Customize print file names

You can affect the way Tekla Structures automatically names the .pdf files, plot files, and DWG/DXF/DGN files by using certain drawing-type-specific advanced options.

On the File menu, click Settings > Advanced options and go to the Printing category.
Enter values for any or all advanced options XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_A, XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_W, XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_G, XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_M, or XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_C, depending on the print file drawing type.

The letter at the end of the advanced option indicates the drawing type. Use single % around the values. See the table below for available values. You can combine several values. The values are not case sensitive.
Click OK.

Example:

The example below results in the assembly drawing .pdf name E_P1_PLATE_Revision=2.pdf:

XS_DRAWING_PLOT_FILE_NAME_A=E_%NAME.%_%TITLE%%REV?_Revision=%%REV%.pdf

Possible values


Value	Example of the result in the print file name	Description
`%NAME%` `%DRAWING_NAME%`	P_1	Part, assembly, or cast unit position, using the file name format `prefix_number`.
`%NAME.-%` `%DRAWING_NAME.-%`	P-1	Part, assembly, or cast unit position, using the file name format `prefix-number`.
`%NAME.%` `%DRAWING_NAME.%`	P1	Part, assembly, or cast unit position, using the file name format `prefixnumber`.
`%REV%` `%REVISION%` `%DRAWING_REVISION%`	2	Drawing revision number.
`%REV_MARK%` `%REVISION_MARK%` `%DRAWING_REVISION_MARK%`	B	Drawing revision mark.
`%TITLE%` `%DRAWING_TITLE%`	PLATE	Drawing name from the drawing properties dialog.
`%UDA:<drawing user-defined attribute>%`	Painted	Value of a user-defined drawing attribute. The user-defined drawing attributes are defined in objects.inp. The actual values for the user-defined attributes are entered in the drawing-specific user-defined attributes dialog.
`%REV? - <text>%`	2 - Rev	Adds conditional prefixes. In this example, if `REV` exists, Tekla Structures adds the text between ? and % to the file name. The question mark (?) can be used for querying if a `<variable>` is set, and if it is not set, the `<text>` after the question mark until the last % will be printed.
`%TPL:<template attribute>%`	Base plate	You can use template attributes that can be found in Template Editor. The actual values for these attributes are entered in the drawing properties dialog. Examples: `%TPL:TITLE1%` `%TPL:TITLE2%` `%TPL:TITLE3%` `%TPL:DR_DEFAULT_HOLE_SIZE%` `%TPL:DATE%` `%TPL:TIME%` `%TPL:DR_DEFAULT_WELD_SIZE%`

Note:

The print file name switches %DRAWING_NAME% and %NAME% should produce an underscore in the print file name (P_1). These switches do not work in the following cases:

If the advanced option XS_ASSEMBLY_POSITION_NUMBER_FORMAT_STRING does not specify a separator between the parts of the value. For example, the value %ASSEMBLY_PREFIX%%ASSEMBLY_POS% does not have a separator, but the value %ASSEMBLY_PREFIX%.%ASSEMBLY_POS% has.
If the advanced option XS_USE_ASSEMBLY_NUMBER_FOR is set to a value.

To make the print file name switches %DRAWING_NAME% and %NAME% work, do the following:

Use a dot (.) slash (/) or hyphen (-) between the XS_ASSEMBLY_POSITION_NUMBER_FORMAT_STRING values, for example, %ASSEMBLY_PREFIX%.%ASSEMBLY_POS%, or similar.
Leave XS_USE_ASSEMBLY_NUMBER_FOR empty.

Note:

When you define a switch in the Advanced options dialog, you only use single percent signs around the switch %xxx%. When you define a switch for an advanced option in an .ini file, you need to use double percent signs around the switch %%xxx%%. For example, type %%BOLT_NUMBER%%*D%%HOLE.DIAMETER%% for the advanced option XS_BOLT_MARK_STRING_FOR_SIZE when you define it in an .ini file.