Change Attributes on 600 Drawings

I have 2011 LT. A client just came back at the tail end of a project to advise that a reference number in a title block is incorrect and needs to be changed. This affects 600 drawing files.

Before I embark on manually opening, altering and printing each one individually, are there any possibilities of achieving this process quickly?

If there is a solution in full version AutCAD please also post it because I can certainly get access to a workstation for this task. Thanks.

Unfortunately, LT is very LimiTed...... LISP would be perfect but LT does not support it. Im not aware of any other method

Thanks JPlanera. If you don't mind outlining it quickly, how would I go about using LISP to do this?

Each drawing file contains 1 title block?

That's correct. 1 layout tab with 1 title block in each file.

A script file might work too.

I thought about that... Im stepping through some commands to confirm.. looks good so far

is it an attribute or text in a block?

If it is text then this is easy. Create a correct block and INSERT= using a script.

If it is an attribute it can still be done using a script (but I can't remember the best command to use) so would be easier using LISP.

Why did it have to be 600 files!?!

If in fact each drawing has a title block and an attribute (not text) then follow this method.... (read through before attempting)

Make sure all 600 drawing files are in a single location, and this folder contains nothing but the 600 drawing files. (this is important as the batch file here will step through every drawing located in the folder specified...)

ATTCHANGE.BAT

FOR %%f in (c:\<PATH>\*.dwg) do start /wait C:\"Program Files"\"Autodesk"\"ACADM 2011"\acad.exe "%%f" /b c:\<PATH>\ATTCHANGE.scr

ATTCHANGE.SCR

-ATTEDIT
N
N
*
*
*
<ENTER OLD ATTRIBUTE>
<ENTER NEW ATTRIBUTE>
-PLOT
N
<ENTER LAYOUT NAME>
<ENTER PRINTER NAME>
N
N
Y
QUIT
Y

Copy and paste te above code in notepad, being careful not to add extra spaces

Save as ATTCHANGE.BAT & the ATTCHANGE.SCR in the same folder which houses your drawing files.

Open the ATTCHANGE.SCR file and fill in the blanks and save the file. Try not to include any extra line breaks or spaces.

Right click on the ATTCHANGE.BAT file and select "edit"

Replace with the path to the drawing files.. will look something like this C:\autocad\files\600files\*.dwg

Also replace the acad.exe path with the path on your system, (leave quotes) save the .bat file.

So now you have 1 folder that contains all your drawings, and the two altered files.

all you should have to do is double click the .bat file (or right-click) run.

Before you run all 600 files. I suggest you put 3 or 4 into a test folder, repeat above proccess for this "test" folder and run it. this way we can debug if needed, and it wont take up too much time.

I hope this makes sense

(ignore the attached .scr file, i attached by mistake)

ATTCHANGE.SCR

Admittedly, this will be most beneficial for you in future projects, none-the-less here's my two cents...

Have you considered using Sheet Set Manager (SSM)?

We use attributed title blocks, which are populated by custom properties via our SSM (.DST file) for the project. If the client makes a late-term change (as you are now experiencing), we simply modify the custom property (once) and plot. Done! SSM makes renaming & renumbering easy as well.

Note - This level of functionality does take some time and planning, but when done (well?) it has a multitude of benefits.

Good luck on your much needed upgrade to Full-AutoCAD!

Why did it have to be 600 files!?!

Too bad ObjectDBX (ODBX) doesn't play nicely with attributes .

I recently ran an ODBX routine through a +/-450 drawing project and it only took +/-45 seconds. :wink:

Worse of course, is the OP is relegated to using LT.

I know, I feel spoiled running full acad mechanical with express tools. I dont know what i would do without it...

is it an attribute or text in a block?

It is an attribute in a block. Last night I was experimenting with the -ATTEDIT command.

You didnt try my solution?

Thanks JPlanera, that makes so much sense I can hardly believe it. I really appreciate you outlining this for me.

As well as a paper copy, I need to plot a PDF. What is the best way to navigate this? Is it even possible? We use the inbuilt DWG to PDF.pc3.

And Renderman, your comments are also valuable. I will certainly be arguing the case this year for changing to full version.

You didnt try my solution?

I am earnestly underway with your solution. Sorry, with the time difference I had only just got into the office an hour ago and replied to dbraoda because his was the first response I read.

Pretty much anything can be done with a script. Do a little research on the subject as i am sure you will find valuable info. Scripting has been around since the beginning. It has only been replaced by LISP.... In a nutshell, a script is the sequence of "command line" inputs in one file. Autocad reads a line of text, assumes it to be a command, and moves on to the next line. For example:

ZOOM

E

REGEN

QSAVE

CLOSE

saved as a *.scr and ran from within autocad, this file would zoom extents, regen, save, and close...

Experiment with -PLOT. type -PLOT at the command line and make note of the steps it takes to finish the plot... in this case to get you started, you would see this (the "-" infront of plot, disables the dialog box)

-PLOT

YES

MODEL

DWG TO PDF.PC3

etc....

... Renderman, your comments are also valuable. I will certainly be arguing the case this year for changing to full version.

Happy to help.

I must have spent a month or two (of billable time) manually updating the plans, renumbering sheets, etc. before each submittal over the past couple of years (pre-SSM & ODBX).

Pretty much anything can be done with a script.

Experiment with -PLOT. type -PLOT at the command line and make note of the steps it takes to finish the plot.

The problem I forsee is that the PDF command spits up a dialog box to choose a path and give the file a name. Would I try to suppress this dialog box and default into the current drawing's path? Or I can navigate the dialog box each time it appears, but I assume that the .bat file won't wait around for me...

I am happy to nut out the finer details of the solution, so just some initial guidance into what is possible and practical would be great.