Custom Revision Block Setup

[rkeesee]

Hello All,
I'm in the process of setting up a custom title block for our company to use in ACE2006. I've found several threads and relevant articles of how to map attributes to the ACE project description fields. I chose the WD_TB block method where a block is inserted in the drawing and contains the necessary attribute mapping information. Basically this is just an attribute inserted in the drawing called WD_TB and has specific mapping information in the default field in the form of:

DWG_NO = FILENAME;SHT = SHEET; etc.

This has always worked well for testing the title block update command. Unfortunately, I have now modified my drawing frame to include a revision block with specific attributes that I want to map to the project description fields as well. I've created custom attributes for each new Revision field, but I cannot create the necessary mapping info b/c the WD_TB attribute line does not allow me to define a string long enough. Is this field set to a predefined length? If so, can it be modified? If it can't be modified, will creating a DEFAULT.wdt file eliminate this problem?

Any input will be welcome.

Ric Keesee
Belvac Production Machinery

[rkeesee]

More info.....
I have created a DEFAULT.wdt file thinking that it will help to eliminate my problem b/c of not having a field length constraint. This gets me closer to my goal, but now I am limited by the mapping function not working beyond Line24 in the project description fields. I've gone back to the old postings and sure enough there is a sentence in the Title Block Setup Help page which states "..... = LINEx, where x is a project data line number (LINE1 thru LINE24) ....."

Question, the project description dialog box is capable of holding several thousand fields. Why would Autodesk limit the mapping capabilites to only 24 of them? Is there a better way to set up a revision block and which centralizes it's information and appears on all pages of the drawing package? I'm open to other alternatives.

[Anonymous]

RKeesee,

The .WDT file is the way to go if you have numerous fields or multiple
blocks to update. It should support any of the project description lines. I
tried a few random ones above LINE24 and they worked ok for me. A couple of
things to check, make sure you have referenced the line in the .wdt file and
assigned it to a specific attribute on the block. For example, where CHKDBY
is the attribute name you would see a line in the .wdt file CHKDBY = LINE85.
Also, when you do the actual update make sure that the check box for LINE85
is checked on. You don't automatically get everything in the .wdt file
updated. It has to be specifically checked.

If none of this helps, let me know and I will look further,
Pat Murnen
(Autodesk)

wrote in message news:4881078@discussion.autodesk.com...
More info.....
I have created a DEFAULT.wdt file thinking that it will help to eliminate my
problem b/c of not having a field length constraint. This gets me closer to
my goal, but now I am limited by the mapping function not working beyond
Line24 in the project description fields. I've gone back to the old
postings and sure enough there is a sentence in the Title Block Setup Help
page which states "..... = LINEx, where x is a project data line number
(LINE1 thru LINE24) ....."

Question, the project description dialog box is capable of holding several
thousand fields. Why would Autodesk limit the mapping capabilites to only
24 of them? Is there a better way to set up a revision block and which
centralizes it's information and appears on all pages of the drawing
package? I'm open to other alternatives.

[rkeesee]

Hello Pat,
Thanks for your quick reply. I checked my .WDT file and all mapping lines are correct. Then I tried another title block update and found the problem. I have been using the select all button when selecting the project fields to update. Apparently this only selects all of the items (1 thru 24) on the first page b/c when I change to the next page all items (25 thru 48) are not selected. My mistake, I guess I thought that select all really meant select all, not just select all that I can see. I've now selected all items on the second page and saved the setting for future use.

Thanks for your help, Ric

[Anonymous]

Ric, I think that the Select All is an issue that wasn't addressed when the
Lines were increased from 24. I will add this to the issues list.

Pat Murnen
(Autodesk)

wrote in message news:4881957@discussion.autodesk.com...
Hello Pat,
Thanks for your quick reply. I checked my .WDT file and all mapping lines
are correct. Then I tried another title block update and found the problem.
I have been using the select all button when selecting the project fields to
update. Apparently this only selects all of the items (1 thru 24) on the
first page b/c when I change to the next page all items (25 thru 48) are not
selected. My mistake, I guess I thought that select all really meant select
all, not just select all that I can see. I've now selected all items on the
second page and saved the setting for future use.

Thanks for your help, Ric

[rkeesee]

Pat, No problem. I was just scratching my head trying to figure out what the problem was. At least the Save button will prevent it from happening again.

Thanks for your help, Ric