Internal Document Links

Internal Document Links let you jump to a sheet or to a region on a sheet in a PDF document. Links cannot jump from one PDF document to another. Before a link can work, you must define a marker. A marker defines a sheet or a rectangular region in a drawing sheet. Internal Document Links jump to the sheet or region defined by the marker. A special marker is created for each sheet in the document. This marker is named using the sheet_name keyword.

Markers need not reside on the same sheet as the link; it may reside in another sheet in the same PDF document. In a typical engineering drawing, the detailed sections may be in a separate sheet. Linking ties or binds separate drawing sheets together in the PDF document or plan set.

When you move the mouse over a link, the cursor changes from an arrow to a finger. The viewer may not be able to detect a mouse over if you move the mouse too quickly. Clicking on the link causes the viewer to display the region defined by the marker fit-adjusted by the zoom_percentage value. No attempts are made to verify the validity of the marker. This may result in a dangling or unresolved link.

For all links, you should set the action_item keyword to link. The action_name keyword specifies a unique name to identify the link. When you create an Internal Document Link, you must set the action_type keyword to document. The action_spec keyword specifies the marker name (sheet_name.marker_name).

The following table displays the required/default values for the action keywords when you create an Inter-Document link.

Example:

! Create a Link to a Marker,and a Bookmark to the link.
if (type .eq. text) then
 if (characters .eq. "STEP DETAIL") then
    action_item = link 	
    action_name = "steps"	
    action_type = DOCUMENT
    action_spec = "AR2.steps"	!(sheet_name.marker_name)
 endif
endif
! Create a Marker region using a cell
if ( cellname eq "steps" ) then
   action_item = marker
   action_name = cellname
   action_type = destination
   action_range = CELL_RANGE
   zoom_percentage = 140 	!Zoom 140 percent

! Create a bookmark to navigate to this location
   action_item = bookmark
   action_name = "Step Link"
   action_type = AREA_OF_INTEREST
   action_spec = "./Details Link"
endif

   

The design script example above creates the following link and bookmark.

Markers

A marker defines a rectangular region in a drawing sheet. Internal Document Links jump to the region defined by the marker. A special marker is created for each sheet in the document. This marker is named using the sheet_name keyword. For markers, you should set the action_item keyword to marker.

The action_name keyword specifies a unique name for the marker. The software prepends the sheet name to the marker name. The fully qualified marker name is sheet_name.marker_name. The link must use the fully qualified marker name as its destination. When you create a marker, you must set the action_type keyword to destination.

The zoom_percentage keyword scales the rectangular region of the marker item. This enables you to control how much of the marker’s surrounding region is displayed when you click a link.

The following table displays the required/default values for the action keywords when you create a marker.

Example:

! Create a Marker, an Inter-Document Link, and a Bookmark to the link.
!
! Create a Marker region using a cell
if ( cellname eq "steps" ) then
   action_item = marker 	
   action_name = cellname 	
   action_type = destination
   action_range = CELL_RANGE
   zoom_percentage = 140 !Zoom 140 percent
endif
if (type eq text) then
 if (characters eq "STEP DETAIL") then
! Create a document link
    action_item = link
    action_name = "steps"	!Name or ID
    action_type = DOCUMENT	
! Use an explicit marker name (i.e. sheet_name.marker_name)
    action_spec = "cb3.steps"	! where it should link to

! Create a bookmark to navigate to this location
    action_item = bookmark
    action_name = "Step Link"
    action_type = AREA_OF_INTEREST
    action_spec = "./Details Link"
 endif
endif

Web URL Links

Web URL Links let you create links that jump to a Web page. This feature is useful when linking sections of the sheet to information stored in a managed environment like ProjectWise.

For all links, you should set the action_item keyword to link. The action_name keyword specifies a unique name to identify the link. When you create an Web URL Link, you must set the action_type keyword to web_url. The action_spec keyword specifies the URL address.

The following table displays the required/default values for the action keywords when you create a Web link.

Example:

! Create a Web URL Link and a Bookmark to this link.
!
if (characters eq "COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA") then
   action_item = link 
   action_name = "penndot"	
   action_type = web_url
   action_spec = "http://www.dot.state.pa.us/"
 
   action_item = bookmark
   action_name = "PENNDOT LINK"
   action_spec = "./weblinks"
endif

The design script example above creates the following WEB URL link and bookmark.