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SetPlotDeviceNames

Short description

πŸ–¨οΈ SetPlotDeviceNames is an AutoCAD/Civil 3D AutoLISP DCL manager for batch editing layout plot devices, page setups, paper sizes, viewport locks, annotation visibility, and zoom settings.
πŸ“ It provides filtered layout selection, synchronized columns, per-column horizontal scrolling, and apply tools for production plotting workflows.

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Command:

πŸš€ Main command: SetPlotDeviceNames
πŸ” Layout filter: supports * and ? wildcard filtering.
πŸ–¨οΈ Apply actions: Apply Device, Apply PageSetup, Apply Paper.
πŸ”’ Viewport tools: Lock, Unlock, AnnON, AnnOFF, Zoom Extents, Zoom Window.

Description:

πŸ–¨οΈ SetPlotDeviceNames is an SEO-friendly AutoCAD layout plotting utility for managing plot device names, page setups, canonical media names, and paper sizes from one DCL interface.
πŸ“Š The dialog shows synchronized layout columns for Name, Plot Device, Page Setup, Paper Size, Lock, Anno, and Zoom, with compact column widths and horizontal sliders for long values.
πŸ” Users can filter layout names using wildcard patterns, include or exclude Model in the list/apply scope, and choose between selected rows or all displayed rows.
πŸ“ The tool can batch-apply plot devices, page setups, and paper sizes to selected layouts, while also managing paper-space viewport lock state and annotation visibility.
🧭 Zoom tools let the user apply Zoom Extents or pick a Zoom Window for layout viewports, with zoom state persisted through a named-object dictionary record.

Helper function: (if any)​

🧩 spdn:filter-layouts builds the working layout list from the current drawing and wildcard filter.
🧩 spdn:fill-device-popup, spdn:fill-pagesetup-popup, and spdn:fill-paper-popup populate the DCL dropdown controls.
🧩 spdn:apply-device-to-layouts and spdn:apply-paper-to-layouts perform the batch plotting updates.
🧩 spdn:set-locked-for-layouts changes paper-space viewport lock states.
🧩 spdn:set-anno manages ANNOALLVISIBLE behavior per selected layouts.
🧩 spdn:zoom-layout-viewports, spdn:do-zoom-extents, and spdn:do-zoom-window-execute handle viewport zoom actions.
🧩 spdn:ensure-nod-dict and xrecords store persistent zoom-state flags in the drawing database.

Functionalities:

βœ… List layouts with plot device, page setup, paper size, viewport lock, annotation, and zoom status.
βœ… Filter layouts with * and ? wildcard support.
βœ… Select all, select none, selected scope, or all displayed scope.
βœ… Apply plot device changes to selected layouts.
βœ… Apply existing page setups to layouts.
βœ… Apply compatible paper/media names from the selected plot device.
βœ… Lock or unlock paper-space viewports in selected layouts.
βœ… Toggle annotation visibility and run Zoom Extents or Zoom Window viewport tools.

Result:

🎯 Layout plotting settings can be cleaned and standardized faster across many sheets.
πŸ–¨οΈ Plot device, page setup, and paper-size mismatches become easier to find and correct.
πŸ”’ Viewport lock, annotation, and zoom preparation are handled in the same production dialog.

Images, animations etc.

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XAML code:

