Attributes vs Fields for title block information

[stephen]

Anyone using Fields rather then the standard Attribute definition when developing templates using ACAD2007? Are there any advantages in anyway by implementing the use of Fields rather then Attributes for collecting information on Title Blocks?

[cadtag]

yes. The advantage is apparent when you start using sheet sets, and set up custom sheet set andsheet properties. Youy can then edit/control from a single location (SSM) vs opening and editing every drawing. It's not perfect, using 2006 I'm not able to deal with multi-line attributes, but it's a lot simpler than tweaking every sheet by hand.

[Avatart]

I've been looking at this too, has anyone managed to hook up a database to furnish the Title Block with fielded information?

[Augi Doggie]

I've been looking at this too, has anyone managed to hook up a database to furnish the Title Block with fielded information?

I have been for some time now. Like Cadtag, I've been using sheet sets with fields. I insert the titleblock with Current Sheet set title and drawing number fields. If I change the drawing titles or numbers, I can do it in the sheet set manager and not have to even open the drawings, they'll update automatically.

This is also handy if you have notes that reference another drawing, you can add a field to the note that references the other drawing number. If that drawing number changes, so does the note.

[Avatart]

I have been for some time now. Like Cadtag, I've been using sheet sets with fields. I insert the titleblock with Current Sheet set title and drawing number fields. If I change the drawing titles or numbers, I can do it in the sheet set manager and not have to even open the drawings, they'll update automatically.

This is also handy if you have notes that reference another drawing, you can add a field to the note that references the other drawing number. If that drawing number changes, so does the note.

That is all well and good and very useful, but I want to hook this up to a proper database (ie Access), what I want to be able to do is have a one stop shop for all the Title Block stuff, but also for running scripts, tracking issues, filing Record Copies, etc.

[cadtag]

Hooking field and databases directly doesn't seem to be possible. unless a DIESEL expression can suck info from a DB. The kludge that comes to mind is having a LISP routine that reads the data from the DB and writes it to the USER* system variables, and point a field to the sysvars.

[Augi Doggie]

That is all well and good and very useful, but I want to hook this up to a proper database (ie Access), what I want to be able to do is have a one stop shop for all the Title Block stuff, but also for running scripts, tracking issues, filing Record Copies, etc.

Well in that case, my response was pretty much useless wasn't it? Sorry.

I your situation Attributes may be the way to go. Fields are handy for "displaying" information. It's the sheet set manager that really has the information that you would want to use in your database.

If it's possible to link the .DST file to an external database is something beyond my knowledge.

[Avatart]

Well in that case, my response was pretty much useless wasn't it? Sorry.

I your situation Attributes may be the way to go. Fields are handy for "displaying" information. It's the sheet set manager that really has the information that you would want to use in your database.

If it's possible to link the .DST file to an external database is something beyond my knowledge.

Your response was useful, more than you might think actually, as it seems to be leading to a solution, if I can read that .DST, then I can programmatically hook it up to our database systems with a round tripping program, so if you change the drawing, the database changes and vice versa.

Now, where's that DST for me to rent asunder...?

[rdaniel]

I've been looking at this too, has anyone managed to hook up a database to furnish the Title Block with fielded information?

I'm not too familiar with access, but I've set up a link between an excel spreadsheet ("database") and CAD. It works ok. I use the sheet set and PN to control all of my sheet information in my title blocks, but I wanted to also have a single control point for all of my drawing locations. I had originally used the construct - view - sheet method in ADT to do this, but it is horrifically clumbsy, hard to manage, and time consuming.

What I did with the excel file linking was set up worksheets with information for each drawing placed on a sheet. The cells were: Drawing Title Drawing # Sheet # Description. I then linked my drawing titles and callouts with fields to the database. This was fairly helpful for making sure coordination was automatic between the drawing locations on the sheets and their callout(s).

While ADT's perscribed way (const - view - sheet) is clumbsy, this one is not perfect either (all though it does work better, in my opinion). One of the biggest downsides is that the field is linked to a specific cell and not any specific information. This makes your worksheet organization a little harder when you start moving drawings around on sheets. I haven't got a chance to try this method out another project yet and refine it, but I hope to have another chance soon. Btw, one of the reasons that I liked this method is that I can acheive coordination and skip the view step alltogether. I don't have to worry about creating a million named views and then placing each one on a sheet (this takes forever). Also, when you have to process and plot that many viewports it is really time consuming. Outside of our constructs (base files) which we xref into the sheets, we just draw in the model space of the sheets files with this approach. The architects here seem to like this a lot better since it is almost identical to how we managed projects in CAD before the PN and sheet sets came along.

Anyway, to answer your question, I have linked to a database.

[Avatart]

Randall,

That would be in 2008, right? I don't have that yet (still being certified for use by IT), but it was something I was planning to look at.

I know what you mean about the "ADT way", it is utterly hopeless for any project bigger than a condo.