Rules

PTC Arbortext Layout Developer rules around objects can have rounded corners. You specify the corners that are to be rounded and the radius of the rounding. Positive and negative rounding values can be used to give some interesting results.

PTC ALD source code edits will give access to rounded corners on blocks and frames.

Refer to Stylesheet Developer’s Guide to APP Code for samples of how to draw rules with rounded corners.

PTC Arbortext Layout Developer's rule functionality allows you to create your own rule patterns. You can combine pre-existing pattern components to create your own, and even create your own pattern components (marks) if a highly customized rule pattern is required.

The rule patterns and their components can use any PTC Arbortext Layout Developer color (see above).

PTC Arbortext Layout Developer will try to justify the pattern over the area it is being drawn. It does this by allocating a stretch factor to the pattern components. For dot and dash type patterns, the space between marks can be stretched.

In addition to the simple pattern, a rule can have a start and end pattern which includes arrowheads and other terminal marks. As with pattern components, custom versions of these can be made.

PTC ALD source code edits will allow you to set the rule pattern on underline, strikethrough, blocks, and page regions.

Refer to Stylesheet Developer’s Guide to APP Code for samples of how to draw rules based on patterned line styles.

Each one of these objects can have up to 20 rules applied with PTC Arbortext Layout Developer:

It is possible to assign a color of none to rules in order to provide an offset. Rules with a positive value push inwards on the object, negative values push outwards.

PTC ALD source code edits allow you to set additional rules on blocks and regions.

Refer to Stylesheet Developer’s Guide to APP Code for samples of how to draw multiple rules.

Note that rules on tables are only accessible by customizing the PTC ALD tables library provided with Arbortext Styler.

PTC Arbortext Layout Developer uses a feature called accolades to draw complex rules in the margin.

Accolades are drawn between a start and an end position. Their horizontal start or end position can be either absolute or relative to page, frame, column, or current text margin. Their vertical start or end position can be either absolute or relative to page, frame, column, text, table, table column, or the edge of the text. The exact position allows interesting effects, such as linking arrows, to be created between two pieces of text.

Accolade start and end positions are not constrained to the logical structure of content. It is possible to start an accolade at one level in the content hierarchy and end it at another.

• When using graphical rule type accolades, background colors can be applied. Up to 8 graphical rules can be applied to an accolade.

• Characters such as parentheses, braces, and brackets can form the accolade. These objects can be positioned to the left or the right of the text.

• A new option allows the side on which an accolade is drawn to remain on the inside or outside of a page.

• Accolades can be drawn behind text, but on top of other rules and background, or on top of all text and backgrounds.

• The accolade draw mode can be configured to only draw the accolade if a certain amount of content has been output between its start and end point. Other conditions can also be used to dictate whether the accolade appears.

Create accolades in an PTC ALD template and associate it with your .style stylesheet. You may be able to achieve the same effect with PTC ALD source code edits but you may need assistance from GSO or an PTC ALD partner.