documents other than a V4, V5 or V6 documents, the printer's default paper format is displayed in the Form Name box.
    • If you are in the default printing parameters, the printer's default paper format is always displayed in the Form Name box because no document is associated with these parameters.

  8. Use the Visualization tab to define the visualization mode to be used for printing.

  9. Optional: If you are printing CATDrawings, access the MultiDocuments tab to define sheet options.

  10. Click Save then browse your file tree to save your XML file in the desired location.

    Important: Running a batch printing using PrintBatch automatically generates a file named "PrintBatchParameters.xml" saved in a temporary folder by default. The generated XML file can then be manually edited to be used later on to run the batch directly without accessing the batch interface.

  11. Click Run.

    The selected documents are printed.

  12. In the Batch Monitor, access the Start tab.

    The name and location of the XML file containing the batch parameters you defined in the previous steps (as well as the name of the host computer if you run the batch in remote mode) are now displayed:

  13. Access the Processes tab then double-click the desired batch in the list.

    Information on the batch execution is displayed. See Infrastructure User's Guide: Infrastructure Tools: Running Batches: Running Batches Using the Batch Monitor for more information about this tab.

  14. Optional: Click Open HTML Report .

    An HTML version of the report is displayed.

    This button is activated only when a report has been generated.You can still visualize the report by opening the HTML file from the directory in which it has been saved.

  15. Click Close to close the window then Cancel to close the PLMPrintBatch.

  16. Select File > Exit to exit the Batch Monitor.

    Tip: When the batch has been run at least once, an XML file containing the batch parameters is generated. You can reuse these parameters next time you access the PLMPrintBatch by right-clicking it then selecting Read input from parameter file.... This opens a file selection dialog box which lets you navigate to the desired XML file. When finished, click OK to validate: the batch window is updated and displays the data contained in the parameter file.

  17. To read the reports generated by the batch execution, access the folder c:\temp\batchID.

    See Infrastructure User's Guide: Infrastructure Tools: Running Batches: Running Batches Using the Batch Monitor for more information about this tab.

Edit the XML File

You can define your print parameters directly in the XML file. This parameter file can be used later on to run the batch from the Batch Monitor capability or from the command line.

  1. Open the "PrintBatchParameters.xml" file using your favorite text editor:



  2. To modify the name of the printer to be used, indicate the new printer name in the <PRINT_OUTPUT_PRINTER> parameter:



  3. Optional: If you are printing CATDrawings, you can edit the sheet name and number in <PRINT_VISU_IMAGE_NAME> and <PRINT_VISU_IMAGE_NUM> respectively:



  4. Save your XML file.