Custom Air Device Tag

[stelthorst]

My 2c,

The thing to remember when creating tags is to set you text height 1/6 the size you want it in the drawing. For example if you want your text to be 6" at 1/4"=1'0" scale then create the tag with the text at 1".

As for the text style, check what buzz suggests, but also look at the properties of the tag on your palette and make sure the attribute text style is set at "As defined by content" (see attached).

Lastly, I'm not a big fan of adding property sets to the template. Personally, I let the tag, schedule, label, etc add the property set when I use them. You can also create a dummy tag that will only add the property set and not any text.

The reason I do this is that have a lot of property sets, schedules, and labels and use them depending on the type of drawing I'm creating and don't want to burden my template with all of this information when I may only need 10% of it.

Since I'm not a mechanical guy I'm not quite sure what you're asking in the last paragraph. If you can post an example of what you want I may be able to help you with a solution.

Hope this helps,

[bradg]

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EDITED: Before reading my next two posts, go check out David's (dkoch) post below. His method is much easier and produces the same results.
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Ok, I figured out how to make custom tags that use an Annotative Text Style and display at the proper heights when inserted. The method involves creating a custom Annotation Scale, so if you're not familiar with them, let me know and I'll explain as best I can what I know about them.

I'm assuming you already know how to create a tag (if not, check out Buzz and Ryan's posts earlier in this thread), and will just cover how to make a tag that uses an Annotative text style that displays properly. There's a few less steps involved when making the tag from scratch, so I'll go over that first. Here goes:


To make a custom Schedule Tag from scratch that uses an Annotative Text Style:

1. In a new drawing, create your desired Annotative Text Style (font, paper text height, width factor, etc.) and make sure it's set to current.

2. Add a custom Annotation Scale where 3/32 paper units = 1 drawing unit (see the 1st screenshot (I named mine DefineTag)). (More on why you use 3/32 in note (c) below.)

3. Set the Annotation Scale to the scale you just created, and make sure the two icons next to the annotation scale (the lightbulb and lightning bolt) are ACTIVATED (see 2nd screenshot). (Let me know if you're unfamiliar with what these icons do.)

4. With your Annotation Scale set to DefineTag, and your desired text style active, use DTEXT to create the text you want your tag to use. (Tip: type your text as you would like it to display for your tag's icon in the Tool Palette.)

5. Now you're ready to define your tag. Format > Define Schedule Tag... Select your text, name your tag, set your desired fields, click OK and choose the insertion point. (Your text should stay the same size)

(5.2. If you noticed that your desired properties aren't on the list, go back and add your target equipment and an existing AMEP tag to import the properties.)

6. Change your Annotation Scale to 1'-0" = 1'0" (it's at the bottom of the list) (NOT 1" = 1'-0" as I sometimes accidentally click). Your tag should resize.

7. Use DIST to measure the height of text. If it's what you specified as your Paper Text Height in Step 1, proceed to Step 8. If it's not, keep cool, go back to Step 1 and try it again, paying more attention to Steps 2-6. If this is your 2nd+ time at Step 7, curse me call me a false prophet.

8. Rejoice!


9. Stop rejoicing, save your drawing before AMEP crashes, and drag your new tag into the Tool Palette.

10. Open a new drawing, insert the target equipment you'd like to tag, and tag it using your new tag. With the Annotation Lightning Bolt icon activated, change your scale (once again) to 1'-0" = 1'-0" and re-measure your text height, just to make sure it's working. If it's correct, go to Step 11. If it's not, try again?

11. Buy Buzz a beer.


Some notes:
a) When you add your tag to a drawing, your tag's text style will also be added to the drawing. In the event that your target drawing already has a text style with the same name as the text style used in the tag, here's what happens: the tag's font changes to reflect the font of the text style defined in the drawing, however, the tag's text height and width factor are not affected by the drawing's text style, that is, they remain governed by the height and width factor that were originally specified when creating the tag. This is also (presumably) why when you add a tag with the Text property 'Attribute text style' set to 'Target drawing text style', the font changes, but the height and width factor do not change. I haven't tried it with any of the other text style attributes (upside down, backwards, oblique, etc.) so feel free to play around and let me know what you discover.

b) This 'no-update text height & width factor' behavior leads to some challenges when you try to explode an existing tag to create a new tag. I'll go over the steps on how to do that in my next post.

c) Ok, here's why you set the DefineTag scale to be 3/32 paper = 1 drawing:

For some reason, whenever you define a tag, AMEP scales your text based on your current Annotation Scale using the following formula:

P : annotation scale Paper units (the number on the left when you add/edit an annotation scale)
D : annotation scale Drawing units (the number on the right)
C : Current text height
T : Tag Text height (the height your tag text will be at after you define the tag)

