Jump to content

Linked Value in MText


TOS-TrekFan

Recommended Posts

Hello,

 

Hopefully this is a fairly easy question, but for an old dog like me, new tricks are harder to learn.

 

I am doing very basic AutoCAD drawings for multiple people, and in the title block, the generic "This drawing belongs to ....... blah blah text no one reads ....." has to be changed per customer to have their name in the that MText field. There are multiple sheets in the model space. These people like me are old school and paper space is not an option. Some of these drawings will have up to 60 sheets, but ALL in model space, so the "sheet" is just copy and pasted for as many pages are needed. What I would like to do is have a field that looks something like this:

 

 

"This drawing is the sole property of and distribution without written express permission is strictly forbidden" etc etc

 

By inserting the value like that, it would format correctly.

 

Is this possible fairly easily?

 

Thanks,

Rob

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to CADTutor TOS. :)

 

Your profile says that you are using Solidworks, which I do not use, so this may or may not be helful for you.

I would suggest saving your sheet as a separate dwg, which I suspect you already have. Or as a BLOCK.

That MTEXT field could become an Attribute in the sheet block.

Then use the INSERT command to place the dwg or the block in your new project modelspace.

In this way it will be an XREF.

When you need to change the client attribute name, just open the original, and change it there.

The next time you open the drawing, the updated sheet and information will be displayed.

Or, without closing the drawing, use the XREF command, then right click on the XREF name in the dialog box, and choose RELOAD.

Or you can do a SAVEAS, and save it to that folder with the client specific info, after which you can Insert it.

You may want to keep a folder, wherein you save these sheets, already displaying the names of different clients, for easy future use.

 

You may want to save an example of a typical layout, as a custom .dwt (drawing template file).

That file will contain your text, line and dimstyles, layers, drawing sheet block, and lots of other stuff, which you likely use on a regular basis.

Once you have that, or them, should you embrace this approach, and want to create different ones, you can go to OPTIONS > FILES TAB > Template Settings > Default Template File Name for QNEW > Browse to whichever .dwt file you wish to set as your new personal default, choose it, then click OK at the bottom of the dialog window.

Whenever you enter QNEW, or click on the NEW icon, that template file will open, and you can hit the virtual ground running.

If you have a small number of clients, for whom you typically draw, you could save a different .dwt for each of them.

Any dwg can be saved as a .dwt, and it really helps to increase both efficiency and consistency, for which there is much to be said.

Edited by Dadgad
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Learning to use layouts is not that hard and once you do you will never look back. You can copy a layout so if you have a title block with attributes like client name etc you only have to do this on the 1st once as obviously its copied when you use the COPY option of a layout, like Dadgad use maybe a xref.

 

I am a bit old fashioned but we have a few lisps that do stuff like renumber the sheets, add the new clients details no matter how many layouts and so on.

 

A 1 minute tutorial copy your title block to a layout make sure its 1:1 ie true size mm or inches, create a viewport using mview inside your titleblock, zoom e zoom in to an area of your model space and set the scale, if your metric its easy feet a lttle bit tricker but its basicly using zoom "scaleXp". If you post a simple dwg 2-3 titleblocks I am sure we can set it up for you just need to know sheet size.

 

The better way though is to use Sheet sets so some stuff like page numbering is automatic.

 

There was a similar post maybe last week about all titles in model space and I made some suggestions about how to convert them to layouts automatically, its on my to do list to write something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the quick replies. Unfortunately using sheet space is not an option, not my call. The owner does not like it, and wants everything in model space. I already have enough flat spots on my forehead from banging against walls, besides I have already tried to fight that battle a while back and lost. Since his name is on the top and bottom of my check, I just do as I am told!

 

I was hoping to use the "dwgprops" command and then under the custom tab, changing the values there. I have a clean drawing with title block that I copy into a project folder and rename. It would make it simple to go to that custom tab and change what I need there and have it update the title block and a couple of other areas.

 

I was hoping for a "mtext" that would read "text text text text text text". That way the formatting and word wrap would function properly.

 

 

@Dadgad - Yes, I am a SolidWorks user, 15+ years. I only use AutoCAD as required. They both have their strengths and weaknesses. AutoCAD shines on flat layout drawings, but I use SolidWorks when I have to do 3D modeling.

 

Thanks,

Rob

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Again, Thank you all for the quick replies and suggestions. I have found the solution to what I am trying to do (basically another crusty old fart here spilled his coffee, woke up, and remembered how to do it)

 

Use the command "dwgprops" to open the property menu, then go to custom tab. Add a couple of fields "Customer" , "Drawnby" , and "Drawndate"

 

Then in mtext type "This drawing belongs to X and was drawn by X on X"

 

Highlight the "X"'s one at a time and right click to insert field. Those three customs will show up in list. Select the one you want and viola! Now no matter how many times that is copied and pasted it will always update if you change the values in the "dwgprops" custom tab. (Just remember to "regen")

 

Obviously there will not be a text line like that, but just an example.

 

Thanks,

Rob

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Custom Properties is the way to go. You can make it even simpler using the Express Tool Propulate. I have a few set up to fill in a number of Custom Properties as well as Title, Subject, and Author. Here are three macro examples:

Propulate Property Data CharleySchwartz
^C^C(command "Propulate" "A" "D:/Users/BeaufordT/AppData/Roaming/Autodesk/VLisp/CharleySchwartz.prp" "U" "C")

Propulate Property Data KimWood
^C^C(command "Propulate" "A" "D:/Users/BeaufordT/AppData/Roaming/Autodesk/VLisp/KimWood.prp" "U" "C")

Propulate Property Data CharlesWu
^C^C(command "Propulate" "A" "D:/Users/BeaufordT/AppData/Roaming/Autodesk/VLisp/CharlesWu.prp" "U" "C")

 

Another way worth looking at is PersonalMtextSymbols.LSP by Jimmy Bergmark: http://jtbworld.com/autocad-personalmtextsymbols-lsp

You have to add Name & Contents with matching numbers as shown in the code and it will add personal mtext symbols in the right click menu in the mtext editor by adding keys to the Mtext section of the Windows Registry for the current profile.

 

First save your current profile to a test profile to test it out so if it doesn't work as you like simply delete the test profile. This saves me a lot of time as well, but more importantly automation prevents me from typing mistakes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...