Dynamic Blocks: attribute position

[Metalgooze]

Hello,

I am trying to create an arrow symbol to use in 4 directions.
I managed, through a lookup table, to orientate the block and attributes in the right direction.
The only thing I can't fix is that my attribute stays at its orignal position.

I know you can fix this with polar stretch but I can't seem to get it right.
Help is needed. The end result should be like shown underneath.


A second question for when my attribute stays in place.
Is there a way to automaticaly change the justification?
The length of the value may vary a lot zo justification is important.

Justification is set on the left side and this is OK for RIGHT and UP position.
For the other two, justification should be on the right side.

If anyone could explain me how to solve these questions (and most of all make me understand how to do it).

Thanks in advance,

[Justin J]

Hi Metalgooze,

Did you try using the Visibility State Parameter to create the four views you are looking for? You can make it function very similar to the lookup table and the attributes would be able to function the way you need. just would have to make four separate attributes and arrows and Hide/show accordingly within the block.

Let me know if that will work for you or need more help.

Thanks,

JJ

[Metalgooze]

Yes, already tried it but I prefer to have just one attribute. We have a big exsisting library so we don't want to change or add attributes. We now have 4 separate blocks for all directions which makes our library HUGE. We want 1 block for all directions. The adaptions must be done with the least amount of effort, or at least that's the idea

[Ed Jobe]

The attached file is my attempt at doing what you want. I have an attribute with a fields that link to the attribute. The idea was that you would enter the one attribute, but fields could be placed at each location. Graphically, this works but I could never get the fields to update. So I have yet to find a good workaround to what you are trying to do.

[Justin J]

This is my best attempt at getting something that will "function" the way you are looking for it to with just one attribute. I added a rotate and a move command to the text line. You can't change the justification but it will at least allow you to move the text away from the arrow as needed depending on what the input is and the rotate to the correct orientation.

Will this work for you? It's definitely a unique block

[Metalgooze]

Thank for the responses. I will check these out on monday.
I had an example of the thing I want to do. I tried to recreate all the actions defined in that particular block. I noticed he/she works with the "polar stretch" action? Can someone explain this in detail how you set this up? I looked for a tutorial of this but I don't seem to find a complete explanation on which to define to what action...

[Metalgooze]

This is my best attempt at getting something that will "function" the way you are looking for it to with just one attribute. I added a rotate and a move command to the text line. You can't change the justification but it will at least allow you to move the text away from the arrow as needed depending on what the input is and the rotate to the correct orientation.

Will this work for you? It's definitely a unique block

Your block is the closest to what I am searching for.
The only thing is, the text voor the left and down positiion needs to be rotated 180°.
I tried to add a third rotation parameter for the text only and put it in a lookuptable but then the position of the text changes.

Does anyone have a solution for that?

[Justin J]

Metalgooze,

This is a little bit better as the text will rotate accordingly with the drop down options you had. I added a flip parameter and put values for both that and the text rotation into the Lookup Table. the only thing you have to do is then move the text as needed out/away from the arrow block. Hopefully this can get you closer to what you need. Below is a snip of the 4 options and it appears to match what you had originally and i circled the two points where you would need to move the text from.

Arrow Block.JPG

[Metalgooze]

I tried it another way.
In the attachement you can see the block.
I defined a polar strecht to the block.
Result:
Text rotates the correct way
arrow rotates the correct way
The position of the text does not follow.

Any solutions for this?
I've possibly done the setup for the polar strecht in the wrong way because I can't seem to understand what the action needs where.
Help is, as always, welcome.

[Justin J]

Metalgooze,

I have been trying about everything i know to get this to work per your last post and i just can't come up with a working solution. i did not want to leave you wondering but i might keep trying and if i figure anything out i will post again.

Good luck,