T = C * (D/P) * (3/32)

So, for example, if you have a drawing where your Annotation Scale is set to 1/4" = 1'-0" (P = 1/4, D = 12), and your current text height is 1" (C = 1"), your tag text will be created at:

T = 1 * (12/(1/4)) * (3/32)
T = 1 * (48 ) * (3/32)
T = 4.5 (Buzz, this is why you had to scale your text down by 4.5 before defining your tag in your video)

I don't know why 3/32 is used, it may have something to do with AMEP's standard tags having a paper text height of 3/32", but that's only a guess. This is, however, why you need to create a custom Annotation Scale where P = 3/32 and D = 1, so that when you define the tag, the text doesn't resize.

d) Alternatively, you could skip the whole custom Annotation Scale thing and just scale your text by 32P/3D, but the Annotation Scales come in handy when creating custom tags from existing tags. Also, if you plan to create all of your tags in one drawing like me (e.g. a company specific tag document), you will only need to create a DefineTag annotation scale once.


If you're interested in creating a custom tag based on an existing tag, check out my next post. It get's a little more complicated, so reader beware.

-Brad

[bradg]

As promised, here's the method I use to create a custom tag with an annotative text style by exploding an existing tag. I suggest you read through my previous post before doing this one, to get an idea of the basic process, as well as why 3/32 is an important number. I also use the same variable abbreviations (P, D, etc.) in this post that I defined up there^. The process is a little more complex this time, and involves creating an extra custom Annotation Scale, but if you're really hankering to create a custom annotative tag based off of an existing tag in your palette, here's what to do:


To make a custom Schedule Tag that uses an Annotative Text Style from an existing Tag:

1. Begin by doing steps 1-2 from my previous post (set up your preferred text style, create a DefineTag Annotation Scale). Remember what you set your Paper Text Height in your Text Style to, you'll need it later.

2. With your text style and DefineTag scale set up, go ahead and insert your target equipment and tag it with the Tag you'd like to create your custom one from. ***When adding existing tags, make sure the Text property 'Attribute text style' is set to 'As defined by content' (to get to this setting, right-click the tag button in the Tool Palette and go to Properties)

3. Now for the fun: you're going to need to create another custom Annotation Scale (I call mine 'InsertTag'). For this one, you'll need to do some math to figure out its settings:

The Paper units (P) is going to be equal to the paper text height of the text in the tag you just added. The easiest way to figure this out (if you don't already know it) is to set your Annotation scale to 1'-0" = 1'-0", and then measure the height of the tag's text. The tags included with AMEP have a paper text height of 3/32", so, if you're using a standard AMEP tag, you'll set your Paper units in your InsertTag scale to 3/32. (Another example: if your existing tag's paper text height is 1/2", set your Paper units to 1/2.)

Now for the Drawing units (D): this is where your the Paper Text Height of the text style you create come in to play, let's call it H. Your Drawing units are going to be set to H/(3/32). So if you set your paper text height to be 1/4", your Drawing units will be set to (1/4)/(3/32) = (32/12) = 8/3. (**Note: you use (3/32) regardless of what you set your Paper units to.) (***Other Note: if you're using an existing standard AMEP tag, and you want your paper text height to be 3/32, your settings will be P=3/32, D=1, which are also the settings of your DefineTag annotation scale.)

If you're confused, hopefully the 1st screenshot below will clear things up. In the screenshot, I named my Annotation Scale "InsertTag", the tag I'm creating from has a paper text height of 1/2", and my desired paper text height for my custom tag is 1/4".


4. With your existing tag in the drawing, make sure the lightning bolt icon next to the Annotation Scale is ACTIVATED, and then set your annotation scale to the InsertTag scale you just created. Your tag should resize.

5. Now explode your tag and keep exploding until you can't explode any more. You'll know you're done when your tag's text changes to a really long property name.

6. THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT: Set your Annotation Scale to DefineTag (P=3/32, D=1). Your text should NOT resize.

7. With your Annotation Scale set to DefineTag, select the text and change its Text Style to your desired Text Style.

8. You're now ready to jump back to Step 5 in my previous post. Enjoy!


Some Notes:

a) The whole reason for creating an 'InsertTag' Annotation Scale is this: without it, when you update your tag's text style (Step 7), the line spacing would get messed up, and you'd have to move your text around to get your tag to display right.

b) I realize my Step 3 probably isn't too clear, so if you'd like me to further explain it, let me know.


Let me know if you have any questions, or can't get it to work.

Until then, happy tagging with custom annotative text styles!
-Brad

[finney13]

Very nice Brad!

