topic Re: fill in project title block with layout tab name in AutoCAD Electrical Forum

fill in project title block with layout tab name

stuartplunkett94 — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 19:24:46 GMT

so i have two layouts set up in my drawing, one for harnesses, another for the circuit.

I have other attributes setup in the project description like name, date, project number, etc. but I can't find anything for layout tab.

I've tried ctab, but that doesn't print the layout name, just "ctab"

thanks for any help!

Re: fill in project title block with layout tab name

testsubject — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 20:21:50 GMT

Autocad Electrical will only work with one layout tab.

In fact, ACE works best if each drawing was a separate DWG.

There are some times where I need multiple images of the same drawing.

To do this, I create as many separate drawings as I need and I xref the first drawing into all of these other drawings and then in Paper Space I just zoom into the area I want to highlight. Then each drawing can get its own titleblock with unique information for that drawing.

Later on, when I make changes to the first drawing, all other drawings are automatically updated when the xref loads. This works great with panel layouts (especially large ones)

Re: fill in project title block with layout tab name

jseefdrumr — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 22:20:27 GMT

To more specifically answer your question, there is no out-of-the box solution in the software to do what you want. ACADE can't just recognize any attribute; it has to be coded into a command or some process of yours. You'd have to write some code that looked for the layout tab name and inserted it into the title block for you. Chances are it wouldn't update in a title block update either so you'd have to constantly be paying attention to it.

Re: fill in project title block with layout tab name

sgoren7CCRD — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 19:12:02 GMT

If you want to reference the name of the layout tab (ctab) in your title block, you need to insert the field for it.

You can insert a field either in an attribute text box or in a mtext object.

Here you can see that the ctab is referenced in a text field at the bottom of my layout as well as in my title block

create a mtext object and right click to insert field....

Right click to insert field in your title block attribute...

Re: fill in project title block with layout tab name

rhesusminus — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 12:41:44 GMT

About that....
Now, publish your set of drawings. All layouts will now list the name of the CURRENT layout tab. Not exactly what you want?

Re: fill in project title block with layout tab name

sgoren7CCRD — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 12:31:02 GMT

I don't understand your comment. Can you please elaborate?

Re: fill in project title block with layout tab name

rhesusminus — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 12:48:50 GMT

Only one tab can be the CURRENT layout tab at a time. CTAB points to that ONE current tab. If you've used a field in different layouts, the will all point to the name of the CURRENT tab.

Re: fill in project title block with layout tab name

sgoren7CCRD — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 18:01:01 GMT

You are incorrect. I have been using this method successfully to capture the layout tab name in the title block as well as on the page in an mtext object for a while now and it works fine. Perhaps in an older version of AutoCAD this was an issue. I am using AutoCAD 2022.

Re: fill in project title block with layout tab name

rhesusminus — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 21:59:20 GMT

But, do you have MULTIPLE layouts in that DWG?

Re: fill in project title block with layout tab name

sgoren7CCRD — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 14:09:01 GMT

Yes.

Re: fill in project title block with layout tab name

dansielda — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 03:28:41 GMT

this is helpful. tnx