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<Bold>Function Syntax: SetPlotDeviceNames</Bold>
<LineBreak/>
<Bold>Version: 1 Date: 17.10.2025</Bold>
<Bold>Version: 2 Date: 01.01.2026</Bold>
<LineBreak/>
<Hyperlink>AI+https://www.cadtutor.net/forum/topic/17353-change-printer/</Hyperlink>
<Hyperlink>AI+https://www.cadtutor.net/forum/topic/17353-change-printer/</Hyperlink>
<LineBreak/>
<Bold>Title</Bold><LineBreak/>
SetPlotDeviceNames LISP for AutoCAD layouts and plotting management<LineBreak/>
<Bold>Description</Bold><LineBreak/>
This program opens a dialog that lets the user review and batch-edit plotting settings per layout, plus viewport lock, annotation visibility, and viewport zoom operations, while keeping layout selection synchronized across columns.<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Red>How it is started</Red></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Red>Command:</Red> <Bold><DarkRed>SetPlotDeviceNames</DarkRed></Bold><LineBreak/>
The user runs <Bold><DarkRed>SetPlotDeviceNames</DarkRed></Bold> at the AutoCAD command line to open the dialog interface.<LineBreak/>
<Bold>What the user does</Bold><LineBreak/>
β€’ The user reviews a table of layouts showing <Bold>Layout Name</Bold>, <Bold>Plot Device</Bold>, <Bold>Page Setup</Bold>, <Bold>Paper Size</Bold>, plus status columns for <Bold>Lock</Bold>, <Bold>Anno</Bold>, and <Bold>Zoom</Bold>.<LineBreak/>
β€’ The user filters layouts by a wildcard filter and chooses a scope: <Bold>Selected</Bold> or <Bold>All displayed</Bold>.<LineBreak/>
β€’ The user optionally includes or excludes <Bold>Model</Bold> from the list and from apply operations.<LineBreak/>
β€’ The user applies changes to the chosen scope using dedicated buttons for device, page setup, and paper size.<LineBreak/>
β€’ The user can also run viewport utility actions (lock, annotation visibility, zoom tools) for the chosen scope.<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Red>Key interface behaviors</Red></Bold><LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>Multi-column synchronized selection</Bold> meaning selecting rows in any list aligns the same rows in every other list.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>Horizontal scrolling per column</Bold> meaning each of the four main text columns has its own slider that shifts the visible substring left or right without changing the underlying values.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>Selected full readouts</Bold> show the complete <Bold>Name</Bold> and complete <Bold>Paper</Bold> for the first selected layout.<LineBreak/>
<Bold><DarkRed>Filtering and scope</DarkRed></Bold><LineBreak/>
β€’ Filter supports wildcard patterns such as star and question mark.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>Include Model in list</Bold> controls whether the Model tab appears in the layouts list.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>Selected</Bold> scope applies changes only to the currently selected rows.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>All displayed</Bold> scope applies changes to every layout currently shown after filtering.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>Include Model in apply</Bold> controls whether apply operations are allowed to target the Model tab.<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Red>Functionalities</Red></Bold><LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>Apply Plot Device</Bold> changes the plotter configuration name for each targeted layout and refreshes plot device information.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>Apply Page Setup</Bold> copies a named page setup into each targeted layout, or clears the page setup when the user selects <Bold>none</Bold>.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>Apply Paper Size</Bold> sets the canonical media name based on the selected device and chosen paper display name.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold><DarkRed>Lock</DarkRed></Bold> sets all non-overall paper-space viewports in each targeted layout to <Bold>locked</Bold>.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold><DarkRed>Unlock</DarkRed></Bold> sets all non-overall paper-space viewports in each targeted layout to <Bold>unlocked</Bold>.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold><DarkRed>AnnON</DarkRed></Bold> sets <Bold>ANNOALLVISIBLE</Bold> to on for each targeted paper-space layout.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold><DarkRed>AnnOFF</DarkRed></Bold> sets <Bold>ANNOALLVISIBLE</Bold> to off for each targeted paper-space layout.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold><DarkRed>Zoom Extents</DarkRed></Bold> activates each layout, enters viewport context, zooms extents in each viewport, then marks that layout as having an extents zoom state for display purposes.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold><DarkRed>Zoom Window</DarkRed></Bold> prompts the user to pick two corners in a viewport on the first targeted layout, then applies the same zoom window to viewports in all targeted layouts without setting an extents zoom flag.<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Red>Displayed status columns</Red></Bold><LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>Lock status</Bold> shows <Bold>Locked</Bold>, <Bold>Unlocked</Bold>, <Bold>Mixed</Bold>, <Bold>NoVP</Bold>, or <Bold>Model</Bold> depending on viewport presence and lock state.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>Anno status</Bold> shows <Bold>AnnOn</Bold>, <Bold>AnnOff</Bold>, or unknown if not retrievable.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>Zoom status</Bold> shows <Bold><DarkRed>ZExt</DarkRed></Bold> only when the tool explicitly marked the layout after <Bold><DarkRed>Zoom Extents</DarkRed></Bold>, otherwise it shows <Bold>Z?</Bold>.<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Red>Important system variables and state handling</Red></Bold><LineBreak/>
β€’ The program temporarily switches <Bold>TILEMODE</Bold>, <Bold>CTAB</Bold>, and <Bold>MSPACE</Bold> when reading or modifying paper-space layout settings, then restores them to the prior values to avoid disrupting the user environment.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold>Undo grouping</Bold> is used when applying viewport lock changes so the operation can be reverted cleanly.<LineBreak/>
<Bold><DarkRed>Prompts and user interaction</DarkRed></Bold><LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold><DarkRed>Zoom Window</DarkRed></Bold> prompts for first corner and opposite corner inside a viewport, then applies the window consistently across selected layouts.<LineBreak/>
β€’ All other operations are button driven from the dialog and do not require selecting entities in the drawing.<LineBreak/>
<Bold><Red>Safety and persistence behavior</Red></Bold><LineBreak/>
β€’ Zoom state labeling is stored in the drawing named object dictionary using a dedicated dictionary name so older stored flags do not affect current display.<LineBreak/>
β€’ <Bold><DarkRed>ZExt</DarkRed></Bold> is only shown when explicitly produced by this tool to prevent misleading zoom labels.<LineBreak/>



