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In LDraw, a part with printing is called patterned. The
decorative printing is the pattern. The number for a patterned part
is the same as the number for plain, or base, part, plus a 'p' and a
two-digit code. Like this:
BBBBBpCC.dat
BBBBB is the three- to five-digit base number, and CC is the code
for the part. The code can have a mix of letters and numbers.
Getting a pattern number for your part
This isn't too
hard - all you have to do is ask. Email Steve Bliss and/or Chris
Dee, or post a message on lugnet.cad.dev.
Maybe someday we'll have a nice reference table, with all the
patterns pre-recorded, but we're not there yet.
Pattern Groups
Normally, the first digit of the code
helps to identify which theme or product line the pattern appears
in. This isn't a hard-set rule, both because many patterned parts
appear in multiple themes, and because this approach to
pattern-numbering has evolved over time. So there are a number of
exceptions.
| Range |
Assignment |
| 0x |
General/Miscellaneous and Town |
| 1x,2x |
Town |
| 3x |
Pirates, Soldiers, Islanders |
| 4x |
Castle |
| 5x,6x |
Space |
| 7x,8x |
Modern Town |
| 9x |
Open |
| Ax |
Adventurers |
| Bx |
Open |
| Cx |
Control Panels, dials, gauges, keyboards, readouts,
etc. |
| Dx - Gx |
Open |
| Hx |
Harry Potter |
| Jx - Mx |
Open (I and L not to be used -- see note below) |
| Nx |
Ninja |
| Qx |
Open (O and P not to be used -- see note below) |
| Rx,Sx |
Star Wars |
| Tx |
General Textual Patterns (lettering and numbers) and
Trademark items (Corporate Logos, etc) |
| Ux - Vx |
Open |
| Wx |
Western |
| Xx - Zx |
Open |
Digits to Avoid
We should avoid the letters I, L, O,
and P for pattern codes. The first three are easily confused with
the numbers 0 and 1, and the last is the letter used to indicate
patterned parts - parts like 3001ppp would look odd.
Common Patterns
Some patterns appear on many different
parts. An example of this is the Classic Space logo. So far, there
are 8 different part files in the LDraw that bear this pattern. To
make it easier to keep track of these parts, a common pattern may be
assigned a specific code. Then all parts with that pattern should
use that code in the part number. Of course, sometimes that's not
possible - sometimes a pattern appears on the same part in different
presentations on a single part, or the code may already be in use
for a certain part.
Future Numbers
As people submit patterned parts in
playthemes that have not been modeled in LDraw previously, we will
allocate codes to these patterns and themes. It would be helpful if
authors can catalog the various patterned elements in a theme; this
would assist in planning. But it's not required.
For new playthemes, we hope to start pre-allocating codes to
patterns. This would be good not only for LDraw, but also for other
LEGO parts databases, such as Peeron.com.
- September 17, 2001
Data collected and tracked by
Chris Dee, mangled by Steve Bliss
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