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Drawing template geometry update

18 REPLIES 18
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Message 1 of 19
swansbh
492 Views, 18 Replies

Drawing template geometry update

When you update geometry or other items embedded within a block for a title block (Drawing template), how do you get this to update in a project?  I've tried using swap/update block under the schematic ribbon with no luck there.  I would like to avoid creating all new sheets for my entire project and have to wblock every sheet.

AutoCAD Electrical 2017
18 REPLIES 18
Message 2 of 19
TRLitsey
in reply to: swansbh

Hi there,

 

The Swap Block should do what you are asking for.  Did you select Project Wide when you used the tool?  Can you post a screen shot of the Swap Block settings you are using?  And just a thought from past experiences, if this is a project you have been given to work on, meaning you did not create all the drawings, is there any chance the title blocks look the same but have different tags?

 

Good luck

 

 

 

 

 

Please mark as a solution if this works for you, kudos are always welcome
Message 3 of 19
rhesusminus
in reply to: swansbh

You can also do this via a script, If you've just modified the graphics, and haven't moved the attributes around.

 

-INSERT
TitleBlock=C:\T\TitleBlock.dwg
Y
0,0
1
1
ERASE
LAST

Here's a video showing the process:

 

 
The script can be executed via Project -> Project wide utilities":
2017-04-27_19-00-05.png

Trond Hasse Lie
AutoCAD Electrical and EPLAN expert
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Message 4 of 19
swansbh
in reply to: TRLitsey

I've tried doing this and it doesn't update the title block.  Our title blocks are set up as DWT's and the geometry itself and attributes are part of a block.  The attributes update fine.  But the geometry and Mtext doesn't update.

AutoCAD Electrical 2017
Message 5 of 19
swansbh
in reply to: rhesusminus

Thanks for the video, unfortunately we are using title blocks as DWT's so we can do project wide title block updates of attributes.  So the insert block method will only allow DWGs and DXFs.

AutoCAD Electrical 2017
Message 6 of 19
jseefdrumr
in reply to: swansbh

Can you post a copy of the dwt? I suspect the problem is in how this is all set up.

Jim


Jim Seefeldt
Electrical Engineering Technician


Message 7 of 19
TRLitsey
in reply to: swansbh

Hi again,

 

I am a little unclear as to how you are trying to run the swap/update.  If you are selecting the title block in a drawing/project and then selecting the file to update with as the dwt file, I have never tried that.  If that is what you are doing, what do you suppose will happen if you open the dwt file you want to update with, Save As a .DWG file and us that for the Swap/Update source?

 

Good luck

 

 

 

Please mark as a solution if this works for you, kudos are always welcome
Message 8 of 19
swansbh
in reply to: jseefdrumr

Can you be very specific as to what information you are looking for.  As the nature of my industry I may have to redact certain information.

AutoCAD Electrical 2017
Message 9 of 19
jseefdrumr
in reply to: swansbh

I'd like to see the dwt that contains your title block. If it's like mine, it will have a company logo with contact information, such things aren't important. I'm interested in how your title block is set up. There has to be some reason that the attributes in the title block will update, but the title block itself won't.


Jim Seefeldt
Electrical Engineering Technician


Message 10 of 19
TRLitsey
in reply to: swansbh

Hi again,

 

I am just guessing but Jim may be suspect that your dwt file may have been set up with nested blocks.  Which may explain why some pieces of the title block update but other pieces are a block inside the title block so ACE just passes over them without updating.  Just a thought.

 

Good luck

Please mark as a solution if this works for you, kudos are always welcome
Message 11 of 19
swansbh
in reply to: swansbh

One of the images is the DWT before exploding the block.  The other is the DWT with the block exploded.

AutoCAD Electrical 2017
Message 12 of 19
rhesusminus
in reply to: swansbh

The swap/update block function will ONLY work to swap/update BLOCKS. A dwt-file is not a block, but a drawing template, that CONTAINS blocks.