[buzz]

Great job Brad - This should be moved to the Tips/Tricks Section (looks around for Scott)

I especially like step 11

-Buzz

[stelthorst]

Great job Brad - This should be moved to the Tips/Tricks Section (looks around for Scott)

I especially like step 11

-Buzz

Your wish is my command

[dkoch]

c) Ok, here's why you set the DefineTag scale to be 3/32 paper = 1 drawing:

For some reason, whenever you define a tag, AMEP scales your text based on your current Annotation Scale using the following formula:

P : annotation scale Paper units (the number on the left when you add/edit an annotation scale)
D : annotation scale Drawing units (the number on the right)
C : Current text height
T : Tag Text height (the height your tag text will be at after you define the tag)

T = C * (D/P) * (3/32)

So, for example, if you have a drawing where your Annotation Scale is set to 1/4" = 1'-0" (P = 1/4, D = 12), and your current text height is 1" (C = 1"), your tag text will be created at:

T = 1 * (12/(1/4)) * (3/32)
T = 1 * (48 ) * (3/32)
T = 4.5 (Buzz, this is why you had to scale your text down by 4.5 before defining your tag in your video)

I don't know why 3/32 is used, it may have something to do with AMEP's standard tags having a paper text height of 3/32", but that's only a guess. This is, however, why you need to create a custom Annotation Scale where P = 3/32 and D = 1, so that when you define the tag, the text doesn't resize.

Mysteries of the 3/32 factor revealed:
ACA/AMEP uses annotation scaling (which, unfortunately, is distinct from annotative content) when adding Schedule Tags (and certain other content, as well) with a Schedule Tag Tool. What this means is that, in addition to the scale factor scale at which the tag is to be plotted (D/P in your equation), the annotation plot size is also taken into acount. The annotation plot size should be set to the height that you would plot the vast majority of your text. The out-of-the-box standard for imperial users is 3/32", because that is the standard text height proscribed by the US National CAD standard. This is set on the Scale tab of the Drawing Setup dialog, and can be changed, on a drawing-by-drawing basis, to any value you like. If you are a relatively recent user of ACA/ADT, you may not be familiar with this tab, as more recent versions allow you to set the drawing scale on the Drawing Window Status Bar. Older releases required you to use the Scale tab of the Drawing Setup dialog.

Here is my take on how to create the graphics for Schedule Tags (or any other content that uses annotation scaling), and does not require setting any special scales. Someday I need to do a blog article on this. You can use this to create modified content from existing content as well.

1. In the Drawing Setup dialog, make note of the current drawing scale and annotation plot size, so you can reset them when you are done, and then set the drawing scale to 1'-0" = 1'-0" and the annotation plot size to 1. You can set the scale on the Drawing Window Status Bar, but you have to go to the Drawing Setup dialog to set the annotation plot size, so why not do both there?

2. Create your graphics. Any attributes (or text being used as a placeholder for the Schedule Tag Wizard) that is to final plot at the annotation plot size should be made 1 unit high. Scale other graphics (including attributes/text to be larger or smaller) accordingly. If you are modifying exiting content that is annotative, inserting the Multi-View Block with the scale set to 1'-0" = 1'-0" and annotation plot size to 1 will give you the proper size when exploded twice.

3. Run the Schedule Tag Wizard, which will automatically make the view blocks for the new Multi-View Block annotative.

4. Buy Buzz some more beer.

PS: One of the cool features of the "new" annotative content in ACA/AMEP is that if you change the annotation plot size, all annotative content resizes, just like it does when you change the drawing scale. So if your project manager comes by 3/4 of the way through contract documents and says that she/he "forgot" to mention that the client requires a different standard text height than your usual office standard, you can change the annotation plot size and annotative content will rescale accordingly. You may have to move things around (and that may not work on pure AutoCAD annotative content, like MTEXT using an annotative text style, as I do not recall ever trying that - but it does work on ACA content and should work on AMEP content).

[bradg]

Wow David, where were you last week when I spent a day doing algebra with weird fractions trying to figure out what ACAD's love afffair with 3/32 was all about? Thanks for the info!

One (tiny) thing though, when I set my Annotation Scale in the Drawing Setup and hit Apply, it doesn't change it, and I have to change it with the flyout on the status bar. But I realize that's small potatoes considering all the time and frustration your method saves.

Thanks again!
-Brad

[buzz]

My fridge is getting full - we need to all get together to drink this beer!



-Buzz

[stelthorst]

Hi All,

You guys are making it tough on me. There are about a half a dozen great tips in this post. I'm trying to figure out if I should keep it together or break it up into multiple tips.

David, Great explanation! I always wondered why my 1/4"=1'-0" scaled tabs were only scaled by 6 but now that I see I have mt annotative text height set at 1/8" then 48 X 1/8 = 6. Duh.

Great work everyone keep up the posting and information. I'm sure everyone appreciates it as much as I do.