Generic annotation leader

[kevin.gates]

Alright, this has been driving me nuts, and i'm afraid I already know the answer (no), but I have to ask anyway...

I'm using a generic annotation to tag various elements within an elevation - toilet fixtures, millwork elements, etc. Sometimes, those tags need a 'typ' or 'typ 3' note attached to them, depending on the situation; we have been just using text within the project to apply such a label, but that can be an annoyance if the annotation needs to be moved around, since it is not directly associated with the annotation. So to resolve that issue, I tried to create an annotation family that has instance labels built in... It works as far as associating text to the annotation within a project, but it opens up a whole other problem: the leader is now also associated with those labels, so the tail is just floating in thin air. And thats no good.

I realize that the leaders automatically snap to the extents of the family, but I would love it if there was some way to fix the leader tail to the center of an annotation, instead of the edge. Anyone dealt with this before/know what I can do about it?

I've attached images of the annotation in both the family editor and in a project, just in case my ramblings make no sense...

[Andre Carvalho]

I'm afraid the answer is no... Unless you are willing to use two annotations: One is your annotation as it is (no leaders) and the other is only an annotation family with a small invisible line located at the intersection of the reference planes. This second family will serve just to create the leader in the center of your first anotation...

Not exactly the answer you were hoping, but will probably give the results you want.

Andre Carvalho

[patricks]

If you always have the leader line coming off the left or right sides of the tag, could you place the Typ. text underneath the tag? If the Typ text is not too wide, then the leader should still appear to be coming off that hexagon shape.

[kevin.gates]

Andre - thats what i was afraid of, though your workaround is a new one to me; not too bad...

Patricks - I have tried that before, and it does work as long as the leader comes off only one or two sides, as you mentioned. But the reason why that way didn't really work for me this time around is b/c the notes i'm adding range from 'typ' to 'typ 7', or something like that. Unless i'm missing a way to control text within a family as an instance parameter, that would mean i'd have to create a new family type for each iteration of typ, which could mean quite a few more family types than i'd prefer.

I think this might be one of those wish list things...