Hi all, I'm at my wits' end with this subject today. I've read the 'Sheets Happen' blog (which was incredibly helpful) but I'm having weird issues nonetheless.
I'm trying to create a new titleblock for a company I just started with that wants to make the move to AutoCAD. I have a couple of years drafting exp but I'm still learning the finer points of setting up a virgin system. So, I've drafted a titleblock which I'm trying to add attributes to, and I think I'm very close to having it all sorted out but I'm stuck at the moment. See below:
A breakdown of what I've done:
At first everything looked fine. Sheet number was correct, sheet title was correct, even a couple of the custom properties were alright and displaying properly in the layout. BUT THEN I noticed that a few attributes weren't showing up at all in the layout. When I would edit the title block itself, all of the attributes would be there but when I would try to insert a field into their 'default' parameters, the 'custom sheet set' properties wouldn't exist (like this sheet was not associated with this sheet set). But some of the attributes in the block WOULD be able to reference the custom sheet set properties, so that's not the issue.
I am totally confused as to what is going wrong because my issues are inconsistent. Some attributes work, some don't, some update according to sheet set properties in the layout, others change in the block editor.
I guess my overarching question is: Is all of this weirdness being caused by the fact that my attributes are within a block? And does that mean that I have to define attributes in the Drawing template instead?
Thanks for any help you can give. I'm bout ready to do a desk flip
Solved! Go to Solution.
Solved by Palanlan. Go to Solution.
To clarify- I was planning on getting all attributes set with their fields and then saving this drawing as the new drawing template for the company (after removing it from the dummy sheet set, of course). This was recommended by 'Sheets Happen" and seemed like a great idea. Without detting all of the attributes refernecing fields properly, though there's not much point in moving on...
When you say attributes, do you mean block attributes or fields contained within Mtext? My experience has been to create the title block and add the Mtext fields to it. Create custom properties in the sheet set manager template that reference the Mtext fields in the titleblock. Take your new titleblock with fields and create a dwt file. This way you can use Autocad Design Center (ADC) to drag and drop the title block layout to a new drawing or use the dwt file to cut sheets with the sheet tools.
We use FIELDS for the data from SSM. This is the process we use to create our templates.
1. Create linework for title block, logos, etc. and save that as a drawing (11x17 titleblock or what ever)
2. In the drawing that's actually going to be my template (Roadway.dwt), in the layout tab I Xref the titleblock as an overlay. I then add fields for the SSM properties that I want to see on each sheet in the location where they should be on the title block.
3. Add the viewports and be sure to set the viewport type for each one.
4. Add other blocks, notes, north arrow (over the edge of the viewport), bar scale, & legend.
5. Add what ever Civil 3D styles I need, layers, etc.
5. Save the file as a template
Now when I start a new drawing using that template, the title block is xreffed and the field are available to update when the layout is added to SSM.
I can send you an example of our template in 2012 version if you give me your email address.
After looking at the supplied sample drawing, here is what I would change.
1. Put the titleblock in paperspace on a layout tab.
2. Replace you block attributes with Mtext fields, custom properties.
3. In the SSM template, make sure your custom properties reflect the Mtext fields (custom properties)
in your titleblock exactly.
4. Save the updated titleblock as a dwt file.
You can now add viewports, North arrows, or whatever to this dwt file.
You now have a titleblock template that can function through ADC or through the sheet production tools.
Fields in model space do not update with the "CurrentSheetBLAHLBAH" fields set. They have to be placed in a layout. What I do is this:
- Create a Titleblock in Model tab with "Project specific" fields. These will have to be repathed based on the project using custom fields under the "SheetSet" Field group.
-Xref the titleblock into a template sheet layout.
- Add a block with Sheet specific "CurrentSheetBLAHLBAH" fields into the Layout.
You don't need an attributed titleblock. Just use mtext with fields. It makes repaths easier. Also make sure you don't have more than one sheetset open when repathing or printing because it can weird out on you and print the wrong sheetset information.
I do not see any definition in your attributes! Go back to sheets happen. Heidi go to great lengths explaining the difference between the "Default" attribute and the "value" seen in the enhanced editor.
All the ssm definitions need to go in the "DEFAULT" of the attribute definition.
PS. to get rolling I would take one of the OOTB Sheet set protos and tear it apart to understand it
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Thank you all very much for the help. I ended up figuring out what was going on, turns out it was pretty simple. Using BATTMAN command, I was inserting fields into the Default paramaters of each of the Block Attributes. BUT, the block attributes, like layers in an xref, do not update once the block has been inserted into a drawing. All I needed to do was to delete the block (NOT PURGE) and then reinsert it (WITHOUT REDEFINING IT) into the drawing. And wouldn't you know it, all the fields showed up as intended for each of the Block Attributes.
The reason I decided to go for the 'Title Block with Attributes' method, rather than the 'Title Block as Xref' method, or the 'Title Block with Mtext/Fields' method was purely because that was suggested by the "Sheets Happen" Blog by Heidi Hewitt. This is a fantastic document and is actually the reason I figured out that I needed to reinsert the block after changing default values for block attributes with BATTMAN. It's certainly not the only way to get it done, but everything is working for my TB now so I'm stickin to it.
What I did was:
I'll be impressed if anyone took the time to read all of that!
Thanks again for all of your input. Making the switch from LDD to Civil 3D has been a challenge but I can definitely see the light.
Sorry- Second line of my explanation should have said "DEFAULT PARAMETERS OF block attributes do not update once a block has been inserted into a drawing"
You might want to see if ATTSYNC updates the fields as well. It will keep you from having top reinsert the block over and over.
Nailed it! However, I had to read some other posts to comprehend that I have to be outside of block editor to do this.