topic Re: Xref field referencing drawing number in AutoCAD Forum

Xref field referencing drawing number

simon.connellRBKGZ — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 06:18:47 GMT

I work on xrefs that are used through multiple drawings. Is there a way to add a field into the xref that when the drawing is opened up it references the drawing number.

For example, if I have "Refer to Series Number 01 of XX" in an xref with the XX being a field, is it possible for that field to reference the drawing numbers in a drawing title block?

This reference would be used 10s of times in the xref and refer to as many different drawings so it needs to update to the drawing number for the drawing it is inserted into.

I hope that makes sense.

Thanks for your help

Simon

Re: Xref field referencing drawing number

imadHabash — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 08:49:56 GMT

Hi,

>> Is there a way to add a field into the xref that when the drawing is opened up it references the drawing number. <<

the issue here is how to make or link this field to read the drawing number.either you make the link (text field) with the file name or with the layout itself.

if you success to make that link then whenever you insert your xref it will update to read the new drawing # that link it with.

Regards,

Re: Xref field referencing drawing number

simon.connellRBKGZ — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 23:55:27 GMT

the question is how can I link an attribute in a drawing to a field in an xref?

Re: Xref field referencing drawing number

imadHabash — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 08:03:58 GMT

Hi,

>> the question is how can I link an attribute in a drawing to a field in an xref? <<

as i understand your need ... i suggest to follow this link that it may help. >> Click <<

Regards,

Re: Xref field referencing drawing number

simon.connellRBKGZ — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 07:13:16 GMT

thanks but there was nothing in those links refering to what I am trying to do.

I would have though there would be some way to do this, surely there is a need for it.

Re: Xref field referencing drawing number

john.vellek — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 22:42:07 GMT

HI @simon.connellRBKGZ,

Help me to better understand what you are trying to do. The Field is placed in the Xref and is pointing to the titleblock in the xref or in the host file? Have you considered using Sheetsets with custom properties to do this or perhaps custom properties in Drawing Properties? Can you mock up a sample of what you are trying to do? I am happy to see if I can come up with something for you.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

Re: Xref field referencing drawing number

simon.connellRBKGZ — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 02:08:21 GMT

Hi John,

Here is a dwg of a portion of the xref. I cannot use sheet sets as this work is generally on a major project and different file management programs are used instead, project wise and vault for instance.

in the xref you will see 3 drawings in the model space. The balloons that are the pain in my side are at the ends of lines, in IT-32 for instance at the very right extent of each line. The top number references another drawing number and the bottom number the line that it references to in that drawing. The top balloon is 33/2012 so if you go to drawing 33 line 2012 there will be another balloon that refers back to this one.

Hope this all makes sense now.

I want a way to set these balloons up so that the reference numbers will automatically update if the drawing numbers change.

As it's in an xref I don't know how I can reference it to the drawing number the xref is inserted into.

Its a hassle when I am dealing with 100 plus drawings and a drawing gets inserted, I then have to go through and manually update the numbers which takes a long time and can be prone to errors.

Looking forward to any kind of advice here.

Thanks

Re: Xref field referencing drawing number

john.vellek — Thu, 28 Sep 2017 20:37:41 GMT

Hi @simon.connellRBKGZ,

I apologize for my delay in getting back to you about your question. I think that perhaps one of the easiest ways to do this is in Drawing Custom Properties. You could set the handful of values there and then have the fields in the tags set up to read them. I found this Add-In called DWG Propogate Plus that sounds like it could be useful for updating the properties.

Can your document management systems also read and write to these drawing properties? Perhaps that would be another mechanism to quickly update the values.

If any of this sounds possible, let me know and I can help you make this work.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.