One of my ‘to do’ list projects has been to figure out a was of organising map objects so that it is easy to create map and atlas outputs either with or without map offsets.  I want to use the same map definitions in both cases to avoid lots of duplication = lots more room for error.   

Why?  Because multilevel cave maps at say 1:200 to 1:2000 scales are more useful/legible with offsets, and at say 1:5000 to 1:10000 are more useful without offsets (eg locality maps with offsets built in are misleading).  Atlas outputs, I have decided, should never have offsets, because the whole point of a multilevel (multi-chapter?) atlas is to show the passage in it’s true relationship and the offsets seem to scramble the chapter structure (or I have been doing something wrong).

The strategy I was thinking of was finding a cunning map object structure that allowed a fairly easy toggle between the two options, but my loose conclusion is that for a complicated multilayer cave it will usually involve the commenting and uncomenting of many lines of map definitions, possibly in a number of locations, and some layout data block changes.  This makes it difficult if you have not used that particular dataset for a while.

An example of the sort of thing that is required is changing;

  PR-PigletsJiltedPlan@MiddleEarth  [0 100 m] above

to;

  PR-PigletsJiltedPlan@MiddleEarth  # [0 100 m] above

A much simpler concept would be to have a simple layout command like;

 Ignore offsets

that might be valid for both map outputs and atlas outputs.

ie, if ‘ignore offsets’ is processed anywhere in the thconfig scope, then no offsets are produced.  If it is not, then the offsets are produced as defined.   Simple (for the users) – only one character change (#) in one place.

Is this concept already implemented and I have not managed to find it?

Or if not, could it be implemented (easily)?

Bruce