 

For that function to work, you must open your dwt-file and use the WBLOCK command to export your existing title block to a DWG-file. Reference that DWG-file when you try to swap/update it.

 

If you have a look at the video, you can see that I'm actually doing exactly that, "WBLOCKING" the title block to an external file.


Trond Hasse Lie
AutoCAD Electrical and EPLAN expert
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Message 13 of 19
jseefdrumr
in reply to: rhesusminus

Trond,

I use the WD-TB title block set up. Each of my drawings begins as a dwt that has the title block in it, as a defined block. I can change them out with impunity using the swap/update block tool. No problems.

Once you use a dwt to start a drawing, it isn't a dwt anymore. It's a drawing just like any other, with your title block in it. It should respond just find to any related update command...IF the title block is a defined block in the dwt.

What I suspect may be going on here, is that the OP used some different title block set up method, and ended up with a dwt that doesn't actually have any blocks in it. If the dwt has the proper attributes, I'm sure that title block updating would work, depending on which method was used. (WD_TB wouldn't work like this, but maybe one of the other methods could? idk).

So, if all that were the case, then what the OP is seeing is that the attributes update as they should, but the graphics don't change because the dwt doesn't contain any block definitions to update.

Either that, or as TRLitsey suggested, nested blocks. Easiest way to tell is to take a look at the dwt. There's a specific reason why this is happening.

Jim


Jim Seefeldt
Electrical Engineering Technician


Message 14 of 19
jseefdrumr
in reply to: jseefdrumr

swansbh,

I somehow missed the post with your images. Seeing that you do have a dwt that has the title block in it as a block, I have to ask what changes were made to the graphics. Was it just line work? Any part of the title block that exists as a line or piece of text (NOT attributes...mtext or single-line text) should update with the swap/update block command.

Or, are there other blocks in the title block? The images won't tell us that. If the edits you made were to a block that is inside of your title block, there's another step or two to take to get this to work. This could be in a company logo, or a text-block with some legalese in it ("thou shalt not share this proprietary info", etc).

Is there maybe something like that going on here?

Jim


Jim Seefeldt
Electrical Engineering Technician


Message 15 of 19
swansbh
in reply to: rhesusminus

Thanks this did work.  One recommendation is if you reuse this video update it to include exploding the block once to allow attributes to be editable again.  I figured that was what I forgot to do but it works now after exploding it once.

 

Thanks

AutoCAD Electrical 2017
Message 16 of 19
swansbh
in reply to: rhesusminus

After doing this a couple times I noticed that when I insert the wblock it's stripping mtext out of it.  Not sure why it's doing this.

AutoCAD Electrical 2017
Message 17 of 19
rhesusminus
in reply to: swansbh

Mtext or multiline attribute

Trond Hasse Lie
AutoCAD Electrical and EPLAN expert
Ctrl Alt El
Please select "Accept Solution" if this post answers your question. 'Likes' won't hurt either. 😉
Message 18 of 19
swansbh
in reply to: rhesusminus

I just checked and it is Mtext and not an attribute.  I ended up having to check to see if there were extra blocks that were unused and purged them.  That has helped along with creating useful block names and wblock names.  So I think I figured it out now.

 

Thanks,

 

B

AutoCAD Electrical 2017
Message 19 of 19
Icemanau
in reply to: swansbh

When you create a title block, you should end up with a basic dwg showing all the attributes.

This basic dwg is then inserted as a block into a totally blank dwg which is then saved as your template.

 

When updating an existing dwg with a new/edited title block, you use the Swap/Update tool to swap or update the title block but you HAVE TO select the basic dwg of the title block and not the template.

 

If you use the template for the update, you will have to go back and explode one level of the title block to get everything to work, as you have found out.

 

Regards Brad



Icemanau (NNTP handle: Brad Coleman
AutoCAD Electrical User and IT Hardware Support

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