I’m using Ursula to print certain reports to pdf files when running individual processes, which works quite well.
However, I’m experiencing issues when trying to parameterize the report printing as each .plb has a running number behind it (_070) in the code excerpt below.
As such, I need to know the number before I print.
Is there any way to tell ursula to print the latest generated plb file?
Furthermore, SOFiSTiKs print to pdf is extremely storage heavy. If I use e.g. bluebeam to print instead, the file size decreases to about 1/3.
This however poses a new issue as Bluebeam requires a filename to save the print.
Why do you want to export the latest generated .plb file?
I’m assuming you are working with the SSD and want to export the .plb after every single task?
Since the task number is fixed in an SSD project, you only need to select the number once in a project.
As far as I know, a parametric path definition is not possible.
As for your second problem, it is not possible to give the external program a path name. The -printto command is used to print a file with a printer. Perhaps you can define a standard filename within the Bluebeam program or you can use a different PDF printer.
Best regards
Frederik Höller
Your SOFiSTiK Support Team
I don’t necessarily need to export every single task, but I’m using the reports as appendices in reports, so instead of manually having to click my way around the report viewer to print to pdf, it would be easier if a single piece of code could provide a decent sized report in pdf format.
But if the _xxx number suffix is constant after the initial run I guess that is parametric enough.
Regarding bluebeam, my inquiry was more regarding if it is possible to reduce the file size of SOFiSTiKs own export function to match the filesize of bluebeam.
Yes, the suffix is constant throughout the project.
Why don’t you open all of the report files at once? This way you only have to export the report once.
Home > Report > All Reports
The built in PDF export is not very efficient. As far as I know, it won’t be improved any more. If you have a more advanced program for PDF export, use it .
Okay thanks for the confirmation
The only issue with using an external pdf printer is naming of the files.
I’ve been trying to save environment variables for cmd in order to define a name inside SSD which I can then use in the external program, but I can’t seem to get the hang of the definition syntax, as per the basic manual chapters 9-11.
I’ve tried:
+sys cmd set name=my_file_name
as well as the
#DEFINE name=my_file_name
Using the +sys cmd command, SSD just locks up with the following message *** System Command: C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe, and I have to terminate the process in order to move on.
Using the #DEFINE command I can’t retrieve the variable afterwards in CMD.
So, how do I define an environment variable in SSD which I can use in external programs?
It is not possible to add a file name to the “printto” command. The command is created to print a file to a printer and does not require a file name for this operation.
No, I’m aware of that, but I’ve created an external program to interact with my printer.
I just need to be able to define an environment variable in SSD for my external program to read and then feed to my printer.
.