LXPlan
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Inspector
Menus
-File
-Edit
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Help Index
New
Open
Open URL
Recent
Close
Save/Save As
Export
Import
Print
Exit
File Menu
The File menu contains standard controls for opening and saving document files. The File menu also contains commands that allow you to exchange data with other applications.
LXPlan's main window shows the contents of a single plot file. at a time. Opening or creating a new file replaces the contents of the window. On most operating systems, it is possible to run more than one instance of LXPlan. This means that you can have more than one plot window open at a time.
When you choose New, a new blank plot is created and it replaces the window's current plot. The operating system's Page Setup dialog is used to make the size of the new plot equal to one printed page.
Open allows you to read a .lxxplot file stored on disk. The current contents of the window are replaced by the opened plot document.
The Open URL... command will open an .lxxplot file from a network location such as a web server or another computer running LXPlan using the Share on Network feature (see below).
The Recent menu gives you quick access to the last plots that you have opened.
LXPlan plots are stored in an XML based file format with an .lxxplot extension.
Graphic File
The contents of the plot window can be exported as an image file in any graphic format that the operating system implementation of Java supports. The default is to exports as .jpg. However, most operating systems can handle .tif and .png files as well as other formats.
The Export->Graphic File... command uses the open source PDFBox library to save the contents of the plot window as a .pdf file.
DXF
The Export->DXF... command allows export of the plot as an AutoCAD dxf file.
File for EOS
The Export->File for EOS... command allows export of the plot either patch data or a magic sheet depending on the choice selected after the command is chosen.
The channel/patch export saves a .txt file that can be imported using EOS' File->Import->Lightwright in the main console information area. After the file is imported, use the Map Devices button to associate the fixture types from LXSeries with their equivalent in EOS.
The magic sheet export choices all save an .xml file that can be imported into an EOS magic sheet. Light symbols can also be exported into a Symbols folder that must be placed in a location where it can be accessed by EOS. When LXSeries symbols are used, the magic sheet .xml file references the path to files contained in the Symbols folder. The magic sheet will not display symbols from LXSeries if the exported Symbols folder is moved after export. It is also possible to export a magic sheet that selects from the standard graphics built into EOS as substitutes for the light symbols in the plot. The path to these symbols is also fixed and is different for EOS Nomad running on MacOS.
Collada (DAE)
The Export->Collada (DAE) allows export of 3D objects and settings in the Collada exchange format that can be used with applications such as Blender or SketchUp.
Share on Network
The Share on Network command starts a HTTP sharing service that allows you to view the main plot and report windows using a web browser.
When you first start this sharing service, an alert is displayed with its network port. The network port that is either set in the options' export tab or is chosen by the operating system.
You can enter the IP address of the computer follwed by a colon and this port (http://aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd:port) to access the network sharing service via internet. Plot windows are displayed as JPGs and report windows are displayed in HTML.
To open a plot over the network on another computer using Open URL, use a url of the form: http://aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd:port/plot.lxxplot where aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd is the IP address of the host and "port" is the port number of the sharing service.
Import Light Data
The Light Data import command reads a tab delimited text file. The first line of the file must contain tab separated column headings. Subsequent lines should contain tab seperated data fields. Each line is interpreted by looking for a light in the plot that matches the "Position" and "#" fields. The remaining columns are then used to set that light's info fields.
Import DXF
DXF import will read basic DXF entities into layers in the current plot from an ascii DXF file. Arc, circle, line and polyline elements are imported. Text and ellipse are partially supported. Blocks of these entities are read in as groups. Import DXF may change the size of the plot so that all imported entities are visible.
When printing a plot, you are first asked for the page setup (paper size, etc.) to use. Then you will get to the operating system's print dialog.
The Close and Exit commands terminate the LXPlan application. The window size and location is saved along with any changes to the user options so that they can be restored the next time you run the application.