<Bold><Run Foreground="DodgerBlue">Description</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ–¨οΈ SetPlotDeviceNames is an AutoCAD/Civil 3D AutoLISP DCL manager for batch editing layout plot devices, page setups, paper sizes, viewport locks, annotation visibility, and zoom settings.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="LimeGreen">πŸ“ It provides filtered layout selection, synchronized columns, per-column horizontal scrolling, and apply tools for production plotting workflows.</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>

<Bold><Run Foreground="DodgerBlue">Function Syntax</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸš€ Main command: </Run><Bold><Run Foreground="Orange">SetPlotDeviceNames</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ” Layout filter: </Run><Bold><Run Foreground="Orange">supports * and ? wildcard filtering.</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ–¨οΈ Apply actions: </Run><Bold><Run Foreground="Orange">Apply Device, Apply PageSetup, Apply Paper.</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ”’ Viewport tools: </Run><Bold><Run Foreground="Orange">Lock, Unlock, AnnON, AnnOFF, Zoom Extents, Zoom Window.</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>

<Bold><Run Foreground="DodgerBlue">SEO Optimized Overview</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ–¨οΈ SetPlotDeviceNames is an SEO-friendly AutoCAD layout plotting utility for managing plot device names, page setups, canonical media names, and paper sizes from one DCL interface.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ“Š The dialog shows synchronized layout columns for Name, Plot Device, Page Setup, Paper Size, Lock, Anno, and Zoom, with compact column widths and horizontal sliders for long values.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ” Users can filter layout names using wildcard patterns, include or exclude Model in the list/apply scope, and choose between selected rows or all displayed rows.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ“ The tool can batch-apply plot devices, page setups, and paper sizes to selected layouts, while also managing paper-space viewport lock state and annotation visibility.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧭 Zoom tools let the user apply Zoom Extents or pick a Zoom Window for layout viewports, with zoom state persisted through a named-object dictionary record.</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>

<Bold><Run Foreground="DodgerBlue">Core AutoCAD / Civil 3D Workflow</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… List layouts with plot device, page setup, paper size, viewport lock, annotation, and zoom status.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Filter layouts with * and ? wildcard support.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Select all, select none, selected scope, or all displayed scope.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Apply plot device changes to selected layouts.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Apply existing page setups to layouts.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Apply compatible paper/media names from the selected plot device.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Lock or unlock paper-space viewports in selected layouts.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">βœ… Toggle annotation visibility and run Zoom Extents or Zoom Window viewport tools.</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>

<Bold><Run Foreground="DodgerBlue">Important Functions and Implementation Details</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 spdn:filter-layouts builds the working layout list from the current drawing and wildcard filter.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 spdn:fill-device-popup, spdn:fill-pagesetup-popup, and spdn:fill-paper-popup populate the DCL dropdown controls.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 spdn:apply-device-to-layouts and spdn:apply-paper-to-layouts perform the batch plotting updates.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 spdn:set-locked-for-layouts changes paper-space viewport lock states.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 spdn:set-anno manages ANNOALLVISIBLE behavior per selected layouts.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 spdn:zoom-layout-viewports, spdn:do-zoom-extents, and spdn:do-zoom-window-execute handle viewport zoom actions.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🧩 spdn:ensure-nod-dict and xrecords store persistent zoom-state flags in the drawing database.</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>

<Bold><Run Foreground="DodgerBlue">Result</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">🎯 Layout plotting settings can be cleaned and standardized faster across many sheets.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ–¨οΈ Plot device, page setup, and paper-size mismatches become easier to find and correct.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ”’ Viewport lock, annotation, and zoom preparation are handled in the same production dialog.</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>

<Bold><Run Foreground="DodgerBlue">Important Notes</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="DarkRed">⚠️ This routine changes layout plotting settings and viewport states. Review the selected/all-displayed scope before applying changes.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="DarkRed">⚠️ Model layout inclusion is optional and controlled separately for list and apply operations.</Run><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">ℹ️ The code creates a temporary DCL file at runtime and deletes it after the dialog closes.</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>

<Bold><Run Foreground="DodgerBlue">Search Keywords</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="White">πŸ”Ž AutoCAD plot device manager, batch page setup AutoLISP, layout paper size update, viewport lock manager, Civil 3D plotting utility</Run><LineBreak/>
<LineBreak/>

<Bold><Run Foreground="Yellow">Tags</Run></Bold><LineBreak/>
<Run Foreground="Yellow">🏷️ AutoCAD, 🏷️ AutoLISP, 🏷️ Civil 3D, 🏷️ Plot Device, 🏷️ Page Setup, 🏷️ Paper Size, 🏷️ Layout Manager, 🏷️ Viewport Lock, 🏷️ Annotation Visibility, 🏷️ Zoom Extents</Run><LineBreak/>



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SetPlotDeviceNames.xamlDownload XAML file

Additional info:

Based on / Source code: https://www.cadtutor.net/forum/topic/17353-change-printer/

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