"Sight" Survey (SS26)

Hatch Colors – How to Change Hatch Colors

By default, “Sight” Survey’s hatch patterns are drawn in Red (color number 1). The TrueCAD engine does not allow hatch pattern colors to be changed “on the fly,” nor does it provide any other convenient mechanism for changing colors.

If you want to select a different default color for your hatch patterns, you must first edit the file Hatch.Pat, save the file, then restart “Sight” Survey. This procedure is covered below in Part 1. If you only have to change occasional hatch colors, this can be done without leaving your drawing by converting the pattern to lines, then adjusting the color. This is covered below in Part 2.

Color Numbers

0 Maroon

1 Red

2 Olive

3 Yellow

4 Lime

5 Green

6 Teal

7 Aqua

8 Blue

9 Navy

10 Purple

11 Fuchsia

12 White

13 Gray

14 Black

15 Silver

Part 1 – Editing the Hatch.Pat file to Permanently Change Hatch Colors

1. Start your Windows Notepad program. Click the Windows Start button, then click Run. In the Run box that opens, type the word NOTEPAD and click OK.

2. In Notepad, click File > Open. In the File Open window, under the Files of Type setting, select All Files (*.*) Use the Look In window to find the Hatch.Pat file, usually found in the \SightSrv\Program folder. Select the Hatch.Pat file and click Open.

3. You will now see the actual Hatch.Pat file, which begins like this:

*No Hatch, Just a perimeter

10, 0

1, 0, 0, 0,0, 0,.275

*angle,Angle steel

10, 0

1, 0, 0, 0,0, 0,.275, .2,-.075

1, 0, 90, 0,0, 0,.275, .2,-.075

*ansi31,ANSI Iron, Brick, Stone masonry

10, 0

1, 0, 45, 0,0, 0,.125

*ansi32,ANSI Steel

10, 0

14, 0, 45, 0,0, 0,.375

14, 0, 45, .176776695,0, 0,.375

Notice how each hatch pattern begins with its name, as marked by the lines with an asterisk. The next line (10, 0) is a scaling and rotation factor. The third line (and subsequent lines) of each pattern is the hatch, beginning with a color number on each line. In the example above, the first three hatches begin with color 1, or red, while the hatch elements for the ansi32, ANSI Steel hatch begin with 14, or black (note: yours will still be 1, not 14). Simply change the first number of the third line (and subsequent lines) of each pattern to your desired color, then click File > Save and save the new Hatch.Pat file. When you restart “Sight” Survey, your new hatch pattern colors will take effect.

Part 2 –Changing Hatch Colors on an Existing or Occasional Hatch

“Sight” Survey stores a drawing hatch only as a perimeter and hatch pattern ID. The actual hatch pattern you see on the screen does not actually exist as lines on the drawing. This procedure converting an existing hatch to actual lines (still saved as a group) allowing you to then edit the line properties.

1. In “Sight” Survey, click the Drawing Window Start button, then Annotate then click Hatch -> Lines.

2. At the top of the Drawing Window, you are prompted: Enter box about hatch perimeters to be converted to lines

Following the screen prompts, construct a perimeter totally enclosing the hatch you want to convert. When you close the perimeter (by pressing the space bar) it will appear as if nothing has happened.

3. Click on a line in the hatch pattern, and the entire hatch will be selected. Now double-click and the LineStyle selection box appears. Click Pen to change the color, then click OK and your hatch color will change to the new color.

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