topic Re: symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size) in AutoCAD Electrical Forum

Symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size) [AutoCAD Electrical]

stuartplunkett94 — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 14:18:46 GMT

so the attributes of 2 of my symbols in one drawing aren't visible in paper space.

other symbols attributes are visible.

the attribute layers aren't frozen or hidden

the attributes are a size that should be visible

I've tried attsync command but that didn't change anything

I've tried deleting them and purging data, then reinserting them but no luck.

any suggestions?

@stuartplunkett94

The topic title has been edited to improve findability by @alina.balkanskaia. Original: symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size)

Re: symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size)

jseefdrumr — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 15:15:36 GMT

Look again at the attribute layers in the Layer Manager. Scroll the bar all the way to the right to see the Viewport-specific settings. Chances are, the relevant layer is frozen or off just in the viewport. Note that these are only visible if you look at the Layer Manager while you're in the Layout tab. They're labeled 'VP Freeze' , etc.

Re: symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size)

stuartplunkett94 — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 12:58:38 GMT

unfortunately that wasn't it either

Re: symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size)

jseefdrumr — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 13:49:05 GMT

Can you post the drawing here?

Re: symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size)

stuartplunkett94 — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 14:38:09 GMT

Re: symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size)

jseefdrumr — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 16:49:59 GMT

We can't troubleshoot screenshots. These don't show anything you haven't already described.

If this isn't happening because of the VP settings in the Layer Manager, that means there's something more subtle going on that requires someone to dig in to the attributes and symbols to discover why they're misbehaving.

If there's some concern about posting a company drawing on a public forum, you can send me a PM requesting my personal email and we can maybe do it that way. Not all companies allow that, though.

However, without more information, or the drawing itself, it's kind of hard to know which way to go here.

Re: symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size)

stuartplunkett94 — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 17:17:05 GMT

oh haha, that makes sense, sorry.

Re: symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size)

jseefdrumr — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 18:11:23 GMT

Is this the only drawing where you see this problem?

If I drop this block into one of my drawings, everything works fine. What happens if you insert it into a fresh new drawing?

If you get the same result, my next question would be, are you starting new drawings from a template file? If so, start a drawing using a default ACAD template. At that point, does it work normally?

Re: symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size)

stuartplunkett94 — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 19:55:08 GMT

another drawing has the two offending symbols but they show up no problem, the drawing I think might be a copy of an older/different drawing, I can't remember. inserting them into a new drawing works, and copying and pasting works. So I can make a new drawing, but I'd prefer to find the solution if you have any ideas. zooming after setting the scale doesn't fix it.

edit: I deleted and made a new viewport which fixed the issue, until I changed the scale. zooming in and out work no problem, setting the scale to 1:110 makes the disappear for some reason

edit2: after setting the scale clicking "show annotated objects at current scale" fixed it, who'd a thought 😆 don't know why it wasn't on or needed before setting the scale, but issue fixed.

Thanks for the Help!

Re: symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size)

jseefdrumr — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 20:28:19 GMT

I believe the issue lies in the fact that literally every part of that block has a scale value applied to it. For instance, the attributes are set at a paper scale value 0.12 individually while the block itself is scaled at something like 50, and all of this is being seen in a viewport whose scale is 1:110.

Looks like what is happening is that certain viewport scales are causing that text to shift to an undisplayable size.

To prevent this from happening in the future, there are many issues you'd need to address - chiefly, so many things that are scaling other things. I'm having a hard time reconciling in my head an object scaled up 50 times seen through a viewport scaled at 1:110. Why wasn't the object left alone and the viewport scale made something to accommodate?Why change both?

Another thing, you have the attributes set to annotative, with a paper text height value of 0.12. I'm thinking this could also be causing problems when you scale the viewport. Standard out-of-the-box ACADE symbols don't use that feature.

Re: symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size)

cbarnes — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 20:05:01 GMT

Thanks!

Re: Symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size) [AutoCAD Electrical]

alina.balkanskaia — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 14:20:01 GMT

@cbarnes Hello, nice to see you in Community! That is nice that you have found a useful solution here!

Re: Symbol attributes not visible in paperspace (it's not the layer or size) [AutoCAD Electrical]

karsXQ66L — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 13:18:17 GMT

for anyone finding this post after a few years finding for a solution.
for me it was fixed when i set annotative to NO in the attribute definition properties