Titleblock Update

[dhendrickson]

I am using AutoCAD2007.

We use AutoCAD very little and so our setup is probably not best practice. I am sure there are much better ways to go about this, but for now I am just seeking a "quick fix" if there is one.

Some years back I created a Title Block drawing populated with attributes. The entire title block is saved as a block in the drawing. I then inserted that block into a drawing template. Seems to work fine.

Some recent requirements are driving the need to update the title block. I think I have worked through adding attributes to the block and updating the template (wow, who would have thunk that would take hours!)

Now I am trying to update the titleblock in some existing drawings. The method I am using (because it is the only one I know of) is to open the drawing, find the titleblock block in the design center , RMC and select redefine only. This method certainly does something, but not what I expect.

The most noticable of the unexpected results is that I have a distribution statement. This is static text per project, but can change - hence being an attribute. One of the updates was to add an additional line to the statement so the paragraph is taller. When I clicked the redefine only the new statement is superimposed over the old statement - both are visible.

If I double-click on the titleblock to launch the Enhanced Attribute Editor, the attributes listed are of the old nature, not the updated. If I select the block, and click Modify/Object/Attribute\Block Attribute Editor the updated attributes are listed. I purged the drawing but no change.

Questions:
Is this method suitable or is there a more preferred way?
Should I be selecting the titleblock block of the titleblock drawing or the titleblock block contained in the drawing template? Since the template contains a copy, is there any difference?
Is there an added step I should be taking in the updated drawing?

My goal is to revisit the whole setup we have and adopt sheet sets perhaps. As I said, we don't use it much, but over the course of a couple years and several projects, it has crept into many corner of many projects. So I want to get things cleaned up to save myself even more grief in the future. But that is for another day. Right now the boss is frowning...

Thanks,

Daen

[irneb]

Redefining (or even BEdit-ing) a block's definition will not "automatically" update existing insertions of that block's attributes. Each insertion has its own copy of all the attributes. You have to tell AutoCAD to match the attributes to what's in the block's definition. To do so you can use either the AttSync command, or through a dialog in the BAttMan command - the Sync button.

This will erase any attributes not found in the block's definition anymore, add any new attribs with their default values, and change the properties (note ... not the text values) of existing attributes if the definition's changed.

To update (or rather redefine) a block through multiple drawings, first do a WBlock of that block. This creates a DWG file which is the block's definition. Then you need to use a script (SCR file created in Notepad or such), a script contains all the keystrokes you would perform on the drawing ... thus you try to use only command-line methods.

Now in this script you use the INSERT command with the path to the DWG file you've wblocked, with a suffix of = so it redefines. Depending on certain settings you may have to answer Yes for redefining, test this by typing the command directly. Add a call to the AttSync command to synchronize the attributes. Trial & Error until it works just right. Then duplicate what you've done in the command line to the SCR file (you can open the text screen by pressing F2 and copy-n-paste from there). Add a QSAVE to make sure the DWG gets saved.

Next you have to run the SCR on multiple DWGs. ADesk has a free utility called ScriptPro ... however it only works on 32bit windows. For 64bit you can do a google for some similar non-free utilities, or use something called BatchLisp (do a google) with some modifications.

[darthyoga]

Have you tried ATTSYNC? This comand with synchronise the attributes after the new title block is inserted.