Default Attributes

Attributes may be defined as they are needed, or they may be selected from a default set of attributes defined in a file named MAPPLOT.AAT. (the INIT command can be used to select a different default attribute table). When MAPPLOT starts up, the system path is searched for the default AAT file. If this is found, then the attributes it contains are defined for use in the control file being processed. These attributes may be re-defined or overridden by attribute definitions in the control file. The output attribute file will contain all the default attributes from MAPPLOT.AAT, plus any new attributes defined in the control file.

The MAPPLOT.AAT is an ASCII file with the same format as produced by the PLATT program. It may be modified using a text file editor. The following are the default attributes supplied with MAPPLOT.

The default attributes use the names "1", "2", etc. in order to be compatible with the use of pen numbers in older versions of the software. Attributes "1" to "4" are black lines at increasing thickness, and attributes "5" to "10" are primary colours Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow respectively.

The columns are defined as follows:

Label_field	Attribute label consisting of up to 15 characters (no spaces). The label is used to specify the attribute in the control file.
lb lc lm ly	Black, cyan, magenta and yellow colour intensities (integer values between 0 and 255) that define the colour.
thk	Line thickness in microns
sty	Line style
ptc	Line pitch in millimetres
fb fc fm fy	Black, cyan, magenta and yellow colour intensities (between 0 and 255) that define the fill colour for polygonal features and filled symbols
ht wd sp sl	Text height, width and spacing in millimetres, and slant in degrees from vertical.
font	Text font