AutoCAD P&ID

[#1]

I understand that there is another thread mentioning this subject, but I really think that in order for AutoCAD P&ID to be more robust, it needs to be re-addressed. This may be a wish-list item, but for me, this is more of a hotfix-scale item.

I as well as many other users would love to have the option to have a "blank" value in both annotations and selection lists to substitute for the "dot" or period that appears when a value is null. Entering a space to hide the period isn't so bad in some cases, but for cases like the one below, it becomes a huge ordeal.

My Situation:

I have created an instrument bubble that has 4 seperate selection lists (one for each corner (function) of the bubble). Most of the time, these values will be null, so for me to have to enter a space character for each of the fields becomes a real pain on a drawing that contains dozens of instruments. The project we are using AutoCAD P&ID for will have several hundred drawings - all of them will have anywhere from a dozen to 3 dozen instrument bubbles on each drawing.

Our only way to deal with this is to export our entire project list of instruments to an excel file, filter by the blank values and populate them with a space character, and then import the file back into AutoCAD P&ID.

A simple fix would be to allow a space character as one of the options in a selection list.

If any other users would like to have this option, please comment in order to help get this moving along.

Thanks for hearing me out in advance

Craig

*Notice the periods in the instrument's corners as it is newly-placed in a drawing*

[#2]

Please try this:

In your selection list, add a new value and type in ALT+0160 (unicode character, not a space so you have to hold down the ALT key and type in '0160') Then set the description to something like 'NULL' or 'TEST'

Once that is saved, go to the properties and set the second item on the list as the default value for your selection list. That will leave a "null" value in your instrument functions by default and will not display the dot on the drawing when it's initially placed.

[#3]

I saw that procedure mentioned in the previous thread, and tried it, but continued to get the same result as if I had entered a "space" character.

The following error message appears:

I'm using 2013...

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Craig

[#4]

Interesting, it worked for me the first time around. Now that I have gone back to double check I cannot add the unicode character again. 

Let me do some additional testing and I will let you know what I find.

[#5]

That is interesting...

Thanks for looking into this for me, I really appreciate it!

Craig

[#6 · Accepted solution]

Please see this screen recording for more info:

Null characters in annotations

It looks like a workaround might be possible, but it requires using non-AutoCAD, TrueType fonts in annotations.

Thank you,

[#7]

Jason Drew - you are my hero...

This is huge! You just saved me a lot of time...and money on aspirin

Thanks!

Craig